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Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle

Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle: Episode 14: God's Funeral

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Episode 14

Episode 14: God's Funeral

God's Funeral

BBC Radio 4 - Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle, God's Funeral

Richard Holloway focuses on writer Thomas Hardy and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Richard brings together the English writer Thomas Hardy and the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who represented for many the culmination of the Victorian crisis of faith.

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 episode, Richard Holloway brings together the 19th century English writer Thomas Hardy and the 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who represented for many the culmination of the Victorian crisis of faith. 

In his poetry, notably God's Funeral and The Oxen, Hardy writes with nostalgia about his loss of faith. AN Wilson, author of The Victorians, describes Hardy as being 'infected with the doubting spirit of the age' but retaining 'a wistfulness of what had been lost'. 

Nietzsche's declaration, through one of the characters in his work The Gay Science, that 'God is Dead and we have killed him' is a significant moment in the story of doubt. For Chris Janaway, Professor of Philosophy at Southampton University, the statement is an attack on contemporary society which has lost its sense of value and morality.


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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