The Pearl of Great Price
A short daily trip down the lane of Christian History. Looking at the fascinating people and events that have shaped a universal civilisation.
Nov 15 How to Read the Bible - Dei Verbum
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One of the most consequential documents of Vatican 2 is also one of the shortest - Dei Verbum which deals with Divine Revelation
Nov 14 Blitzes, Bombs and Cathedrals
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The Coventry Blitz on Nov 14 1940 was the most devestating in Britain during WW2. Its bombed out cathedral is now world famous
Nov 12 King Canute and the tide
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King Canute the King of Denmark, Norway and England built up an Empire of the North Sea. He also put a lot of money back into rebuilding churches and monasteries. Why did he attempt to turn back the sea?
Nov 13 A Darwinist's description of religious experience
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The Marine Biologist - Sir Alister Hardy - set up a centre to study religious experience. He claimed that 50% of people in the UK had a religious experience and saw this as an evolutionary response to some dimension of reality
Nov 11 Ordaining Women
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Today we remember how the General Synod voted to accept women priests in 1992.
Nov 10 Stopping Clandestine Marriages
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The Council of Trent is most famous for its counter reformation decrees - but perhaps of most significance in shaping civilisations is its decree 'Tametsi' which tried to counteract clandestine marriage
Nov 9 Satan and the Book of Enoch
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We remember the death of William Morfill, the first professor of Russian and Slavonic languages in Britain, He translated the non-canonical Book of Enoch which had been preserved in Bulgarian texts and describes how Satan was cast out of heaven
Nov 8 The Samaritans and Chad Varah
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Nov 7 Pope Benedict consecrates Barcelona's Sagrada Famiiia
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The Sagrada Familia was Anthony Gaudi's magnus opus and attracts more than 3 million visitors every year to Barcelona. Today we remember how Pope Benedict consecrated the unfinished basilica - and opened it to the public to worship - which was Gaudi;s intention and dream
Nov 6 George Williams and the YMCA
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George Williams inspired by the ideals of Muscular Christianity founded the YMCA to offer young men an alternative and healthy life to the urban malaise he saw in London, The movement spread around the world and invented basketball and volleyball as part of its legacy
Nov 5 Guy Fawkes and York Minster
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Guy Fawkes was from York and to commemorate his failure to blow up the House of Lords a special light show was projected onto the beautiful and famous York Minster. Today we look at both the story of Guy Fawkes and the beautiful York Cathedral and its links to the Emperor Constantine
Nov 4 J R R Tolkien's Theological Mythology
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The Lord of the Rings has been hugely successful as a book and a film series, all over the world, We look at the theology that underpins J R R Tolkien's Middle- Earth that has been popular all over the world
Nov 3 War Requiem - Benjamin Britten and Wilfred Owen
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Coventry Cathedral was rebuilt after being bombed in WW2, with its shell left standing next to the new cathedral a symbol of Resurrection and Reconciliation. It commissioned a War Requiem from Benjamin Britten which incorporated Wilfred Owen's poetry with a Latin Requiem Mass Setting
Nov 2 The Theology of Failure according to John Navone
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One of the most intriguing works of Christology is the Theology of Failure by John Navone. An edition was published today in 1974 and it has had a lasting influence on Pope Francis
Nov 1 Michelangelo's Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
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After four years work - the Sistine Chapel was opened for public viewing on all Saints Day. Michelangelo's Ceilings is now seen as one of the greatest artistic achievements of all time - with more than three hundred figures. it shows the creation, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood - the first chapters of the book of Genesis .
Oct 31 Catholics and Lutherans agree on Justification
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The understanding of justification by faith alone was the theological faultline at the heart of the reformation. Today almost 5oo years later a joint statement was released in agreement between Lutherans and Catholics
Oct 30 Nat Turners Slave Rebellion
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The Slave Nat Turner believed that he was divinely inspired to lead an uprising of slaves in Virginia. He would be killed for his efforts
Oct 29 St Andrew, his relics and Scotland
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Today we look at the story of St Regulus being shipwrecked in Scotland with relics of St Andrew. How he became the national saint and the story behind his saltire
Oct 28 The Good Pope and the Cuban Missile Crisis
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John XXIII was born into a simple farming family and was proud of his humble beginnings. He Was mourned after his death as 'Il Papa Buono' and mas made Time Magazine Man of the year after his intervention in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Oct 27 Constantine, the Edict of Milan and The True Cross
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Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to be baptised a Christian, This was an incredible turnaround after many terrible persecutions of the Roman authorities, killing tens of thousands of Christians. We look at the spiritual experience that may explain this and the influence of his mother St Helena and her quest to find the true cross
Oct 26 Alfred the Great - Christianity unites England
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When Alfred defeated Guthrum at the Battle of Eddington and then proceeded to be his mentor and oversee his baptism - England was at a turning point. From Being the embattled King Of Wessex he oversaw the beginning of the unification of England and the assimilation of many Danes
Oct 25 Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales
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Geoffrey Chaucer's stories of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St Thomas a Becket have lead to him being called the father of English Literature, We look at his life, his writing and his ambiguous relationship with the church
Oct 24 Chartres Cathedral - Jewel of Civilisation
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A series of churches and cathedrals have stood in Chartres since the 4th Century. A testament to resilience and perseverance, the current one dating back nearly eight hundred years is a UNESCO world heritage site. Its stained glass are some of the most famous in the world and its labyrinth still attracts many pilgrims.
Oct 23 Chang Kei Shek is baptised in China
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Chang Kei Shek was the longest leader of China in the 20th Century - although his later years he spent in Taiwan - escaping from the Communists. Today we remember his baptism due to his mother-in-law
Oct 22 Tillich - God as the Ground of Being
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Paul Tillich became on of Protestantism's most influential thinkers of the 20th Century. His life and career had two parts in Germany and the America. Scarred by his experience of World War One he had to flee the country when Hitler came to power
Oct 21 Gerard Manley Hopkins - The priest who was a poet
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Hopkins has been described as the most influential Victorian Poet with his creative us of language and sprung rhythm. A Jesuit priest - he had a lifelong struggle balance his poetic impulses with his religious ones
Oct 20 Schillebeeckx and the empty tomb
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Edward Schillebeeckx was a provocative and influential theologian. His book on Christology today lead him to be invited to Rome to answer some questions about what he was teaching about the resurrection
Oct 19 Solidarity, Poland and the assassination of a priest
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Today in1984 the Polish priest Jerzy Popiełuszko was beaten to death by three Security Police officers. He was a friend of Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement who overthrew the communists
Oct 18 Caravaggio and the Mafia
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Caravaggio was one of the greatest artists of the European Renaissance. He also lead one of the wildest lives. We look at how one of his paintings was stolen in Palermo. We also look at what motivated him and his turbulent life
Oct 17 The Nobel Peace Prize and Mother Teresa
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The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes in the world. We look at famous Christians who were awarded it , as well as who didn't and the speech given by the first nun to be awarded it - Mother Teresa
Oct 16 The Quantam Physicist who became a priest - Polkinghorne
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John Polkinghorne believed that science and religion provided a binocular vision of the truth. He left a prestigious post in Physics and Cambridge University to become an Anglican priest
Oct 15 How we measure time - Pope Gregory's Calendar
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The Gregorian calendar is now almost universally used. This is the story about how Pope Gregory promulgated it after some revisions were made of the Julian Calendar which slightly overestimated the solar orbit of planet Earth
Oct 14 Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janiero
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We remember how today the public where given access to this iconic statue of Christ overlooking Rio. With his arms stretched out the statue can be seen anywhere in the city of 7 million people by anyone,
Oct 13 The miracle of Fatima as witnessed by 50,000
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Today in 1917 reports went around the world of a miracle of the Sun that was witnessed by a crowd of 50.000 in Portugal. The 'miracle' had been predicted by three peasant children from Fatima who had been seeing a 'Lady of the Rosary' who had urged prayer in order to stop the First World War
Oct 12 God and Humanity - Analogia Entis, Erich Przywara's universal rhythm
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The discussion between Karl Barth and the Polish Jesuit Erich Przywara about the analogy of being - mortal humanities relationship to God the immortal creator, has been one of the richest between Catholic and Protestant theologians in modern times
Oct 11 Vatican 2 Opens
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The Second ecumenical council of the Vatican was attended by between 2,100 and 2,300 bishops from all over the world, at its different sessions that lasted 4 years. It was the biggest ever council and set the direction of the church in the modern world
Oct 10 Carlo Acutis - the first millenial saint
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15 year old computer geek Carlo Acutis died of Luekemia in 2005 - he was beatified in 2020. Thousands of people visit his shrine in Assisi every day. Could he become the first millenial saint?
Oct 9 Fr Gabrielle Fallopio and Fallopian tubes
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The man who ushered anatomy into the renaissance age after stagnating with 1300 years of Galen was Fr Gabrielle Fallopio. He gave his name to the Fallopian tube, Fallopian Canal, and Fallopian ligament.
Oct 8 Japans Schindler's List
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Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania during the war, He had converted to Christianity for his first marriage - joining the Orthodox Church. He saved thousands of Jews by issuing them visas and this was only discovered in Japan when many turned up at his funeral
Oct 7 Mother Teresa - sign of contradiction
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Gallup claimed that she was by far the most admired person of the century after polling, and she won numerous prizes including the Nobel Peace Prize. She attracted thousands of young people to help her - but she also attracted some fierce, and unrelenting critics for her uncompromising witness
