In this episode of Catholic Unscripted, Katherine Bennett and Mark Lambert are joined by Professor Jacob Phillips for a wide-ranging conversation about freedom, obedience, and the spiritual imagination of modern society.

Beginning with reflections on the arrest of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the discussion turns to the deeper cultural assumptions revealed by contemporary responses to authority, responsibility, and moral order. Why does the modern world instinctively associate freedom with autonomy and self-direction? And what has been lost when freedom is severed from obedience?

Drawing on his book Obedience is Freedom, Professor Phillips explores the paradox at the heart of Christian life: that true freedom is not found in independence from authority, but in faithful participation in the order given by God. The conversation reflects on fidelity to the Church as something received rather than constructed, and on the spiritual stability that comes from belonging to a tradition larger than oneself.

A particularly moving part of the discussion considers the “simple saints” — those whose path to Christ is not primarily intellectual but affective, sacramental, and imaginative. Catholicism, unlike forms of Christianity centred exclusively on doctrinal comprehension, offers multiple avenues to encounter Christ: through beauty, devotion, liturgy, and the maternal tenderness of Our Lady. The faith becomes accessible not only to the learned, but to the childlike heart.

This is a thoughtful and gentle exploration of freedom, authority, and the quiet holiness that flourishes within the Church’s living tradition.

Topics Discussed

Cultural reactions to authority and responsibility

Prince Andrew’s arrest as a lens on modern moral imagination

The modern misunderstanding of freedom

The argument of Obedience is Freedom

Authority as gift rather than constraint

Faithfulness to the Church received across generations

The place of the “simple saints” in Christian life

Catholicism as incarnational and sacramental

Beauty, devotion, and Our Lady as paths to Christ

Intellectual assent versus lived participation

Key Themes

Freedom as participation rather than autonomy

Obedience as spiritual stability

The Church as inheritance, not project

Holiness accessible to the simple

Beauty as a mode of evangelisation

About the Guest

Professor Jacob Phillips is a philosopher and academic whose work explores freedom, authority, and Christian moral life. His book Obedience is Freedom offers a compelling account of why modern understandings of liberty often obscure the deeper freedom found in faithful belonging.

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