Is the end of Christendom nigh? with A.N. Wilson

What this episode covers

Thousands of Brits will be attending Christmas and carol services throughout December. Yet festive attendance masks the reality that church congregations just aren’t holding up. The most optimistic of estimates suggest that regular church attendance has almost halved in the UK since 2009. This is just one of the factors that has led the historian and writer A.N. Wilson, in the Christmas edition of The Spectator this week, to declare that the end of Christendom is nigh.On this episode of Holy Smoke, A.N. Wilson joins Damian Thompson to discuss his thesis. Like Platonism, is Christianity doomed to become extinct in practice? When was the last time England was truly, and fervently, religious? And are innovations such as female priests a symptom – or a cause – of the Church’s decline?You can read more from A.N. Wilson on his Substack.Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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How long is this episode of Holy Smoke?

This episode is 25 minutes long.

When was this Holy Smoke episode published?

This episode was published on December 13, 2024.

What is this episode about?

Thousands of Brits will be attending Christmas and carol services throughout December. Yet festive attendance masks the reality that church congregations just aren’t holding up. The most optimistic of estimates suggest that regular church attendance...

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