ABSTRACT
Religious movements have their foundations in real or assumed 'revelations'. On a sociological analysis, they may seem to come into being for socio-economic reasons, but the movement itself will almost invariably justify its existence in apocalyptic terms. Where a revelation is held to constitute the basis of a religious movement, it is usually believed to be primarily the experience of the founder which is then shared with a faithful nucleus of followers. Founders of movements often defy adequate analysis. The problem of deciding what are the necessary criteria for assessing trustworthy revelations has never been satisfactorily resolved. Implicit also in the reasonable revelations argument is the assumption that revelations must be reasonable if they are to appeal to reasonable men. High or world religions have sometimes had early phases when they restricted their membership to certain groups, and the faith was confined to a privileged minority.
