Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin turns to the Russell Brand trial and reads it through the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Brand faces multiple charges of rape and sexual assault as the jury deliberates. Jamie refuses to play judge of the man’s heart or the legal outcome. Instead he asks what the story reveals spiritually: the far country of untethered lust, the slavery of sin that looks like freedom, the moment of coming to oneself, and the Father who runs to embrace the son while he is still a long way off. Grace is real for the genuinely repentant. But the past still catches up. Celebrity conversion without a season of hiddenness and humility is dangerous. Restitution matters. And the elder-brother instinct in all of us must be watched.
Also in this episode: the John Lewis Christmas advert, and a listener question on how Christians should engage with Halloween.
Support Irreverend:

🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com

📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com
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#RussellBrand #ProdigalSon #Christianity #Halloween #Irreverend
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In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin follows up on the legal challenge to Project Spire — and delivers a proper good-news story at the end.
First: the BBC wanted Jamie in a pre-recorded debate with Professor Alan Lester. He declined and suggested credentialed historians instead. Robert Tombs took the slot. Then Lester delivered a lecture from a church pulpit in Sussex, linking opponents of Project Spire to Edward Long, the so-called “founding father of English racism,” and accusing them of “misinformation.” When Bijan Omrani asked him to name names, Lester denied the charge, refused to specify, and blocked him. Jamie lays out the sequence, rejects the smear, and issues a direct invitation: come on Irreverend and make the case properly.
Then the good news: Harry Kane wins the Ballon d’Or. Rejected by Arsenal at eight for being “too chubby,” years without a trophy, no campaigning, no preening — just relentless work, team play, humility, and fidelity to his wife and children. “Work hard in silence, let success be your noise.” Jamie argues Kane is the perfect antidote to football’s narcissists and a model worth holding up for parents and the next generation.
Support Irreverend:

🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com

📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com
Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs.
#ProjectSpire #AlanLester #HarryKane #BallonDor #Irreverend
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In this special episode of Irreverend, Rev'd Dr Jamie Franklin explains why he and author Dr Bijan Omrani decided to take the Church of England's Church Commissioners to court over their proposed plans to spend £100 million on slavery reparations from a fund that exists to help struggling parishes churches.

If you support Jamie and want to see the Church of England fulfilling its Christian mission in England, please like, subscribe and share!

Support Irreverend:
 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend
 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com
 📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com

#ProjectSpire #CulturalChristianity #Irreverend #Slavery #Racism #Reparations
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Live from the University of Greenwich: Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin and Rev. Daniel French on The God Solution.
For a generation the Church felt like a lost cause under new atheism and The God Delusion. Now the mood has shifted. People step toward the vicar. Interest in real Christianity is rising. But can the Church meet the moment?
Jamie lays out the thesis of his book The Great Return: Western values — human dignity, equality, liberty, the intellectual conditions for science — are Christian capital, not Enlightenment inventions. The Greco-Roman world had no such vision of humanity. Strip out Christ and the borrowed capital runs out. We already see the collision in debates over abortion and assisted dying.
Cultural Christianity is not enough. Preference for the Christian story without genuine belief has no binding authority. Real renewal means prayer, holiness, parish life, and a recovered confidence in the Church’s historic identity — not more fashionable politics.
Jamie also discusses his high-profile involvement in the legal challenge, brought with Dr Bijan Omrani, against the Church Commissioners’ £100 million Project Spire slavery-reparations fund — including the media coverage it has attracted and why the use of Section 106 is being contested.
Support Irreverend:
🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend
🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com
📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com
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#TheGodSolution #TheGreatReturn #ProjectSpire #CulturalChristianity #Irreverend
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In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, the Rev'd. Dr. Jamie Franklin covers four major stories.
First: twenty years after The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins is still misunderstanding classical theism. Jamie explains necessary vs contingent being, why “a universe from nothing” isn’t nothing, and why new atheism has become largely irrelevant.
Second: the failed lethal injection of Krista Pike in Tennessee after 30 years on death row. Church leaders appeal for mercy. Jamie supports the death penalty in rare cases of pure malice, but finds the American system Kafkaesque and would not reintroduce something similar in Britain.
Third: a South London rector refuses to close the church doors on members of an anti-immigration group labelled “far right.” Jamie largely praises the pastor’s gospel-first stance and questions whether “Christian nationalism” is always the bogeyman it is made out to be.
Fourth: Bijan Omrani’s call not to abandon the Church of England plus listener emails on staying and fighting rather than leaving for continuing Anglicanism. Jamie argues the fight for the soul of the C of E is the fight for the soul of the nation.
Also: Live event — The God Solution with Jamie and Rev. Daniel French at the University of Greenwich, Wednesday 14 October, 7pm. Book here!
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
0:33 – Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion & classical theism
7:08 – “A universe from nothing” and why it isn’t nothing
11:49 – The God Solution live event, University of Greenwich (14 Oct)
13:46 – Krista Pike: failed execution & the death penalty
20:18 – When is capital punishment justified?
25:28 – “Sinners are welcome”: Danny Tomo, Patriot Platform & St Lawrence’s Morden
30:11 – What does “Christian nationalism” actually mean?
35:00 – A short digression on “rights”
37:00 – Support the show / Uncollared
39:30 – Bijan Omrani: “Don’t Abandon the Church of England”
48:30 – Listener emails (Victoria & Richard)
55:00 – Stay and fight: the soul of the Church & the nation
59:00 – Lord’s Prayer & close
Support Irreverend:
🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend
🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com
📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com
Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs.
#RichardDawkins #DeathPenalty #ChristianNationalism #ChurchOfEngland #Irreverend
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