Theology
20 episodes
Al-Ghazali
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Islamic scholar Al-Ghazali, one of the most significant and influential philosophers of the Middle Ages.
19 March 2015
Featuring: Peter Adamson, Carole Hillenbrand, Robert Gleave
Philosophy12th-century Muslim theologiansMetaphysiciansIslamic philosophersPsychology in the medieval Islamic worldEconomists of the medieval Islamic world, MujaddidIranian ethicists, Iranian logiciansEpistemologistsAsharis, Muslim critics of atheismAutobiographers11th century12th centuryEconomicsIslamMedicinePsychologyTheologyAlcuin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the cleric, educator and poet from York who put learning for its own sake at the heart of the Carolingian Renaissance
30 January 2020
Featuring: Joanna Story, Andy Orchard, Mary Garrison
History9th-century philosophers8th-century Christian theologians, 8th-century English writers, 8th-century writers in Latin, Anglo-Saxon poets, Anglo-Saxon writersAnglican saintsMedieval English theologiansMedieval Latin-language poetsScholastic philosophersChristian hagiographersGrammarians of Latin8th century9th centuryLanguageTheologyAverroes
Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosopher Averroes who worked to reconcile the theology of Islam with the rationality of Aristotle, achieving both fame and infamy.
5 October 2006
Featuring: Amira Bennison, Peter Adamson, Anthony Kenny
PhilosophyPhilosophers from al-AndalusPeople from Córdoba, SpainPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of mindPhilosophers of religionCritics of deismPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of languageCritics of atheismIslamic philosophersAristotelian philosophersEpistemologistsPhilosophers of psychology12th-century Muslim theologiansPolitical philosophersCritics of ChristianityPhilosophers of sciencePhilosophers of historyLogiciansArabic-language commentators on AristotleOntologistsSocial philosophersPhilosophers of literature12th centuryIslamLanguagePsychologyTheologyBishop Berkeley
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosopher George Berkeley, one of the most significant thinkers of the 18th century.
20 March 2014
Featuring: Peter Millican, Tom Stoneham, Michela Massimi
PhilosophyScholars of Trinity College Dublin17th-century Anglo-Irish people18th-century Irish philosophers18th-century Irish writersEmpiricistsAlumni of Trinity College DublinIdealistsPeople educated at Kilkenny College18th-century Anglican theologiansAcademics of Trinity College DublinEnlightenment philosophers18th-century Anglo-Irish people, 18th-century Irish male writers17th-century Anglican theologiansEpistemologistsAnglican philosophersHistory of calculusPhilosophers of science17th century18th centuryIrelandMathematicsTheologyComenius
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Czech man who tried to use education to build a better understanding between the peoples of Europe who were otherwise divided by religious wars.
19 May 2022
Featuring: Vladimir Urbanek, Suzanna Ivanic, Howard Hotson
Heidelberg University alumni17th-century German bishops, 17th-century Protestant theologians, 17th-century writers from Bohemia, Bishops of the Moravian Church, Burials in North Holland, Czech Protestant clergy, Czech Renaissance humanists, Czech bishops, Czech educational theorists, Czech emigrants, Czech exiles, Czech expatriates in Germany, Czech expatriates in Hungary, Czech expatriates in the Dutch Republic, Czech male writers, Czech people of Hungarian descent, Czech people of the Moravian Church, Czech philosophers, Czech schoolteachers, Czech scientists, Czech theologians, Grammarians from the Czech Republic, Immigrants to the Dutch Republic, John Amos Comenius, People from Uherské Hradiště District, Writers of the Moravian Church17th-century writers in LatinPhilosophers of educationLutheran saints17th centuryLanguageTheologyGeorge Fox and the Quakers
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the foundation of the Religious Society of Friends, otherwise known as the Quakers, in the 17th century.
5 April 2012
Featuring: Justin Champion, John Coffey, Kate Peters
Hobbes
Melvyn Bragg discusses Thomas Hobbes, the great 17th century philosopher who famously said that ungoverned man lived a life that was ‘solitary, poor, brutish and short’.
1 December 2005
Featuring: Quentin Skinner, David Wootton, Annabel Brett
PhilosophyCritics of the Catholic ChurchPhilosophers of culture17th-century writers in LatinPhilosophers of mind17th-century English writersRhetoric theoristsPhilosophers of religionMaterialistsEnglish political philosophersPhilosophers of languageBritish critics of ChristianityPolitical realistsEpistemologistsBritish philosophers of educationPhilosophers of lawEmpiricistsMetaphysiciansBritish critics of religionsPhilosophers of mathematics17th-century English male writersAlumni of St John's College, CambridgeTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of sciencePhilosophers of historyThomas HobbesSocial philosophersNatural law ethicistsEnglish theologians17th-century English philosophersEnglish physicistsOntologists17th centuryLanguageMathematicsMedicineTheologyJohn Donne
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the extraordinary life and work of one of England's finest love poets and, as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, most remarkable preachers.
12 January 2023
Featuring: Mary Ann Lund, Sue Wiseman, Hugh Adlington
CultureCritics of the Catholic ChurchAlumni of Hart Hall, OxfordPhilosophers of religionLiteracy and society theoristsEpigrammatistsEnglish people of Welsh descentIndependent scholars17th-century English poets16th-century English male writersMetaphor theoristsWriters about activism and social changeChristian poetsSonneteersEnglish male poets17th-century Anglican theologiansLutheran saintsAnglican poetsAnglican saints16th-century English poetsPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarWriters from LondonPeople from the City of London17th-century English male writersLiterary theoristsMetaphysical poetsEnglish satiristsPoet priestsEnglish male non-fiction writersPamphleteers17th-century English Anglican priests16th century17th centuryTheologyJohn Wesley and Methodism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the difference John Wesley made during the Christian Revival of the 18th Century, developing Methodism into a major movement around the world
10 December 2020
Featuring: Stephen Plant, Eryn White, William Gibson
ReligionChristian humanistsEnglish letter writersEnglish Anglican theologiansEnglish pamphleteersAlumni of Christ Church, Oxford18th-century evangelicalsChristian radicalsLutheran saintsChristianity in OxfordAnglican saints18th-century Anglican theologiansPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarEnglish abolitionistsEnglish sermon writersFounders of English schools and collegesFounders of religionsGerman–English translatorsEnglish evangelicals18th-century English diaristsPeople educated at Charterhouse SchoolTranslators of the Bible into EnglishChristian vegetarians18th centuryTheologyJulian of Norwich
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the anchoress, who is probably the earliest named woman writer in English, and her celebrated work on her visions of the suffering of Christ.
19 October 2023
Featuring: Katherine Lewis, Philip Sheldrake, Laura Kalas
Religion15th-century English writersWriters from Norwich14th-century Christian mystics, 14th-century English women writers, 15th-century English women writers, 15th-century deaths, English Catholic mystics, Middle English literatureWomen religious writersWomen mysticsMedieval English theologiansEnglish religious writers14th century15th centuryTheologyJust War
Melvyn Bragg examines where the idea of a just war originated and whether after over 100 years of almost unimaginably violent conflict, the term has any meaning at all.
3 June 1999
Featuring: John Keane, Niall Ferguson
Karl Barth
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Swiss theologian who aimed to put God and Christ at the heart of Christianity when he saw others making humanity and self-revelation its focus.
7 December 2023
Featuring: Stephen Plant, Christiane Tietz, Tom Greggs
ReligionDuke University facultyAcademic staff of the University of GöttingenProtestants in the German ResistanceFilioqueChristian ethicistsPeople associated with the University of BaselExistentialist theologians20th-century Swiss writersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesSystematic theologians20th centuryTheologyKierkegaard
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rich and radical ideas of Soren Kierkegaard, often called the father of Existentialism.
20 March 2008
Featuring: Jonathan Rée, Clare Carlisle, John Lippitt
PhilosophyChristian humanistsPhilosophers of cultureExistentialist theologiansPhilosophers of mindMetaphilosophersPhilosophers of lovePhilosophers of religion19th-century male writers19th-century pseudonymous writersChristian poetsEpistemologistsChristian ethicistsPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of artChristian radicalsPhilosophers of psychologyIrony theorists19th-century essayistsMetaphysiciansPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarUniversity of Copenhagen alumni19th-century deaths from tuberculosisPhilosophers of deathOntologistsSocial philosophersAphoristsExistentialistsPhilosophers of literature19th centuryMedicinePsychologyTheologyMilton
Melvyn Bragg examines the literary and political career of the 17th century poet John Milton, examining work such as Paradise Lost as well as his role as propagandist during the English Civil War.
7 March 2002
Featuring: John Carey, Lisa Jardine, Blair Worden
Critics of the Catholic ChurchChristian humanistsBritish free speech activistsNeoclassical writersRhetoricians17th-century writers in Latin17th-century English writersMythopoeic writersRhetoric theoristsEnglish Anglican theologiansLiteracy and society theoristsBlind poetsEnglish political philosophersEnglish essayistsEpic poets17th-century English poetsEnglish male dramatists and playwrightsMetaphor theoristsWriters about activism and social changeChristian poetsSonneteersEnglish male poetsCalvinist and Reformed poetsDeaths from kidney failure in the United KingdomAnglican philosophersAnglican poetsBlind writersAnti-Catholicism in the United KingdomMale essayistsWriters from LondonPeople from the City of London17th-century English male writersEnglish writers with disabilitiesEnglish non-fiction writersLiterary theoristsBritish philosophers of religionEnglish DissentersAlumni of Christ's College, Cambridge17th-century English educatorsEnlightenment philosophersSocial philosophersPamphleteersEnglish educational theorists17th-century English philosophers17th-century English dramatists and playwrightsEnglish theologiansEnglish republicans17th centuryTheologyPapal Infallibility
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the idea that Popes cannot err when defining a doctrine, in office, proclaimed at the First Vatican Council 1869-70
10 January 2019
Featuring: Tom O'Loughlin, Rebecca Rist, Miles Pattenden
Purgatory
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of Purgatory as an idea and, from C12th, as a place imagined alongside Heaven and Hell where souls of sinners would be purged by fire.
25 May 2017
Featuring: Laura Ashe, Matthew Treherne, Helen Foxhall Forbes
St Thomas Aquinas
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic Church's foremost western philosopher and theologian.
17 September 2009
Featuring: Martin Palmer, John Haldane, Annabel Brett
PhilosophyWriters about religion and scienceVirtue ethicistsScholastic philosophersUniversity of Paris alumniThomas AquinasClassical theismCritics of atheismDominican mysticsMedieval Latin-language poetsAristotelian philosophersChristian ethicistsLutheran saintsPhilosophers of lawAnglican saintsMetaphysicians13th-century writers in LatinAngelic visionariesDoctors of the ChurchMagic (supernatural)Catholic philosophersNatural law ethicistsChristian apologists13th-century philosophersSystematic theologians13th centuryLanguageMedicineTheologyThe Fall
Melvyn Bragg discusses the idea of original sin and its impact on politics, gender and notions of morality in western culture, examining Augustine, Milton, the Masaccio frescoes and Charles Darwin.
8 April 2004
Featuring: Martin Palmer, Griselda Pollock, John Carey
The Venerable Bede
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Venerable Bede, who revolutionised history and scholarship, and became adopted by Rome as the last of the founding fathers of Christian religion.
25 November 2004
Featuring: Richard Gameson, Sarah Foot, Michelle Brown
ReligionDoctors of the ChurchEnglish Christian theologians8th-century Christian theologians, 8th-century English writers, 8th-century writers in Latin, Anglo-Saxon poets, Anglo-Saxon writersAnglican saintsTrope theoristsNorthumbrian saintsEnglish Roman Catholic saintsMedieval English theologiansChristian hagiographersHistory of Catholicism in EnglandLutheran saints8th centuryTheologyTypology
An exploration of typology - how characters and stories in the Hebrew Bible, or what Christians call the Old Testament, are believed to be predictions of the New Testament.
17 April 2025
Featuring: Miri Rubin, Harry Spillane, Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe
