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Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle

Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle: Episode 8: Vacating Heaven

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Episode 8

Episode 8: Vacating Heaven

Vacating Heaven

BBC Radio 4 - Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle, Vacating Heaven

How new scientific understanding influenced thinking on the relationship of mankind to God

Richard Holloway discusses how the new understanding that the Earth was not the centre of the universe influenced 17th-century thinking on the relationship of mankind to God.

In a series of personal essays, Richard Holloway considers the tensions between faith and doubt over the last 3000 years. Author and former Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway focuses on the Judeo-Christian tradition as he takes the listener from the birth of religious thinking, through the Old and New Testaments, to the developments in subsequent centuries and their influence on thinkers and writers, up to the present day. 

In today's programme Richard Holloway discusses how the great leaps forward in scientific thought, particularly the new understanding that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, influenced the way leading 17th century thinkers reconsidered the relationship of mankind to God. Holloway talks about such great figures as Isaac Newton, Descartes and Pascal, with contributors including author Sir Anthony Kenny, Susan James, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College and Peter Millican, Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University.


Producer: Olivia Landsberg 
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.

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Richard Holloway presents a series on the relationship between faith and doubt

Richard Holloway, writer and former Bishop of Edinburgh, presents a series of personal essays on the relationship between faith and doubt over the last 3,000 years

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