Past Programs
History - 2003
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I Was a Teenage Catholic in Belfast
17/12/2003
Journalist and broadcaster, Malachi O'Doherty, reflects on the religious upbringing of Catholics and Protestants in Belfast during 1950s.
Jewish Museum Berlin
10/12/2003
Officially opened in September 2001, the Jewish Museum Berlin, housed in the renowned Libeskind Building, features two thousand years of German Jewish history.
God's Wife
12/11/2003
The belief in only one God was a long time coming among the ancient Israelites.
Originally God had a wife and her name was Asherah. Biblical archaeologist,
Diana Edelman tells the story of "Mrs God" and why she was banished from the Temple.
Priest Architect
29/10/2003
Monsignor John Cyril Hawes (1876-1956) left a legacy of remarkable architecture that is now the basis of a pilgrimage trail in Western Australia. The trail includes the towns of Talgoo, Tardun, Morawa, Perejori, Northampton, Nanson and Geraldton. This one-time Anglican priest who joined the Roman Catholic Church ended his life as a hermit in the Bahamas. His story is told by biographer Tony Evans.
The Exodus Miracles - Fact or Fiction?
08/10/2003
Did the Red Sea really part before the Israelites? Why didn't the fire consume the Burning Bush? What was the Manna in the Wilderness? Distinguished British scientist, Colin Humphreys, examines the evidence and provides a remarkable account of "what really happened".
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Pastor, Poet, Nazi Resister
17/09/2003
As a Lutheran pastor in Germany during the 1930s Bonhoeffer actively resisted the Nazi regime. For his part in an attempted plot to assassinate Hitler, Bonhoeffer was executed at the age of 39 just days before the end of WWII.
Heavenly Intercession During the Plague
20/08/2003
In 14th Century Europe, when the bubonic plague was still raging, the heavenly powers vied with one another to intercede for the populace and save them from the Black Death. All this is depicted in the paintings by Renaissance artists whose works were commissioned by influential patrons. Art historian Louise Marshall from the University of Sydney tells the story.
The Cathars
13/08/2003
The most feared heresy of the medieval Church was Catharism, which arose in the south of France and spread to Italy and the Rhineland. The Cathars stormed churches and dragged monks from monasteries in a bid to force their beliefs and lifestyle on the Church.
A Brief History of Heresy
25/06/2003
G.R. Evans follows the fraught history of heresy, showing how the Church came to demand orthodoxy in the face of alternative ideals, and explaining how those involved were 'tested' and punished.
A History of Heaven
11/06/2003
Oxford-based religious historian, Alister McGrath, explores the history of heaven from its origins in Biblical writings up to the modern day, taking in literature, theology, politics and the arts.
Mosques & Palaces: After the Fall of Constantinople
28/05/2003
After the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmet II in 1453, the great city on the Bosphorus would become host to grand mosques and one of the finest examples of Ottoman civil architecture, Topkapi Palace, the Imperial residence for more than 4 centuries. Dr. Susan Aykut takes us on a "historical tour" of these historic monuments and the personalities who built them.
Hell's Gates
30/04/2003
The horrific journey for convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land would get a lot worse for Alexander Pearce and his mates, when they escaped from Sarah Island and tried to survive in the wilderness. The rule of "eat or be eaten"
would apply to each other.
Cabal - Cabbala
23/04/2003
The word 'cabal' refers to a group of people with sinister motives who are working in secret to exert their power over unsuspecting people. The term actually comes from Kabbalah (spelled Cabbala by Christians), the Jewish mystical tradition. How one gave rise to the other is the tale that historian Gordon Wiener unravels on this week's Ark.
Morandi's Last Prophecy
02/04/2003
Renaissance Rome's most notorious astrologer, Orazio Morandi, abbot of the monastery of Santa Prassede, was a close friend of Galileo. But his premature prediction of the death of Pope Urban VIII cost him his life.
The Jesus Box
26/03/2003
The verdict is still out on the burial box discovered last year, which purportedly held the remains of James the brother of Jesus. Macquarie University's Chris Forbes explores the unanswered questions and the shifty claims of the box's owner.
City of Light
05/03/2003
We sail back in time to the 14th century and to the Chinese port of Quan-zhou.
