There are some who believe that Darwin's theory of evolution has weakened religion, fuelled in part by Richard Dawkins' publishing phenomenon The God Delusion. Conor Cunningham argues that nothing could be further from the truth. Cunningham is a firm believer in the theory of evolution, but he is also a Christian. He believes that the clash between Darwin and God has been hijacked by extremists -
Centuries and centuries before Christ was born, Romans, Mesopotamians, Carthaginians, Balkans, Germans and Scandinavians held huge celebrations on or near December 25th to welcome the return of the sun.The Origins of Christmas delves into this history, revealing surprising similarities between the world's favourite Christian holiday and some of its not-so-religious roots:One of the earliest
The notion of the devil does not originate in the Bible, as many may think - In the Old Testament, Satan is just another one of God's servants. It is in Iran that the religious teacher Zarathustra simplified things, ending up with only two - a God of the Good and a God of Evil. This belief then spread throughout the Middle East. In the Jewish world, Satan, God's obedient servant, was gradually rep
This documentary explores the highly controversial subject of the design of America’s capital. Was the city built to reflect the majesty of America’s new found freedom? Or the hidden agenda of secret societies? With every major cornerstone laid by Freemasons, was the city built in a Masonic pattern? Embark upon this incredible journey as Riddles in Stone interviews experts on both sides of the hea
What is the real source of these ideas that so many people attribute to the book of Revelation? Whoever wrote it sheltered in a cave on the Greek island of Patmos, probably a refugee from Roman occupied Palestine. He is also likely to have consumed the local hallucinogenic magic mushrooms. So rather than taking these bizarre visions literally, it might make more sense to try to understand them in
Created in 1962, a now infamous document was issued in secret to bishops. Called Crimen Sollicitationis, it outlined procedures to be followed by bishops when dealing with allegations of child abuse, homosexuality and bestiality by members of the clergy. It swore all parties involved to secrecy on pain of excommunication from the Catholic Church. This document was reissued in 2001 by Cardinal Jos
Audrey Marie Santo is was an ordinary girl, untill at the age of 3 she fell into the swimming pool and drowned. At the hospital she regained her breath, but fell in a coma. Her parents brought her to Medjugorje where appearances of the virgin Mary were sighted, hoping for a miracle. The virgin Mary had a message for Audrey, and since then Audrey performed miracle healings to many people that visit
John Sweeney investigates the Church of Scientology, endorsed by some major Hollywood celebrities, but which continues to face the criticism that it is less of a religion and more of a cult. Some former members claim the Church uses a mind control technique to put opponents at a psychological disadvantage. During the course of his investigation, Sweeney is shouted at, spied on, visited in his hote
This two part series, which originally aired on Channel 4 back in January 2006, explores the beliefs that are treated as fact by many followers of religion and what Dawkins describes as the ‘process of non-thinking called faith’.