Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 277,288 playable programmes from the BBC

Heart and Soul

Absolving The Past

Episode 2

Duration: 27 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC World Service OnlineLatest broadcast: on BBC World Service Online

Available for over a year

Religion is in a special bind. It must represent the eternal.

But how does a world religion grapple with the fact that, throughout its history, important beliefs or practices have become obsolete?

In this two-part series, Imam for the Islamic Centre at New York University Khalid Latif, addresses religion as a difficult learning process with believers and leading theological thinkers.

Using historic and contemporary examples, the Imam examines how religions revise, update or even apologise.

In part two Khalid will look at the Catholic Church.

He’ll meet members of the Vatican Observatory, discussing how far the Church has come since the trial of Galileo.

He will muse on the history and future of the Church with lay Catholics.

With prominent rabbis, Khalid also examines how Judaism adapts to cultural pressure, interpreting the lessons and laws of the Torah.

(Image: Imam Khalid Latif. Credit: Bryan Derballa) Show less

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More