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What if the most Christlike figure in a Dickens novel wasn’t a clergyman… but a condemned woman? In this episode, we walk through the shadows of Oliver Twist—from the innocence of Oliver to the sacrifice of Nancy, and the judgment that falls upon Sikes. Join me as we uncover how Dickens used fiction to preach mercy, confront cruelty, and stir the soul.

Last time, we wandered through the comic countryside of The Pickwick Papers, where joy was abundant, trousers were frequently misplaced, and grace came wrapped in a cravat. But today, the tone shifts. The laughter softens. The shadows lengthen. Because now, we turn the page to Oliver Twist.

Oliver Twist is not just a novel—it’s a cry. A cry against cruelty, against hypocrisy, against a society that punishes the vulnerable and rewards the corrupt. But it’s also, I believe, a cry of hope. Because even in the darkest alley, Dickens insists that light can break through. That grace can find the lost.

In this episode, we’ll explore how Oliver Twist and we’ll meet characters who embody both sin and salvation. We’ll trace the spiritual arc of a boy who begins with nothing but a name—and ends with a family, a future, and the hope of redemption.

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Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast: (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment Podcast).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

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Today, we’re turning the page on the book that started it all: The Pickwick Papers.

This is Dickens before the fog, before the orphans, before the murderers and moral reckonings. It’s his debut novel, published in 1836, and it’s bursting with youthful exuberance, absurd adventures, and a kind of joy that insists that life, despite its pratfalls, is worth celebrating.

We meet Mr. Samuel Pickwick, a rotund gentleman of leisure with a heart as generous as both his waistline and his waistcoat. He and his fellow club members set out to observe the world, and what they find is a parade of eccentric characters, courtroom mishaps, romantic entanglements, and one very persistent cab driver. It’s a novel that doesn’t so much have a plot as a pilgrimage—a wandering through the English countryside in search of truth, laughter, and the occasional punch-up.

But beneath the slapstick and satire, there’s something spiritually resonant here.

The Pickwick Papers is a celebration of kindness, loyalty, and the power of friendship. Mr. Pickwick himself is no theologian, but he lives out the gospel in action—defending the vulnerable, forgiving the foolish, and offering hospitality wherever he goes. In a world that often rewards cynicism, Pickwick chooses grace.

Support the show

Follow all my Creative endeavours on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast: (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment Podcast).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

Send us a text

Welcome to The First Ever Episode of The Classic Literature Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Literature Podcast. I’m your host, Jeremy McCandless, and I’m so glad you’ve joined me for this first episode of a new bi-monthly journey—one that explores the great works of classic literature, approaching these great books via the world out of which they emerged—a cultural heritage, rich in spiritual metaphor.

Each season, we’ll walk alongside the giants of literary history—authors who in many ways have shaped nations, stirred hearts, whilst at the same time wrestling with the deepest questions of human existence. But we won’t just admire their craft. We’ll ask: What spiritual soil did these stories grow from? What echoes of grace and redemption resound within their pages?

📚 Season One: Charles Dickens
We begin with the novels of Charles Dickens—a man whose fiction is steeped in the moral imagination of Victorian Christianity. From the haunting redemption arc of A Christmas Carol to the prophetic justice of Bleak House, Dickens wrote with a heart attuned to the poor, the broken, and the spiritually blind. His characters often stumble toward grace, and his stories pulse with biblical echoes—sometimes overt, sometimes hidden in metaphor.

🎭 Season Two: William Shakespeare
Next, we’ll turn to the Bard himself. Shakespeare’s plays are rich with theological tension—mercy and justice, sin and forgiveness, fall and restoration. Whether in the tragic unravelling of King Lear or the resurrection joy of The Winter’s Tale, we’ll explore how Shakespeare’s work reflects the Christian cosmology of his time, and how his characters mirror the soul’s journey toward light.

🌍 Future Seasons
Looking ahead, we’ll dig into Russian soul with Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, we will also hopefully explore the moral clarity of Jane Austen, and trace the spiritual storms of the Brontë sisters. Each season will offer fresh insight into how these authors wrestled with faith, doubt, virtue, and the divine drama of human life.

So whether you’re a lover of literature, a seeker of spiritual depth, or simply curious about the spiritual threads woven through some of the world’s greatest novels, this podcast is for you.

Let’s begin this journey together. Let’s read with reverence, reflect with honesty, and rediscover the stories that shaped our culture—and still speak to our souls.

Follow all my Creative endeavours on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast: (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment Podcast).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891