Russell Brand Baptized on Sunday: ‘I Felt Changed’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor and comedian Russell Brand has decided to put his faith and trust in the Lord and was baptized over the weekend.
“Yesterday, I got baptized, and it was an incredible, profound experience,” he said in an X video posted Monday.
He described how, in the past, he sought tranquility, peace and transcendence through substances. But “something occurred in the process of baptism that was incredible, overwhelming…I felt changed, transitioned,” he explained.
“I feel as if some new resource within me has switched on…this is my path now, and I already feel incredibly blessed, relieved, nourished, held…this is new to me, and it’s a joy to me,” Brand added.
I got baptised!!!!
And… pic.twitter.com/c1JamCk49x
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) April 29, 2024
He first announced his decision to get baptized on Friday. “This Sunday, I’m taking the plunge. I’m getting baptized,” he revealed, describing baptism as “an opportunity to die and be reborn; an opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ’s name like it says in Galatians—that you can live as an enlightened and awakened person.”
Brand’s baptism comes after months of exploring the Christian faith. Movieguide® previously reported:
“Like many desperate people, I need spirituality,” Brand told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on TUCKER CARLSON TODAY. “I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people.”
Brand admits that he “didn’t have enough self-discipline to resist the allure of stardom.”
“I fell face first into the glitter, and I’m only just pulling myself out now,” he added.
The Christian Post reported that he was reading the Bible and C.S. Lewis’ “The Problem of Pain” in December.
He opened up about why he wears a cross necklace in an X post in January.
“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,” Brand said. “I’m reading the Bible a lot more, as I’ve told you before, [and] I’m reading Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life.’”
“I know a lot of people are sort of cynical about the increasing interest in Christianity and the return to God, but to me, it’s obvious,” Brand said of why he’s turned to Christianity in Friday’s video. “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. And for me, it’s very exciting.”
Many followers shared their support for his decision.
“Amen! So awesome you are doing this! Jesus is the way! You will be reborn, renewed and cleansed! Maybe just don’t do it in the Thames??? praying for you ??,” singer-songwriter Nicole Scherzinger said on Brand’s post.
“Jesus Himself, was baptized…. A great act of faith in God indeed! And then you must be born of water, and of the Spirit! Ask Jesus to fill you with His Presence, and He will! ?,” author David Harris commented.
Pray for Brand as he continues to strengthen and deepen his relationship with the Lord.
Movieguide® previously reported on Brand’s faith:
The actor revealed that although he grew up in a Christian household, he never found much purpose in religion.
“Christianity seemed like it was either really irrelevant and old fashioned and sort of dusty and sort of incense and Anno Domini. Or they tried to modernize it, and it seemed just like, ‘Right, okay, we’re gonna talk about Jesus.’ And, like, both of those routes seem like, ‘Oooh, I don’t know if there’s anything for me,” Brand explained.
However, as he’s grown older, Brand has begun to see purpose in pursuing Christ. In recent months, the actor has undergone severe scrutiny as he faced allegations of sexual assault and rape. Though he was already trending towards Christianity before this, these allegations, which he has adamantly denied, have led him to pursue Christ even harder.
“It seems that it’s taken quite a lot to recognize that you need – I need – a personal relationship with God,” Brand said. “It occurred to me that instead of always talking to myself inwardly, I could replace one of those voices with an indwelling God.”
“It says in Galatians, ‘It is our job to die so that as Christ died on the cross, He might be reborn in us,’” he added, referencing Galatians 2:20.
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