Comedian Russell Brand announces he is getting baptized: ‘I’m taking the plunge’
Comedian and actor Russell Brand recently announced that he is going to be baptized as a Christian.
The famous actor, comedian, and podcast host made the announcement in a brief video he shared to social media on the morning of April 26,
In it, he also remarked on how it seems that other people are also turning to Christianity as the modern world loses meaning.
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"This Sunday, I’m taking the plunge. I’m getting baptized," he declared while filming himself standing outside.
Noting his fascination with the Christian sacrament, he continued, "What’s been explained to me is, it’s an opportunity to die and be reborn. An opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ’s name."
Brand then referenced a verse from Scripture, adding, "Like it says in Galatians: that you can live as an enlightened and awakened person."
Brand, who produces longform YouTube content exploring a variety of topics, like news, politics, culture and spirituality, described baptism and similar rituals of rebirth in other major religions as "so inviting and beautiful."
He went onto acknowledge that there seems a trend of people returning to Christianity today as times get more confusing.
"People are so cynical about the increasing interest in Christianity and the return to God, but to me, it’s obvious. As meaning deteriorates in the modern world, as our value systems and institutions crumble, all of us become increasingly aware that there is this eerily familiar awakening and beckoning figure that we’ve all known all of our lives, within us and around us."
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"And for me it’s very exciting," he declared.
Brand has been exploring Christianity for some time now. Months after he became the subject of a formal investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct, Brand told his audience he had begun reading the Bible as well as the works of Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis.
In January, Brand posted a video of himself to X explaining why he had been wearing a cross, stating, "The reason I wear a cross is because Christianity and in particular, the figure of Christ are it seems to me inevitably becoming more important as I become more familiar with suffering, purpose, self, and not self."
In the same video, he said that he never embraced faith when he was younger because it seemed either too "old-fashioned and sort of dusty," or too modernized.
Brand also shared a clip from his podcast to X on April 18, which depicted him teaching his followers how to say the Rosary, a popular Catholic prayer conducted with prayer beads.