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Charles Dickens - The Old Curiosity Shop.

(Please note this episode was originally recorded in Oct 2025 as a free 'subscribes only' bonus episode for people following the Bible Project Daily Podcast on Patreon).

To obtain the Copyright free recording of this book that I used in this recording by Actress Mil Nicholson visit: The Old Curiosity Shop (version 2) | LibriVox

Episode Notes::

Today, I turn my attention to The Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens’s fourth major novel, published in 1840–41. It follows Nicholas Nickleby and marks a shift—from satire and protest to pathos and pilgrimage. This is Dickens at his most emotionally raw, most spiritually provocative, and most narratively daring.

At the heart of the story is Nell Trent—a young girl of extraordinary innocence, navigating a world of greed, decay, and moral collapse. She travels with her grandfather, whose love is deep but whose choices are destructive. Together, they wander through England’s underbelly—meeting gamblers, beggars, saints, and sinners.

And always, death is near.

This is not a novel of triumph. It is a novel of tenderness. Of fragility. Of grace in the gutter. And for Victorian readers, it was overwhelming. Nell’s fate became a national obsession. Her death scene was mourned like a real one. The Old Curiosity Shop is a meditation on mortality, mercy, and the mystery of suffering. Nell is not just a character—she is a symbol. Of childlike faith. Of sacrificial love. Of the gospel lived in silence.

In this episode, I’ll suggest that Dickens uses Nell’s journey to ask the deepest questions: Questions like.

What does it mean to be good in a broken world?

Can innocence survive corruption?

And is death always a defeat—or can it be a doorway to something better?

So, join me as we walk with Nell through the shadow of death, praying that we might fear no evil, because the Spirit of the Lord is with us.

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Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

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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

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https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

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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.

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

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