#worst thing is that roberts would somehow lose this theological debate

[viric-dreams]

Something I've been rolling around in my head: Jones is closest to the Great Game for professional reasons, but I think the Game aside, he's actually closest to the Church.

Religion was not something he'd given much thought to on the surface, but in Newgate he had access to only one regular visitor, and one book. It became a stabilising ritual in his life: praying to mark time, keeping count from one holy day to the next, saying grace before meals to prove to himself that he's still civilised, still a person enough to take a moment to reflect and not tear into whatever's in front of him as fast as he can.

The priest had offered to pass on his words back to his family on the surface, let them know how much he missed them. This is how he eventually managed to reestablish contact with the one sister who would still speak to him once he got out.

And when he left Newgate, the local church was one of the first social spaces he had, where he was able to make those first connections with people again and rejoin a community. It's a lot less prominent in his life in London: Prayer is limited to a few moments before bed, and he's still a regular Sunday visitor to the church.

What he actually believes isn't so important, especially in a place where Judgements are demonstrable forces and Hell is real. It's the belief itself, and the rituals that go along with it that give his life structure, and helped him gain a sense of autonomy and control, when for so many years he had none.

This has some particularly interesting implications for his relationship with Nite, a man who fully believes in the Judgements and is working to break the Chain, and eventually tries to persuade Jones to the cause. And his zeal is infectious. Jones is able to hold simultaneously contradictory views. It's not the first or last time that he does.

And though it was the Anglicans and not the Catholics whom he's embraced (in contrast to several of the more religious members of London's Welsh community), he can't help but see the parallels in his work with administering the Rites of St. Joshua. It's the part of his work that he finds the most satisfying--being able to relieve people of their burdens.