Set at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the English Reformation, The Seduction of Almighty God describes the spiritual ascendancy of an adolescent priest and the apalling discovery that he possesses the power of life and death over others, both religious and secular. Victimised by his brethren and eventually murdered by his female followers, the youth Loftus argues himself into the belief that God, weary of his own impotence, has devolved His powers upon him…

Barker’s interest in the Christian faith and the phenomenon of prayer finds expression in a number of his works, from The Last Supper and Two Skulls to the mass of parables that constitutes The Ecstatic Bible.