S2 E30. Is The Rebirth Real? Debating the Data, Probing the Politics

The Surprising Rebirth Of Belief In God

Justin Brierley

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 592 Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 139 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this Season 2 finale, Justin asks: 'What's next for the Surprising Rebirth?'When the podcast series launched in 2023, many were skeptical of a 'Surprising Rebirth'. However, two years later, some say statistical evidence is pointing towards a 'Quiet Revival'. But there has been pushback too... Justin interrogates the data, hearing objections and responses from sociologist David Voas and Bible Society researcher Rhiannon McAleer.Peter Dray of IFES charts Gen Z spirituality, while podcaster Elizabeth Oldfield and journalist James Marriott discuss the rise of 'Full Fat Faith' converts. Australian church leader Mark Sayers and British MP Danny Kruger also tackle the vexed question of whether far right politics is co-opting Christianity as the search for a better story continues. More info, book & newsletter: https://justinbrierley.com/surprisingrebirth/ Support via Patreon for early access to new episodes and bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/justinbrierley/membership Support via Tax-deductible (USA) and get the same perks: https://defendersmedia.com/portfolio/justin-brierley/ Give a one-off gift via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/brierleyjustin Buy the book or get a signed copy: https://justinbrierley.com/the-surprising-rebirth-of-belief-in-god/ Got feedback? Share it with us by emailing: feedback@think.faith Ep 30 show notes: https://justinbrierley.com/surprisingrebirth/season-2-episode-30-is-the-rebirth-real Also, check out our show ‘Uncommon Ground’ for discussion and debates: https://justinbrierley.com/uncommon-ground-podcast/ The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God is a production of Think Faith in partnership with Genexis, and support from The Jerusalem Trust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello friends, Justin here. Before we leap into today's episode, and as 2026 arrives, I want to thank you for listening to the show.
0:09.2	It's been an amazing past year for my work through Think Faith with millions of downloads, views and engagement across our podcast videos and live events.
0:18.7	We've reached hundreds of thousands of people with thinking faith.
0:22.6	Heather, a show listener, got in touch to say, your content has contributed to me coming back to Christ.
0:28.6	My atheist husband is now interested in learning more too. But we really are just getting going.
0:34.6	We've a brand new show, Uncommon Ground, coming soon in the new
0:39.4	year. But as our work expands, so does the cost of producing good quality resources that
0:45.7	encourage both believers and sceptics to engage a thinking faith. That's why I'd like to ask you
0:51.5	to consider supporting my work with a year-end gift or by becoming a monthly supporter.
0:57.4	Every gift makes a great difference to my work continuing strong in 2026.
1:02.7	To support, go to the link with today's show or visit justinbrily.com slash support.
1:09.9	Thanks for listening and happy new year.
1:16.1	It is an honour to stand here in this empty chamber to speak about the original purpose of this space,
1:23.9	which was a chapel in the Church of England. This is parliamentarian Danny Kruger,
1:29.3	MBE, delivering a speech in the summer to a largely empty House of Commons.
1:34.3	The old chamber of the House of Commons on which this space is modelled after the great fire
1:41.3	of 1834 was St Stephen's Chapel, formerly a royal church,
1:46.3	given by the heirs of Henry VIII to Parliament to serve as its debating chamber.
1:52.3	And Madam Deputy Speaker, your chair stands on the altar steps,
1:55.8	and the table with the dispatch boxes is where the lectern stood.
2:00.1	And I mentioned this because the link between this place
2:03.6	and the Church of England isn't merely ceremonial.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Justin Brierley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Justin Brierley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.