Isaac Simmonds

My latest for @unherd on the Quiet Revival withdrawal. “This is an important wake-up call: that we should all be very wary of putting our faith in surveys and polls, especially when they align with our deepest desires. Confirmation bias runs deep. As a Christian I’ve been guilty of it, as are people on the other side of the aisle. In fairness, the Bible Society has owned up to what went wrong, and will no doubt think carefully about how it publicises any future research. For the moment, a dose of humility and introspection is in order, and perhaps an opportunity to build some bridges with critics whose concerns turned out to be fully justified. Even so, the danger with a U-turn of this magnitude is that it can also lead to errors in the opposite direction. Humanists UK, freshly vindicated by the reversal, now states on its website: “We need to be absolutely clear: there is no revival of Christianity in Britain.” That statement is true. Yet it doesn’t do justice to the actual picture of what’s happening both here and in Europe. “Revival” is not the word we should ever have used for what’s happening — but “rebirth” does still feel appropriate.” Read the full article 👇 unherd.com/2026/03/how-re…

@glenscrivener Is that the end of the phrase “the Quiet Revival”…? It quietly became embedded in public discussion

Self-reported churchgoing from "the Quiet Revival" never did match bums-on-pews and now YouGov have told us how they got it wrong. Embarrassing and disappointing for all concerned. I'm glad for the transparency now and will look forward to the more robust studies planned.

Wow. I guess the skepticism towards the report (& even YouGov!) was somewhat justified. But the report, and especially the phrase 'Quiet Revival', really took on a life of its own. It'll be interesting to see what the re-run of the survey later in the spring will show!

Here in Hagia Sophia, on May 29th 1453, after 900 years of being a Christian cathedral, in the final hours of the Fall of Constantinople, a large number of Christian men, women, children, nuns, monks, priests, and others sought refuge from the Muslim invaders. The Ottomans surged inside and massacred them. On its holy altars they enacted “perversions with our women, virgins and children” including “the Grand Duke’s daughter who was quite beautiful” and forced to “lie on the great altar of Hagia Sophia with a crucifix under her head and then raped” Those who were not murdered were enslaved. Hagia Sophia resembled a “public brothel” before it was turned into a “stable for their horses”, with toppled altars used as troughs. The Hagia Sophia’s main Crucifix was then paraded “in mocking procession” with “spitting and blasphemies and curses”. “Behold the god of the Christians!” They jeered

@SelsdonChapman Not great logic for a Church of England bishop. Given that it is the established church and enjoys certain privileges, his reasoning would suggest those privileges should be abolished, if all faiths are now to be treated as equal in public life. To not do so would be unjust.

"We cannot, with integrity, defend the public role of Christianity while questioning the visibility of other traditions. To do so would be not only inconsistent, but unjust." Bishop of Willesden, CofE lead on interfaith engagement: churchofengland.org/media/news-and…

@redeemed_zoomer "I do not think that women who act in relation to their own pregnancies should be prosecuted." Very confusing speech. That one line suggests that no woman should face any criminal charges for ending her pregnancy, at any stage, even up to birth.

Glad she’s not COMPLETELY leftist

Very true. Decriminalisation of abortion up to birth does, in effect, allow infanticide. It has returned in post-Christian Britain, with very little pushback from the state church.

@WalkerMarcus @ArchbishopSarah "I do not think that women who act in relation to their own pregnancies should be prosecuted." Very confusing speech. That one line suggests that no woman should face any criminal charges for ending her pregnancy, at any stage, even up to birth.

I am very glad to see such a thoughtful and reasoned speech from the Archbishop of Canterbury tonight. Thank you, @ArchbishopSarah.

"I do not think that women who act in relation to their own pregnancies should be prosecuted." Archbishop Sarah Mullaly Very confusing speech. That one line suggests that no woman should face any criminal charges for ending her pregnancy, at any stage, even up to birth. If life in the womb is no different from life outside the womb—the only difference being location—then it is clearly inconsistent to claim that ending one is murder while the other carries no criminal consequences.

The patron saint of Ireland was British. 🇮🇪☘️🇬🇧 Born in Roman Britain. Around 385 AD. His father was a decurion, a Roman local official. At 16, Irish raiders kidnapped him. Along with thousands of others. He was enslaved for six years. A shepherd. Alone on the hills of Ireland. He escaped. Found a ship. Made it home to Britain. Then around 432 AD, he went back. Voluntarily. To the land that enslaved him. Not for revenge. He spent the rest of his life there. Building churches. Teaching. Baptising. Forgiving. He never came home. His own words survive. The Confessio. One of the oldest personal documents in European history. Written by a British man in Ireland, fifteen hundred years ago. "I am a sinner. A simple country person." "I never had any reason to return. Except the Gospel and its promises." Happy St Patrick's Day. 🇬🇧☘️ Be Proud Of Us.

The CofE bishops have plenty to say about "Christian Nationalism", but as ever, nothing to say about abortion UP TO BIRTH. Why?

The first real test of Sarah Mullally's appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury Will be the vote on abortion UP TO BIRTH in the UK House of Lords this coming Wednesday If she or other bishops fail to turn up, the Church of England will have clearly lost its entire moral compass

I talk to @WesleyLHuff about his viral moments from the last 18 months and how we all can share good news to a needy world: youtu.be/ft5kU2-eA74

There have been some really good response videos to the @CosmicSkeptic & @glenscrivener Uncommon Ground debate. Mostly from Christians so far…Here’s a 🧵 1. Glen himself unravels why he and Alex ended up talking past each other at various points youtu.be/8vEVOLSynho?si…

🎉Thanks for making ‘Uncommon Ground’ no.1 on the UK Religion & Spirituality podcast charts! Listen on Apple: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/unc… Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0cbEgPBGz… Or your fav platform: pod.link/1870509190

The eighth century letters attributed to Caliph Umar II and Emperor Leo have been translated and are FREELY available. These are very important for understanding early Christian and Islamic relations.

Here’s an uncomfortable truth about the Epstein accusations: We only find them morally reprehensible because of Christianity. Before the spread of Christianity, “civilized” Greek and Roman elites openly flaunted underage s*x slaves. This was normal. Emperor Hadrian built an entire city in honor of his favorite boy. We’ve heard for decades that Christianity is a barrier to moral progress, but if you undercut the moral foundations of Christianity from the West, culture reverts back to pagan norms.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' summary (or ‘steelman’) of world-famous atheist @RichardDawkins' objection against God is a masterclass in ‘connect before you correct’! ▶️ WATCH or 🎧 LISTEN NOW to the full conversation on my new show, Uncommon Ground! 👉 justinbrierley.com/uncommon-groun…

“And in the year nine-hundred forty-five and the twenty-fourth year of Heraclius’s reign, the Arab robbers arrived and fell upon the land of the qibla [i.e. Palestine/the Holy Land], inflicting great damage to it by sword and by enslavement.” A new source for the Arab invasions!

The 26-year-old Brit who is the anti-woke voice of Gen Z women thetimes.com/article/b3330e… @harrywalker1 posted a fascinating article in the times with @freyaindiaa Which includes this great interview with @JusBrierley Some great insights. youtu.be/3vKFCQfevb4?si…