The Spirit of Things explores contemporary values and beliefs as expressed through ritual, art, music and sacred texts, and focusing on the nature of spiritual meaning in our lives.
Latest Programs
Sunday 24 Dec 2017
A married Christian woman with health issues, Hannah Boland became a stand up comic when she realised laughter is the best medicine. Bishop Kay Goldsworthy is about to make Australian history as the first woman Archbishop in the Anglican Church of Australia.
More
Sunday 17 Dec 2017
Remembering anniversaries such as the Armenian Genocide, Bahai's origins and the Balfour Declaration, reflecting on living with profound regrets, and rejoicing in creative expressions of the faith, including 'Kosher Gospel' with Joshua Nelson and Aboriginal storytelling with Rev'd Denise Champion.
More
Sunday 10 Dec 2017
From West to East, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim religious movements have grown into financial powerhouses, with massive followings and effective social penetration. Jonathan James explains the success of Hillsong, Ciji, BAPS and Fetullah Gulen.
More
This [series episode segment] has
Sunday 3 Dec 2017
Known by all and seen by none, Arthur Stace inscribed "Eternity" on the streets of Sydney and elsewhere for 30 years before he was unmasked. Inspiring to artists, singers, and ordinary sinners, Arthur is a modern Evangelical saint according to his biographer, Roy Williams, who goes on a pilgrimage with Rachael.
More
This [series episode segment] has
Sunday 26 Nov 2017
The Sea of Faith takes its name from the famous poem Dover Beach about the ebbing of faith, but today's SOF members entertain new developments including the New New Testament edited by Hal Taussig. Lloyd Geering founded the SOF and was charged with heresy in New Zealand as was Hal Taussig in America. Are they heretics or reformers?
More
Sunday 19 Nov 2017
At the International Association of Religion Journalists conference in Indonesia, Uday Basu, the Co-ordinating Editor of India's The Statesmen, Hermeine Y. Kleden, the Editor in Chief of Tempo English Weekly, and Jakarta Post columnist, and current affairs commentator Julia Suryakusuma, demonstrate robust investigative values, sensitivity and courage.
More
This [series episode segment] has
Sunday 12 Nov 2017
On the anniversary of Kristalnacht, Luther's call for for their synagogues to be burnt down in his day is one of the aspects of his relationship to the Jews which Thomas Kaufman considers in his book Luther's Jews.
More
This [series episode segment] has
image,
Sunday 5 Nov 2017
Artists, Martin Sharp and Bill Viola, musicians, Jeremy Begbie and Jane Rutter, and outstanding couples like Bess and Dave Price, join some brave spiritual diarists who reveal the inside story of their spiritual life. Australia's first saint, and sex dominates the stories on King James Bible and the Sistine Chapel on their anniversaries.
More
Sunday 29 Oct 2017
What was the X Factor in the Protestant Reformation that caused a schism in the Roman Catholic Church which would have lasting effects up to the present day?
Rachael is in conversation with Mark Worthing, Michael Jensen, Kristina Keneally and Carole Cusack at a public forum at the University of Sydney.
More
Sunday 22 Oct 2017
The Pope called him 'a wild boar in the Lord's vineyard' but Martin Luther's challenge to the Roman Catholic Church would have sweeping effects across Germany and beyond where his writings inspired the Protestant Reformation.
More
This [series episode segment] has
image,
Sunday 15 Oct 2017
A Catholic scholar of Hinduism explains 'comparative theology' which he developed after spending time in Nepal as a young priest and as a scholar at Chicago, Oxford and Harvard. Francis Clooney SJ compares the spiritual poetry of the Biblical and Tamil traditions.
More
Sunday 8 Oct 2017
When the Rev'd Brian Rosner questioned his identity, he reassessed his relationship to God. Muslim Eritrean spoken-word poet, Manal, uses her art to overcome the sense of being 'the other' and celebrating what it means to be herself.
More
Sunday 1 Oct 2017
A Muslim boxer, a Hindu student, a gay Christian and a Samoan Uniting Church minister tell the stories of struggle and pain behind their religious tattoos to guest producer, Mariam Chehab.
More
This [series episode segment] has
Sunday 24 Sep 2017
Michael Palin meets the Dalai Lama, Diane Cilento turns her back on stardom, an aspiring nun gets thrown out of the Missionaries of Charity, and the Da Vinci Code up-ends Christian beliefs and the scholars come out fighting.
More
More