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 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
Sep 14 Dom Perignon, Monks and Wine Making
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Now the most famous champagne is named in his honour, Pierre Perignon was a Benedictine Monk who perfected the method of making sparkling wine
Sep 12 Richard Challoner - leading in an hostile environment
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Bishop Richard Challoner has been called the most influential English Catholic of the 18th Century. It was an uneasy time before Catholic Emancipation laws and least safe in London. The Catholic Church was still illegal after Queen Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity and there were sporadic riots against Catholics. Challoners' life is a case study of successful leadership in a hostile environment
Sep 9 A Theology of Capital - Michael Novak
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Today we remember the life of Michael Novak - influential author of the Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. He tweaked Weber's famous Protestant Work Ethic and claimed that free capitalist economies owed more to a Catholic Work Ethic
Sep 8 Discovering Genes as an opportunity to worship
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Francis Collins the director of the Human Genome Project is a devout Christian. we explore his life today
Sep 7 Ethno-religious riots in Jos, Nigeria
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Jos - the capital of the Plateau state in Nigeria's Central Belt is also a flashpoint for tension and violence between the Christian South and the Muslim North
Sep 6 Blaise Pascale, Salvation & Jansenism and The Index of Prohibited Books
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Today we remember how the Vatican placed the Pascals Provincial Letters on the Index. He was a brilliant French polymath, the inventor of the syringe and a promoter of an exaggerated theology called Jansenism
Sep 5 Cardinal Josef Beran - opposition to totalitarianism in Czechoslovakia
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Archbishop Josef Beran of Prague defied both the Nazis and the Communists. He nearly died of typhus in Dachau concentration camp and after the iron curtain fell was placed under 16 years house arrest by the Communists. He was only allowed to leave the then Czechoslovakia to go to Rome to be made a cardinal - on the condition he didn't return. He died in exile
Sep 4 The Murder of a Croatian Abbot and Iconographer
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Rafailo Momčilović was a celebrated Orthodox painter (writer) of Icons. He was murdered by the fascist Ustase in Croatia whilst they were a Nazi puppet government
Sep 3 The Heliand - An Old Norse Life of Christ
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The discovery and publication of the Heliand started to explain a historical mystery. How were the warrior Germanic Cultures subsumed into Christendom? This life of Christ in Old Norse is now an invaluable epic poem in a forgotten language
Sep 2 An American Ascetic Orthodox Monk - Seraphim Rose
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The translations and summaries of Orthodox wisdom from Fr Seraphim Rose became valued as illegal Samizdat, material banned and shared in a clandestine manner under Communism. We look at the life and conversion of this monk who died at a young age after live a harsh asceticism
Sep 1 Fr Dowling's Spiritual Exercises and Alcoholics Anonymous
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The Friendship between Jesuit Priest Ed Dowling and the founder of the AA Bill Wilson was deep and rich, We look at how Dowling became his advisor and sponsor and how he integrated the Ignatian Exercises into the 12 step programme
Aug 31 Grunewald and the Isenheim Altarpiece
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Matthias Grunewald masterpiece was commissioned by the Antonite Monks at Isenheim. His depiction of an excruciating crucifixion is now iconic and was commissioned in the context of a monastery that was treating victims of the plague and skin disease
Aug 30 Liverpool, Everton and the Rev Ben Chambers
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When Ben Chambers became the Methodist Minister at St Domingo's chapel he started the 'Band of Hope' putting on activities to distract youngsters from drink. Thus Everton FC was born and then its younger brother - the more successful Liverpool FC
Aug 29 Michael Faraday, non conformism and electricity
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Today Michael Faraday induced the first electrical current - this would change civilization. Not formally educated - his enquiring mind was underpinned by his faith - we explore this today
Aug 28 Medellin and the start of Liberation Theology
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Paul VI opened the Second Conference of Latin American Bishops in Medellin, Colombia. This was influenced by the Brazilian educationalist Paolo Freire and his theory on 'conscientisation'. The conference endorsed the 'preferential option for the poor' and base Christian communities. This was the start of what would become known as Liberation Theology.
Aug 27 The Businessman who could be beatified
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Enrique Shaw was a successful lifelong businessman from Argentina. As he was dying awaiting for a life saving blood transfusion - hundreds of his employees queued outside the hospital to give him their blood
Aug 26 Ivan the Terrible's monk
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Adrian of Ondrusuv sacrificed his estate to become a monk after meeting a holy hermit. Ivan the Terrible. a tyrant and cruel leader asked him to be the godfather at his daughters baptism
Aug 25 Nietzsche on the murder of God
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Friedrich Nietzsche died today in 1900 - one of the most influential intellectuals of the modern era. His relationship with God is much more complex than the famous statement that 'God is dead' Today we explore it and his life
Aug 24 Non Conformists and the Book of Common Prayer
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Today approximately 2000 puritans resigned their pulpits as deadline came for forced assent to the Book of Common Prayer. We look at the remarkable impact they have had in both Britain and North America
