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How to Become a Christian in Seven Days*: *May take 50 years of sin and serious f*ck ups to get started
How to Become a Christian in Seven Days* is New York Times bestselling author Russell Brand’s testimony and guide to a timeless, yet zeitgeist-capturing, grounded, yet psychedelic encounter with Christ.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published May 12, 2026
About the author
Russell Brand
28 books1,625 followersRussell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author, and activist. Brand dresses in a flamboyant bohemian fashion describing himself as looking like an "S&M Willy Wonka." Brand's current style consists of black eyeliner, drainpipe jeans, Beatle boots, and long, shaggy, backcombed hair.
In October 2010, Brand married pop singer Katy Perry. The two separated in December 2011.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 20, 2026
Curiosity called me and I answered. I loved it, but some points are a little bit like a James Joyce novel. Brand's vulnerability - and I mean this in the true sense of his knowing himself and sharing the real person he is - is stunning... stunning like running into a wall at high speed. He writes exactly like he speaks - and as a reader, many times I felt like I was on the Tea Cup ride at Disney World - spinning so fast that you only catch a few glimpses of the reality. But when the spinning stops, the reality is simple. His immaturity in Christ is beautiful and real. His love for Christ is evident. I have often said about some "kookie" Christians - don't mock them. You don't know what God has saved them from. Brand tells us what God has saved him from and his unorthodox, peculiar, and well, freakish verbiage is indicative of what God has saved him out of. He is a walking miracle, as is every believer in Christ. It's a wholly wonderful encounter with a new disciple.
May 24, 2026
A surprise read. I rarely understand Russell when I hear him speak and consider him a comedian/actor/satirist/host so not quite sure.
Because his comedy doesnt make me laugh it makes me squirm. It makes me think. It turns me off. So i had to read his book. And get to know him. I enjoy testimonies of coming to Christ and this is an unexpected one. The book is written in a style that is just like he speaks. A stream of consciousnesses.
Though the hardest was the middle with lots of rereading because of English jargon slang and sentence structure. If you can get past all that there are jewels here. I cried towards the end. It broke me. Warmed me. What a journey his life. To know what he was suffering with his baby during the allegations - made the allegations smaller- because God showed up big in what really mattered - touched me. His love for Christ, the 12 steps, his clarity, the wolves at the door and his unbecoming. Watch for drug use details and other triggers. Good read for anyone Christian or not.
Because his comedy doesnt make me laugh it makes me squirm. It makes me think. It turns me off. So i had to read his book. And get to know him. I enjoy testimonies of coming to Christ and this is an unexpected one. The book is written in a style that is just like he speaks. A stream of consciousnesses.
Though the hardest was the middle with lots of rereading because of English jargon slang and sentence structure. If you can get past all that there are jewels here. I cried towards the end. It broke me. Warmed me. What a journey his life. To know what he was suffering with his baby during the allegations - made the allegations smaller- because God showed up big in what really mattered - touched me. His love for Christ, the 12 steps, his clarity, the wolves at the door and his unbecoming. Watch for drug use details and other triggers. Good read for anyone Christian or not.
May 19, 2026
4 Stars⭐️
An honest & unique perspective on the key steps of “becoming a Christian”. I appreciated the use of extraordinary English words I had to look up - and when paired with Brand’s one-liners (both serious and punny) sometimes made me see my faith in new ways!
Highlights for me were his relational testimonies (especially his son/wife/dog), the story of his baptism, and the unashamed storytelling that shows the true expression & extension of Christ’s love.
For me, there were too many side-tracked conversations on COVID, politics, theories etc … was distracting from the main “steps” he was taking - although fitting with his passions the last couple years.
This read was relevant and I also enjoyed some of his takes on scientific principles and their correlation with an infinite God. Although not agreeing with every statement, Brand does well to keep Biblical Scripture as supreme to his own words and encourages his readers to seek Jesus first!
An honest & unique perspective on the key steps of “becoming a Christian”. I appreciated the use of extraordinary English words I had to look up - and when paired with Brand’s one-liners (both serious and punny) sometimes made me see my faith in new ways!
Highlights for me were his relational testimonies (especially his son/wife/dog), the story of his baptism, and the unashamed storytelling that shows the true expression & extension of Christ’s love.
For me, there were too many side-tracked conversations on COVID, politics, theories etc … was distracting from the main “steps” he was taking - although fitting with his passions the last couple years.
This read was relevant and I also enjoyed some of his takes on scientific principles and their correlation with an infinite God. Although not agreeing with every statement, Brand does well to keep Biblical Scripture as supreme to his own words and encourages his readers to seek Jesus first!
May 16, 2026
Raw, vivid, personal, and simply lovely. As someone fumbling her own way to Christ it is an excellent reference, resource, and respite to read a book from someone doing the same. And with Russell’s usual eloquence, wit, and humor. And I imagine if (when) I actually practice the exercises he prescribes I’ll find myself all the closer to Him
May 26, 2026
Interesting insight into his personal life along with some helpful advice but contains questionable theology throughout.
May 30, 2026
Fifty-five highlighted passages in 182 pages.
I will let that number speak before I say anything else.
I have followed Russell Brand for years. Since long before it was comfortable to do so. Since Covid and the shift toward independent media and the slow, public unravelling of a man who had built an entire identity on transgression and was now, visibly, trying to find something that could hold the weight of an actual soul. I watched it happen in real time and I found it genuinely moving. A man with that much intelligence and that much damage turning toward God is not a small thing.
This book is exactly what he is. Which is to say it is chaotic and brilliant and occasionally maddening and shot through with passages that stop you completely.
The writing moves the way Brand talks. In spirals. In sudden accelerations. In long serpentine sentences that double back on themselves and then arrive somewhere unexpected and precise. It is not an easy read in the conventional sense. You cannot skim it. If you try, you lose the thread entirely and find yourself several pages later with no idea how you got there. But if you stay with it, if you surrender to the rhythm of it, there are genuine revelations here.
He writes about sin as separation. About the self as the original false idol. About how building your entire existence around fame and desire and the worship of your own image is not confidence but a kind of spiritual starvation that grows louder the more you feed it. "If you, like I used to, formed your own religion from available new age ideas, who is there in the middle curating and orchestrating it all? He looks familiar. It's me." That landed like cold water.
And then his son's heart condition. The moment the whole architecture of his carefully constructed life cracked open and something else got in. He did not dramatise it. He did not sentimentalise it. He just described what it cost him to understand that he was not in control, had never been in control, and that the thing he had been running from his entire life was the only thing that could actually hold him.
I do not agree with everything in this book. The political digressions occasionally pull focus. There are moments where the countercultural thinking and the theological thinking collapse into each other in ways I found frustrating rather than illuminating.
But here is what I keep returning to. Brand is a man of extraordinary intellect who has passed through extraordinary darkness and come out the other side genuinely changed. Not performing change. Actually changed. You can feel the difference on the page.
As a Catholic reader, I often found myself smiling and thinking: you're getting warmer, Russell. Much warmer. I hope that if he continues pulling on some of the theological threads he explores here, Rome may eventually appear on the horizon. Given the depth of his intellect and his obvious hunger for truth, I would not be remotely surprised.
What a book!
Which contains, among other things, the most unexpectedly devastating sentence I have read this year. "The point of the culture is to destroy you by stealing your soul. This, though, requires your participation, as does your salvation."
What struck me most was the sincerity. Beneath the jokes, the vocabulary, the politics, the intellectual acrobatics and the occasional conspiracy-shaped detour, there is a man genuinely trying to orient his life towards Christ.
And that matters.
Fifty-five highlights.
Read it.
I will let that number speak before I say anything else.
I have followed Russell Brand for years. Since long before it was comfortable to do so. Since Covid and the shift toward independent media and the slow, public unravelling of a man who had built an entire identity on transgression and was now, visibly, trying to find something that could hold the weight of an actual soul. I watched it happen in real time and I found it genuinely moving. A man with that much intelligence and that much damage turning toward God is not a small thing.
This book is exactly what he is. Which is to say it is chaotic and brilliant and occasionally maddening and shot through with passages that stop you completely.
The writing moves the way Brand talks. In spirals. In sudden accelerations. In long serpentine sentences that double back on themselves and then arrive somewhere unexpected and precise. It is not an easy read in the conventional sense. You cannot skim it. If you try, you lose the thread entirely and find yourself several pages later with no idea how you got there. But if you stay with it, if you surrender to the rhythm of it, there are genuine revelations here.
He writes about sin as separation. About the self as the original false idol. About how building your entire existence around fame and desire and the worship of your own image is not confidence but a kind of spiritual starvation that grows louder the more you feed it. "If you, like I used to, formed your own religion from available new age ideas, who is there in the middle curating and orchestrating it all? He looks familiar. It's me." That landed like cold water.
And then his son's heart condition. The moment the whole architecture of his carefully constructed life cracked open and something else got in. He did not dramatise it. He did not sentimentalise it. He just described what it cost him to understand that he was not in control, had never been in control, and that the thing he had been running from his entire life was the only thing that could actually hold him.
I do not agree with everything in this book. The political digressions occasionally pull focus. There are moments where the countercultural thinking and the theological thinking collapse into each other in ways I found frustrating rather than illuminating.
But here is what I keep returning to. Brand is a man of extraordinary intellect who has passed through extraordinary darkness and come out the other side genuinely changed. Not performing change. Actually changed. You can feel the difference on the page.
As a Catholic reader, I often found myself smiling and thinking: you're getting warmer, Russell. Much warmer. I hope that if he continues pulling on some of the theological threads he explores here, Rome may eventually appear on the horizon. Given the depth of his intellect and his obvious hunger for truth, I would not be remotely surprised.
What a book!
Which contains, among other things, the most unexpectedly devastating sentence I have read this year. "The point of the culture is to destroy you by stealing your soul. This, though, requires your participation, as does your salvation."
What struck me most was the sincerity. Beneath the jokes, the vocabulary, the politics, the intellectual acrobatics and the occasional conspiracy-shaped detour, there is a man genuinely trying to orient his life towards Christ.
And that matters.
Fifty-five highlights.
Read it.
June 29, 2026
I absolutely love seeing God glorified in the most radical conversions. And if you’re looking for a story about reaching the end of one’s self… of self denial and dependence on Christ, that’s in here. It was an interesting testimony to read.
….but Brand is all over the place with his words and ideas. It reads just like he talks- rather spastic and wordy. And there are several typos, which kind of surprised me. Some of it is way over my head! He’s a brainy guy.
And for the record, while he is converted and baptized into Christian faith, he still clings to a lot of psychology (Carl Jung) and New Age ideas. I was also surprised at the amount of politics he includes… A lot of conspiracy-theorist sounding stuff. But from what little I’ve seen him post online, that’s sort of his thing I suppose.
Being that Russell Brand’s salvation came after working through a 12 step program for addiction(s) and in the middle of multiple personal crisis situations, it’s understandable that it’s a bit messy. (Aren’t we all a bit messy?!) I look forward to seeing what the Lord continues to do in this guy‘s life.
….but Brand is all over the place with his words and ideas. It reads just like he talks- rather spastic and wordy. And there are several typos, which kind of surprised me. Some of it is way over my head! He’s a brainy guy.
And for the record, while he is converted and baptized into Christian faith, he still clings to a lot of psychology (Carl Jung) and New Age ideas. I was also surprised at the amount of politics he includes… A lot of conspiracy-theorist sounding stuff. But from what little I’ve seen him post online, that’s sort of his thing I suppose.
Being that Russell Brand’s salvation came after working through a 12 step program for addiction(s) and in the middle of multiple personal crisis situations, it’s understandable that it’s a bit messy. (Aren’t we all a bit messy?!) I look forward to seeing what the Lord continues to do in this guy‘s life.
July 9, 2026
A powerful read about redemption and surrender
Whether you're a new Christian, or have been a Christian for years, there is truth and powerful insight to be found in this book. Brand is raw and honest about his journey from being a lost wanderer here on earth to a new creation in Christ Jesus who now lives a life surrendered to Christ, free from the bondage of sin and shame.
Whether you're a new Christian, or have been a Christian for years, there is truth and powerful insight to be found in this book. Brand is raw and honest about his journey from being a lost wanderer here on earth to a new creation in Christ Jesus who now lives a life surrendered to Christ, free from the bondage of sin and shame.
June 10, 2026
Listening to Russell Brand reciting Bible stories made me laugh out loud.
June 15, 2026
Very deep and personal.
June 12, 2026
Recommend listening to the author read it to you….the guy may be weird but he’s a genius… and I believe his faith story. I find him frustratingly likable!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews