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Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle

Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle: Episode 13: A Post-Mortem

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Episode 13

Episode 13: A Post-Mortem

A Post-Mortem

BBC Radio 4 - Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle, A Post-Mortem

Richard Holloway focuses on 'the forensics of doubt'.

Richard Holloway looks at the impact of Charles Darwin and geologist Charles Lyell, whose discoveries undermined the creation stories of the Old Testament.

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. 

The mid-19th century was a time of great change in almost every area of life - economic, political, social and industrial. Up to now, Richard Holloway has been looking at 'the poetics of doubt' through the work of poets and writers. Today, he focuses on 'the forensics of doubt'. He looks at the impact of Charles Darwin and geologist Charles Lyell, whose discoveries undermined the creation stories of the Old Testament. And Richard discusses with AN Wilson how the emerging tradition of 'biblical criticism', which began in Germany, started to strip away the supernatural elements of God. 

George Eliot is the bridge here. In translating the work of the German critics, she lost her own faith and began to believe, as the German philosopher and atheist Ludwig Feuerbach suggested, that God may be a human construct - a creation of the human mind.


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

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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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Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle

Episode 13: A Post-Mortem

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