Karen Swallow Prior: re-enchanting evangelicalism

Belle and Justin speak to Karen about imagination in faith.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

Karen Swallow Prior is a Professor of English Literature and an award-winning author. Her most recent book is The Evangelical Imagination: How stories, images and metaphors created a culture in Crisis.

Belle and Justin speak to Karen about the role of the imagination in faith, what the term evangelical means today and whether it can be re-enchanted…

Visit Karen Swallow Prior's web site.

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Watch now

Podcast

Podcasts

Seen & Unseen Aloud

12 November 2025

1 min read

Shame, Remembrance and Alice Roberts

New episode: listen to articles by Belle Tindall, Henna Cundill, and Jonathan Rowlands.

Natalie Garrett

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

Frankstein stares our from his covered face.

Jacob Elordi plays Frankenstein's monster

Netflix.

Listen now

About this episode

In this week's episode, Belle Tindall considers both Jacob Elordi and Zadie Smith's take on shame, and presents her own; Henna Cundill asks why too much emotional expression seems to be frowned upon at Remembrance and the Cenotaph; Jonathan Rowlands gives his personal (and very strong) opinions on Alice Roberts' book Domination: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity

Support Seen & Unseen Since Spring 2023, our readers have enjoyed over 1,500 articles. All for free. This is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters. If you enjoy Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towar

Since Spring 2023, our readers have enjoyed over 1,500 articles. All for free.
This is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you enjoy Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Do so by joining Behind The Seen. Alongside other benefits, you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing my reading and reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin
Editor-in-Chief

Pledge now