The Bible is both a religious and historical work, but how much is myth and how much is history?
Social & External
Jonathan Phillips attempts to find the answer to the question: How did Christianity grow and develop from just a small, Jewish sect to the largest, and majority, dominant religion of the West?
A four-part history of the Inquisition, a 500-year campaign against heretics by the Roman Catholic Church initiated by Pope Gregory IX. The series benefits from the 1998 release of secret Vatican files.
Theologian Hans Küng explains and explores religions around the world, where they originated, and what defines them.
In 90 A.D., ancient Rome played host to a sporting spectacle that attracted crowds three times the size of the Colosseum?s gladiator games: chariot racing. Every week, 150,000 fans packed the massive Circus Maximus, not just to cheer on the speed, fury, and danger of the races, but to witness the champion charioteer, Flavius Scorpus. Examine his improbable rise from young slave to arguably the most successful competitor in the sport?s history.
Through new discoveries in science and archaeology, explorers take a look at the origins of the Vikings and how they influenced history.
Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on British Channel 4 from 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode featured a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining the process in layman's terms. This team of specialists changed throughout the series' run, although has consistently included professional archaeologists such as Mick Aston, Carenza Lewis, Francis Pryor and Phil Harding. The sites excavated over the show's run have ranged in date from the Palaeolithic right through to the Second World War.
Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief – known in the United States as A Brief History of Disbelief – is a 2004 television documentary series written and presented by Jonathan Miller for the BBC and tracing the history of atheism.
1984 Channel 4 documentary series surveying the history of New Testament scholarship, giving an overview of the contemporary New Testament scholarship, and finally a tracing of the history of the development of Christianity.
Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou examines how archaeological discoveries are changing the way people interpret stories from the Bible.
Dan Snow joins military archaelogists as they investigate the former battlegrounds of the Second World War, uncovering little-known stories through excavations and dives across Europe
A new Channel 4 series takes archaeology to the edge this summer as a team of experts tackles sites across the country that are beyond the reach of normal investigations. In Extreme Archaeology, an eight-part series starting on 20 June, a team of archaeologists with help from top climbers, cavers and divers investigates amazing and unique archaeological sites throughout the UK. Many archaeological locations are beyond the reach of your average archaeologist. They are found in inaccessible caves, on treacherous cliffs, deep under water, or in locations simply too remote or dangerous for normal investigation. Their remoteness often means that their secrets are unique, but they can also be under threat from erosion or other factors and this adds a rescue element to any investigation. Using some of the most advanced scientific equipment available, and high-tech miniature cameras and communication systems to record the action, Extreme Archaeology's experts are dropped into extreme and inaccessible environments under time and other pressures that test their personal and professional skills to the limit.
Millions of tourists visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia every year to marvel at its remarkable architecture, yet most are probably unaware that when it was built nearly 1,000 years ago it was even more impressive. Using remote sensing technology, scientists now know what is hidden beneath the nearby paddy fields and jungle: a sophisticated metropolis with an elaborate network of houses, canals, boulevards and temples covering 30 square kilometres that housed three-quarters of a million people. To put that into perspective, London at that time was home to just 18,000. These previously hidden finds tell us a great deal about life during the golden age of the powerful Khmer dynasty.
For centuries, explorers have searched for the Bible’s most sacred religious artefacts. One of the most mysterious of these objects is the famed Ark of the Covenant. The gold-plated wooden chest – one of the most instrumental symbols of faith and God's presence – was believed to house the two tablets bearing the Ten Commandments. The Ark’s exact whereabouts has long puzzled scholars. Where did it go? And why has it remained such a mystery?
Animated World Faiths tells the stories of the world's major faiths and their founders. Gloriously animated in studios in India, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the UK, these programmes have been produced by a team of the worlds best childrens television producers.
Eight-part history of the Christian faith, looking at its origins, development and turbulent past. High-profile British personalities examine a religion that has particular resonance for them.
We're working on finding the perfect shows for you. Check back soon!
