Theo Hobson

What Alasdair MacIntyre got right – and wrong

28 May 2025 2:02 am

Alasdair MacIntyre, who died last week, was one of the most influential thinkers of the past 50 years. It is…

How to save the Church of England

25 May 2025 10:00 am

The Church of England’s various travails and dilemmas – on controversial issues, like sexuality and safeguarding – are on one…

How to fight back against Lily Phillips

18 May 2025 3:59 pm

Why is the pornification of our culture so difficult to oppose? Partly because it takes subtly different forms. There used…

Are Protestants free to criticise Catholicism?

4 May 2025 4:42 pm

The death of a Pope is a time for assorted reflections on the Catholic Church. Protestants can be wary of…

Lily Phillips isn’t an authority on sex

10 April 2025 7:19 pm

I wasn’t intending to write about Lily Phillips again. Her story would ideally be ignored. But if it does appear…

Are Brits really abandoning their Christian faith?

30 March 2025 6:02 pm

Many Brits who were raised as Christians have abandoned their faith, according to a report by the Pew Research Centre.…

My wife earns more than me – and it doesn’t feel great

18 January 2025 9:00 am

This is the article I have thought about writing for years, but I have always ended up asking what would…

Jordan Peterson should make his mind up about Christianity

4 January 2025 5:00 pm

Jordan Peterson is a cross between a student who has lately discovered the meaning of life, and a professor who…

Are Christians allowed to judge the promiscuous?

31 December 2024 7:13 pm

I was planning to give my mother-in-law the new biography of Ronald Blythe this Christmas. Then I read a review…

How to save the parish church

22 December 2024 5:00 pm

Parish churches are in trouble: about fifty churches close every year, according to a report from Civitas. The review, published…

Shame on George Carey

18 December 2024 7:03 pm

There are many grey areas in this safeguarding saga. So it is nice when some black and white emerges. It…

Masterchef gives me the creeps

4 December 2024 11:56 pm

Eating porridge with my daughter this morning (me brown sugar; her honey) I was telling her about Ready Brek, and…

Are Christian holiday camps a force for good?

17 November 2024 11:00 am

In my early teenage years, I attended Christian holiday camps very like the ‘Bash’ camps where John Smyth and Justin…

Why did so many Christians vote for Trump?

9 November 2024 12:50 am

It’s hard to know what to say about Donald Trump. Well, maybe it’s easy enough if you’re a fan, or…

The trouble with Guy Fawkes night

5 November 2024 5:33 pm

My reaction to fireworks is a bit eccentric. Lovely, I think, but can’t they be more meaningful? To be more…

Justin Welby’s homosexuality reforms could still backfire

29 October 2024 11:31 pm

Last week, Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury since 2013, started leading the Church of England. He got off the fence…

Justin Welby has made a huge shift on homosexuality

25 October 2024 6:46 pm

Forget Nixon in China. That phrase needs renaming: Welby on sexuality. For it is now at last clear that he…

Has Britain really entered its ‘first atheist age’?

13 October 2024 6:00 pm

Some sociology academics have, after a three-year research project called ‘Exploring Atheism’, unveiled a startling discovery: there are a lot…

The unlikely Christian conversion of Russell Brand

9 October 2024 4:00 pm

Questioning the sincerity of a fellow Christian’s faith is a big no-no. It would be wrong, then, to doubt the…

What the Church of England should say to its conservative rebels

13 August 2024 11:54 pm

The evangelicals really are revolting. After a lot of talk of the need to break away from a tainted, liberal,…

The C of E needs to talk about sex

13 July 2024 9:00 am

My friend Andy is getting married. It’s about time – he and his girlfriend have a one-year-old daughter. He wants…

What does it mean to have a more secular House of Commons?

12 July 2024 9:08 pm

The House of Commons has a more secular character than ever before. Roughly 40 per cent of MPs have chosen…

What price is too high to keep conservatives in the Church of England?

11 May 2024 3:30 pm

Future historians of the Church of England might look back at this weekend as the beginning of the end. A…

What should we make of Russell Brand’s baptism?

1 May 2024 4:00 pm

Could Russell Brand, who has just been baptised, become a significant Christian figure? I suppose he could become a sort…

The CofE’s female clergy muddle is not sustainable

20 April 2024 3:25 pm

It’s thirty years since the first women were ordained as priests of the Church of England. For ten years, there…