Re-enchanting... Rupert Shortt on the death of Christianity

Belle and Justin talk with Rupert about why Europe’s historic faith remains critical to the survival of humane culture.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

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Rupert Shortt is an author and research associate at the Von Hugel Institute, University Of Cambridge and a former Religion Editor for the Times Literary Supplement.

His latest book The Eclipse of Christianity… And Why It Matters has been praised by Tom Holland as ‘ A brilliant survey of Christianity’s decline in Britain- how it happened and why it matters, by one of our most learned and stimulating apologists’.

Belle and Justin talk with Rupert about why mainstream churches are in decline across the West and why Europe’s historic faith remains critical to the survival of humane culture.

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Seen & Unseen Aloud

2 June 2025

1 min read

Semi-colons; Race Across the World, and the Book

New episode: pause for some grammar, enjoy that race, and a good book.

Natalie Garrett

Natalie produces and narrates The Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast. She's an Anglican minister and a trained actor.

A man sits on a pier intently reading a book on his lap.

Ben White on Unsplash.

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About the episode

In this week's mix we mourn the demise of the semi colon (and all it represents) with Paul Bradbury; Lauren Westwood gets lost in the drama of BBC's Race Across the World and Belle Tindall asks why a book has changed the world (and her).

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