Why do so many churches feel spiritually thin, aesthetically bland, and disconnected from the deep longings of modern people?

In this lecture, the Rev’d Dr Jamie Franklin argues that the crisis of the modern West is not merely theological or moral but rather aesthetic in nature. Drawing on Alexander Schmemann, David Bentley Hart, Iain McGilchrist, St Anselm, and the Christian tradition, he explores a striking idea: that Original Sin was, at its heart, a refusal to receive creation as a gift and offer it back to God in thanksgiving.

This talk traces how Christianity once understood the world as sacramentally charged with divine meaning and how that vision was gradually eclipsed by modern secular assumptions.

Topics include:

• Original Sin as a failure of “original blessing”
• The sacramental vision of creation
• The Reformation, iconoclasm, and the loss of symbolic thinking
• Beauty, liturgy, and the recovery of the sacred
• Why the Eucharist stands at the centre of a truly Christian vision of the world
• What parish churches can teach a disenchanted culture

If you’ve ever wondered why beauty matters, why ancient liturgy continues to attract people in a secular age, or how Christianity can recover a sense of the sacred, then this conversation is for you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JOIN US FOR IRREVEREND LIVE! - Holy Trinity Church Winchester, Tuesday 23rd June, 7pm: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/irreverend-live-with-tom-daniel-and-jamie-tickets-1990101934458?aff=oddtdtcreator

Email the Show with comments and questions! irreverendpod@gmail.com

You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

On Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

On Substack - https://irreverendpod.substack.com/

Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/irreverend

To make a direct donation or to get in touch with questions or comments please email irreverendpod@gmail.com!

Notices:

Join our Irreverend Telegram group: https://t.me/irreverendpod

Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/IrreverendPod

Buy Jamie's Book THE GREAT RETURN!: https://amzn.to/4pwAH8R

Daniel French Substack: https://undergroundchurch.substack.com/

Jamie Franklin's "Good Things" Substack: https://jamiefranklin.substack.com

Irreverend Substack: https://irreverendpod.substack.com

Find me a church: https://irreverendpod.com/church-finder/

Support the show