Something Understood

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Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

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Something Understood: The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, The Fifth Element

Sarah Goldingay explores the spiritual significance of the idea of a 'fifth element'.

Sarah Goldingay examines the elements and explores the spiritual significance of the idea of a 'fifth element'.

Academic Dr Sarah Goldingay examines the elements and explores the spiritual significance of the idea of a 'fifth element' which appears in a wide range of faith traditions.

The four elements - earth, air, fire and water - were established in classical Greece in the west and are mirrored in the beliefs of many other ancient cultures around the world. These material elements are at the core of many creation myths. In Genesis, the spirit of God moves upon the face of the water, makes Adam from water and earth, uses wind to clear the land after the great flood and rains fire of destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Sarah notes that, in most of the stories surrounding the four elements, there is another presence, an ethereal force that somehow blends and animates the material four - a fifth element.

Investigating this notion of a metaphysical power that transforms the physical and sparks creativity, Sarah draws upon biblical descriptions of the Holy Spirit, the writings of the first documented alchemist and the differing approaches to improvisation adopted by jazz legends John Coltrane and Keith Jarrett.

Presenter: Sarah Goldingay
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI Media production of BBC Radio 4.

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