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Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle

Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle: Episode 20: Tears in the Rain

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Episode 20

Episode 20: Tears in the Rain

Tears in the Rain

BBC Radio 4 - Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle, Tears in the Rain

In the concluding episode, Richard Holloway sums up the journey he has undertaken.

In the concluding episode, Richard Holloway sums up the journey he has undertaken in his reflections on the tensions between faith and doubt over the last 3,000 years.

In the final programme in his series of personal essays, Richard Holloway concludes his reflections on 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. 

Summing up the journey he has undertaken over the previous four weeks, Richard describes the 'human animal' as 'a riddle': 'Whence came our creations, our amazing discoveries? How did all this meaning, all this purpose, all this beauty, emerge from the void?' He concedes that there are 'neither negative nor positive conclusions about the mystery that besets us' but accepts that our moments will be lost 'like tears in the rain'. 

Talking to him about that mystery are the writer and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, the theologian and author Professor Don Cupitt, and the poet Sir Andrew Motion. 


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 20: Tears in the Rain

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