Showing posts with label Religon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religon. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
In Bob We Trust (2013)
A documentary chronicling an outspoken priest whom is being forced by the Vatican to retire.
The Buddha The Story of Siddhartha (2010)
After 400 BC, a new religion was born in South east Asia, generated from the ideas of Buddha, a mysterious Prince from Nepal who gained enlightenment while he sat under a large, shapely fig tree. Buddha never claimed to be God or his emissary on earth, only that he was a human being who had found a kind of serenity that others could find, too. This documentary tells the story of his life.
The Unbelievers (2013)
‘The Unbelievers’ follows renowned scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss across the globe as they speak publicly about the importance of science and reason in the modern world – encouraging others to cast off antiquated religious and politically motivated approaches toward important current issues – making the world a better place for all. The film includes interviews with celebrities who support the work of these remarkable scientists.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
* The Israeli Dervish (2013)
We follow one man as he becomes the only Israeli granted access to the inner sanctum of the whirling Dervish order. Miki Cohen is a 58-year-old college teacher who has 'discovered' the works of Jalal ad-Din Rumi, a 13th-century Muslim poet and Sufi mystic. Attracted by Rumi's writings and philosophy, Miki translates his works into Hebrew and practices whirling in worship. What makes Cohen's story so remarkable is that he is an Israeli. The son of holocaust survivors and a veteran of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Cohen found himself searching for answers to his spiritual identity.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
* Amish: A Secret Life (2012)
Miriam and Dave Lapp are a charming young couple with a brood of adorable children. Dave works in and part owns a construction company. They are also members of the 'Old Order' Amish community in Pennsylvania,whose church forbids all technology - though Dave gets lifts to work in a car and the couple, by allowing themselves to be filmed, risk the wrath of church elders. Having outlined their traditional life-style to camera Miriam persuades several friends to be happily filmed and it becomes clear that the Lapps and other, younger Amish, believe that, having been rebaptized to allow a more open evangelical approach - risking excommunication thereby - they feel the need for a change in the community. The film ends as the family consolidates its dream to own their own farm.
* From Jail To Jihad (2014)
The current affairs programme investigates the radicalisation of some Muslims within the prison system, as Raphael Rowe interviews extremists about their experiences inside.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
* A History of Christianity (2009)
Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch - one of the world's leading historians - reveals the origins of Christianity and explores what it means to be a Christian.
Part 1: The First Christianity
In the first of a six-part series sweeping across four continents, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch goes in search of Christianity's forgotten origins. He overturns the familiar story that it all began when the apostle Paul took Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome, showing that its origins lie further east, and that at one point it was poised to triumph in Asia. The headquarters of Christianity may well have been Baghdad not Rome, in which case western Christianity would have been very different.
Part 2: Catholicism - The Unpredictable Rise of Rome
In a series tracing Christianity's roots, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch explores the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. Over one billion Christians look to Rome, but how did a small Jewish sect from the backwoods of 1st century Palestine, which preached humility and the virtue of poverty, become the established religion of western Europe? MacCulloch tells how confession was invented by monks in a remote island off the coast of Ireland, and how the Crusades gave Britain the university system.
Part 3: Orthodoxy - From Empire to Empire
Diarmaid MacCulloch explores Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which flourishes in the Balkans and Russia but has had to fight for its survival. After its glory days in the Roman Empire, it stood in the path of Muslim expansion, suffered betrayal by crusading Catholics, was seized by the Russian tsars and faced near-extinction under communism. MacCulloch visits a collection of icons in the Sinai desert, a relic of the iconoclastic crisis in Istanbul and Ivan the Terrible's cathedral in Moscow.
Part 4: Reformation - The Individual before God
Diarmaid MacCulloch makes sense of the Reformation, revealing how a faith based on obedience and authority gave birth to one based on individual conscience. He shows how Martin Luther wrote hymns to teach people the message of the Bible, and how a tasty sausage became the rallying cry for Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli to tear down statues of saints, allow married clergy and deny that communion bread and wine were the body and blood of Christ.
Part 5: Protestantism - The Evangelical Explosion
Diarmaid MacCulloch traces the growth of an exuberant expression of faith that has spread across the globe - Evangelical Protestantism. Today associated with conservative politics, it is easily forgotten that the Evangelical explosion has been driven by a concern for social justice and the claim that one could stand in a direct emotional relationship with God. MacCulloch shows how it allowed the Protestant faith to burst away from its homeland in Europe to America, Africa and, recently, Asia.
Part 6: God in the Dock
Diarmaid MacCulloch examines a distinctive feature about Western Christianity - scepticism, the tendency to doubt. He challenges the simplistic notion that faith in Christianity has ebbed away before the advance of science, reason and progress, and shows instead how the tide of faith perversely flows back in. Despite the damage inflicted to its moral credibility by the two great wars of the 20th century, it is during crisis that the Church has rediscovered deep and enduring truths about itself.
Part 1: The First Christianity
In the first of a six-part series sweeping across four continents, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch goes in search of Christianity's forgotten origins. He overturns the familiar story that it all began when the apostle Paul took Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome, showing that its origins lie further east, and that at one point it was poised to triumph in Asia. The headquarters of Christianity may well have been Baghdad not Rome, in which case western Christianity would have been very different.
Part 2: Catholicism - The Unpredictable Rise of Rome
In a series tracing Christianity's roots, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch explores the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. Over one billion Christians look to Rome, but how did a small Jewish sect from the backwoods of 1st century Palestine, which preached humility and the virtue of poverty, become the established religion of western Europe? MacCulloch tells how confession was invented by monks in a remote island off the coast of Ireland, and how the Crusades gave Britain the university system.
Part 3: Orthodoxy - From Empire to Empire
Diarmaid MacCulloch explores Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which flourishes in the Balkans and Russia but has had to fight for its survival. After its glory days in the Roman Empire, it stood in the path of Muslim expansion, suffered betrayal by crusading Catholics, was seized by the Russian tsars and faced near-extinction under communism. MacCulloch visits a collection of icons in the Sinai desert, a relic of the iconoclastic crisis in Istanbul and Ivan the Terrible's cathedral in Moscow.
Part 4: Reformation - The Individual before God
Diarmaid MacCulloch makes sense of the Reformation, revealing how a faith based on obedience and authority gave birth to one based on individual conscience. He shows how Martin Luther wrote hymns to teach people the message of the Bible, and how a tasty sausage became the rallying cry for Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli to tear down statues of saints, allow married clergy and deny that communion bread and wine were the body and blood of Christ.
Part 5: Protestantism - The Evangelical Explosion
Diarmaid MacCulloch traces the growth of an exuberant expression of faith that has spread across the globe - Evangelical Protestantism. Today associated with conservative politics, it is easily forgotten that the Evangelical explosion has been driven by a concern for social justice and the claim that one could stand in a direct emotional relationship with God. MacCulloch shows how it allowed the Protestant faith to burst away from its homeland in Europe to America, Africa and, recently, Asia.
Part 6: God in the Dock
Diarmaid MacCulloch examines a distinctive feature about Western Christianity - scepticism, the tendency to doubt. He challenges the simplistic notion that faith in Christianity has ebbed away before the advance of science, reason and progress, and shows instead how the tide of faith perversely flows back in. Despite the damage inflicted to its moral credibility by the two great wars of the 20th century, it is during crisis that the Church has rediscovered deep and enduring truths about itself.
* The Story of the Swastika (2013)
In the week when Hindus celebrate the holy festival of Diwali, this documentary tells the story of one of their faith's most sacred symbols - the swastika. For many, the swastika has become a symbol synonymous with the Nazis and fascism. But this film reveals the fascinating and complex history of an emblem that is, in fact, a religious symbol, with a sacred past. For the almost one billion Hindus around the world, the swastika lies at the heart of religious practices and beliefs, as an emblem of benevolence, luck and good fortune.
* No Dinosaurs in Heaven (2010)
No Dinosaurs in Heaven is a film essay that examines the hijacking of science education by religious fundamentalists, threatening the separation of church and state and dangerously undermining scientific literacy. The documentary weaves together two strands: an examination of the problem posed by creationists who earn science education degrees only to advocate anti-scientific beliefs in the classroom; and a visually stunning raft trip down the Grand Canyon, led by Dr. Eugenie Scott, that debunks creationist explanations for its formation. These two strands expose the fallacies in the “debate,” manufactured by anti-science forces, that creationism is a valid scientific alternative to evolution.
Emmy Award-winning director (Before Stonewall, Paris Was a Woman) and science educator Greta Schiller uses her own experience — with a graduate school biology professor who refused to teach evolution — to expose the insidious effect that so-called “creationist science” has had on science education. No Dinosaurs in Heaven intelligently argues that public education must steadfastly resist the encroachment of religion in the form of anti-evolution creationism, and that science literacy is crucial to a healthy democracy.
Emmy Award-winning director (Before Stonewall, Paris Was a Woman) and science educator Greta Schiller uses her own experience — with a graduate school biology professor who refused to teach evolution — to expose the insidious effect that so-called “creationist science” has had on science education. No Dinosaurs in Heaven intelligently argues that public education must steadfastly resist the encroachment of religion in the form of anti-evolution creationism, and that science literacy is crucial to a healthy democracy.
* The Bible Rules (2014)
The use and abuse of alcoholic beverages goes back to deepest antiquity, and so it comes as no surprise These days, most people don’t worship golden idols, but it’s amazing how many of the Bible rules about graven images still sound relevant. In this episode, we plunge back into a world of otherworldly gods, who had to be fed, clothed and coddled by their believers. Yet that’s just the beginning of a journey that will then shoot forward into outer space to explore the possibilities of prayer on other planets. For anyone who ever asked God to determine the outcome of a football game, this investigation into the rules is a must.
* The Gospel of Jesus's Wife (2014)
Damaged and fragile, a fragment of ancient papyrus has unleashed a new interpretation of a religious story we thought we knew. In one of the most startling discoveries in recent memory, scholars confirm that a codex written in the ancient Coptic language refers to the wife of Jesus. Dr. Karen King, a Harvard professor, reveals that the papyrus bears the line "Jesus said to them, my wife..." It doesn't prove Jesus was married, but it raises questions about that possibility--and how some early Christians viewed the role of women in the church.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
* Bible Hunters (2014)
The stories of the men and women who travelled across Egypt to uncover the earliest Christian texts.
The Search for Bible Truth
Revealing the remarkable stories of the dedicated men and women who travelled across Egypt in the 19th and early 20th century to uncover the earliest Christian texts. Their discoveries would shed controversial new light on the Christian origins and the story of the Bible.
The Search for Lost Gospels
Revealing the remarkable stories of the dedicated men and women who travelled across Egypt in the 19th and early 20th century to uncover the earliest Christian texts. Discoveries included strange zodiacs, hymns to Egypt's solar god, and heretical Christian texts. The finds threatened to shake the foundations of Christianity.
Revealing the remarkable stories of the dedicated men and women who travelled across Egypt in the 19th and early 20th century to uncover the earliest Christian texts. Their discoveries would shed controversial new light on the Christian origins and the story of the Bible.
The Search for Lost Gospels
Revealing the remarkable stories of the dedicated men and women who travelled across Egypt in the 19th and early 20th century to uncover the earliest Christian texts. Discoveries included strange zodiacs, hymns to Egypt's solar god, and heretical Christian texts. The finds threatened to shake the foundations of Christianity.
Friday, May 2, 2014
* The English Defence League - When Tommy Met Mo (2013)
When Tommy Robinson, then leader of the EDL, met Mo Ansar, the Muslim who campaigned to ban the EDL, on BBC One's The Big Questions, it turned out to be the encounter that changed everything.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
* Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City (2012)
Historian and author, Simon Sebag Montefiore presents a fascinating series on Jerusalem: the place where God meets man, the shrine of three faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the most fought over city in history. Montefiore explains how Jerusalem – established by King David 3,000 years ago was fought for and shaped by Kings and Emperors and how the holiness of the city was intensified by myths and fables, borrowed and refined between religions. He then explores how this peerlessly beautiful city rose from a crumbling ruin after the crusades to become a world centre of Islamic pilgrimage, the object of rivalry between Christian nations, a holy refuge for Jews from all over the world and, ultimately, the site of one of the world's most intractable conflicts.
Part 1: Well-spring of Holiness
In episode one, Simon delves into the past to explore how this unique city came into being, explaining how it became of such major importance to the three Abrahamic faiths, and how these faiths emerged from the Biblical tradition of the Israelites. Starting with the Canaanites, Simon goes on a chronological journey to trace the rise of the city as a holy place and discusses the evidence for it becoming a Jewish city under King David. The programme explores the construction of the first temple by Solomon through to the life and death of Jesus Christ and the eventual expulsion of the Jews by the Romans, concluding in the 7th century AD, on the eve of the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslim caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Part 2: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion
In episode two, Simon discovers the impact on the holy city of a new faith - Islam. He explores Muhammad's relationship with Jerusalem, the construction of one of Islam's holiest shrines - the Dome of the Rock - and the crusaders' attempts to win it back for Christianity. He also brings to life lesser-known characters, whose impact still resonate - Al Hakim's destructive delusions of grandeur and Queen Melisende's embellishment of crusader Jerusalem, as well as the notorious stand-off between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart. The episode ends in the 13th century with King Frederick II, whose groundbreaking power-sharing deal prefigures the tortuous peace negotiations of our own times. Then, as now, peace did not last.
Part 3: Judgement Day
In episode three, Simon explores how this unique city rose from a crumbling ruin after the crusades to be rebuilt as a world centre of Islamic pilgrimage. He explains how Jerusalem became the object of rivalry between the Christian nations of Europe, the focus of the longing of Jews from all over the world and, ultimately, the site of one of the world's most intractable conflicts. Starting in the Middle Ages, Simon goes on a chronological journey to trace the revival of the city under the Mamluks and its conquest by the biggest of all the Islamic empires - the Ottomans. He examines how the distinctive national identity of the Arab population evolved under centuries of Turkish Ottoman rule and how the city came to be prized by the great powers of 19th- century Europe. The programme explores the emergence of Zionism and the growing Jewish population of the city and traces the origins of today's nationalist struggle.
Part 1: Well-spring of Holiness
In episode one, Simon delves into the past to explore how this unique city came into being, explaining how it became of such major importance to the three Abrahamic faiths, and how these faiths emerged from the Biblical tradition of the Israelites. Starting with the Canaanites, Simon goes on a chronological journey to trace the rise of the city as a holy place and discusses the evidence for it becoming a Jewish city under King David. The programme explores the construction of the first temple by Solomon through to the life and death of Jesus Christ and the eventual expulsion of the Jews by the Romans, concluding in the 7th century AD, on the eve of the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslim caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Part 2: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion
In episode two, Simon discovers the impact on the holy city of a new faith - Islam. He explores Muhammad's relationship with Jerusalem, the construction of one of Islam's holiest shrines - the Dome of the Rock - and the crusaders' attempts to win it back for Christianity. He also brings to life lesser-known characters, whose impact still resonate - Al Hakim's destructive delusions of grandeur and Queen Melisende's embellishment of crusader Jerusalem, as well as the notorious stand-off between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart. The episode ends in the 13th century with King Frederick II, whose groundbreaking power-sharing deal prefigures the tortuous peace negotiations of our own times. Then, as now, peace did not last.
Part 3: Judgement Day
In episode three, Simon explores how this unique city rose from a crumbling ruin after the crusades to be rebuilt as a world centre of Islamic pilgrimage. He explains how Jerusalem became the object of rivalry between the Christian nations of Europe, the focus of the longing of Jews from all over the world and, ultimately, the site of one of the world's most intractable conflicts. Starting in the Middle Ages, Simon goes on a chronological journey to trace the revival of the city under the Mamluks and its conquest by the biggest of all the Islamic empires - the Ottomans. He examines how the distinctive national identity of the Arab population evolved under centuries of Turkish Ottoman rule and how the city came to be prized by the great powers of 19th- century Europe. The programme explores the emergence of Zionism and the growing Jewish population of the city and traces the origins of today's nationalist struggle.
* Sagrada Familia (2013)
The beautiful cathedral of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain has been under construction for 130 years, yet it's still not finished. After all these years, it continues to challenge modern architects. Now, a team of experts is rushing to complete this masterpiece in time to honor the genius behind its inception, Antoni Gaudi, and the 100th anniversary of his death.
* Richard Hammond and the Holy Grail (2006)
Exploring hundreds of years of history, Richard Hammond embarks on an entertaining travelogue examining the popular and enduring myths and legends surrounding the Holy Grail.
Thought by many to be the very cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, the Holy Grail has haunted public imagination for centuries but left many unanswered questions. Does the Grail exist or not and what exactly is it? Is the Grail a cup from which Jesus supposedly drank at the Last Supper? Or could it be something more sinister - a secret about a sacred bloodline? And in fact does the Grail exist at all?
It is a quest that takes Richard to ancient scrolls in the Vatican's secret archive; medieval knights and hidden treasure in the South of France; Hitler's search for the Grail; holy relics in Constantinople; a psychic in Scotland; a crop circle symposium in Glastonbury; and to Paris where he explores the latest Grail fever phenomenon.
He poses the question: why are so many people intrigued by the Grail and why does it hold such enchantment? The Grail is supposed to have magical powers and is considered to be the most important religious relic in the western world. Many theories abound as to exactly what happened to it and the story goes that it was seen by pilgrims in the fifth century before disappearing from Palestine. By the 13th century, it is claimed, the Grail was held by the people of Constantinople - now Istanbul - and it is here that Richard's quest begins. Although the search for the Grail is laced with historical fact, Richard also soon discovers that it is awash with contradictions, conundrums and twists and turns.
He says: "Every time you think you get close to the Grail, the story moves you on. Just as you knock down one story, another pops up to tempt you along." Continuing his travels, his quest takes him from Turkey to London on the trail of the Knights Templar. The Knights sparked a myriad of myths and legends about the Holy Grail but could Temple Church, 'a little piece of Jerusalem' in the heart of London, really be its final resting place? The questions keep coming and Richard find himself at a mysterious 15th century church in Scotland which claims that clues to the Holy Grail's whereabouts are hidden in the church's medieval carvings. The Grail trail then propels him on to Glastonbury where he explores tales of King Arthur before he moves on to discover a literary treasure in the British Library.
Here, a fascinating trail leads him from Tennyson, to Sir Thomas Mallory and back to an obscure author in the Champagne region in France and he examines the possibility of the legend as a literary invention. Lured by a conspiracy theory to the south of France, Richard explores the medieval city of Carcassonne, and an amazing Cathar castle high up in the Pyrenees. This is beautiful country with a magical feeling but one which has a dark past. could the mystery of the Grail be solved here?
The journey ends in Rome, where Richard gains entry to the Vatican's secret archives.
Thought by many to be the very cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, the Holy Grail has haunted public imagination for centuries but left many unanswered questions. Does the Grail exist or not and what exactly is it? Is the Grail a cup from which Jesus supposedly drank at the Last Supper? Or could it be something more sinister - a secret about a sacred bloodline? And in fact does the Grail exist at all?
It is a quest that takes Richard to ancient scrolls in the Vatican's secret archive; medieval knights and hidden treasure in the South of France; Hitler's search for the Grail; holy relics in Constantinople; a psychic in Scotland; a crop circle symposium in Glastonbury; and to Paris where he explores the latest Grail fever phenomenon.
He poses the question: why are so many people intrigued by the Grail and why does it hold such enchantment? The Grail is supposed to have magical powers and is considered to be the most important religious relic in the western world. Many theories abound as to exactly what happened to it and the story goes that it was seen by pilgrims in the fifth century before disappearing from Palestine. By the 13th century, it is claimed, the Grail was held by the people of Constantinople - now Istanbul - and it is here that Richard's quest begins. Although the search for the Grail is laced with historical fact, Richard also soon discovers that it is awash with contradictions, conundrums and twists and turns.
He says: "Every time you think you get close to the Grail, the story moves you on. Just as you knock down one story, another pops up to tempt you along." Continuing his travels, his quest takes him from Turkey to London on the trail of the Knights Templar. The Knights sparked a myriad of myths and legends about the Holy Grail but could Temple Church, 'a little piece of Jerusalem' in the heart of London, really be its final resting place? The questions keep coming and Richard find himself at a mysterious 15th century church in Scotland which claims that clues to the Holy Grail's whereabouts are hidden in the church's medieval carvings. The Grail trail then propels him on to Glastonbury where he explores tales of King Arthur before he moves on to discover a literary treasure in the British Library.
Here, a fascinating trail leads him from Tennyson, to Sir Thomas Mallory and back to an obscure author in the Champagne region in France and he examines the possibility of the legend as a literary invention. Lured by a conspiracy theory to the south of France, Richard explores the medieval city of Carcassonne, and an amazing Cathar castle high up in the Pyrenees. This is beautiful country with a magical feeling but one which has a dark past. could the mystery of the Grail be solved here?
The journey ends in Rome, where Richard gains entry to the Vatican's secret archives.
* Quest For The Holy Foreskin (2013)
For centuries, the relic of the Holy Foreskin was considered by believers to be the only piece of Jesus' flesh to remain on earth after he ascended to heaven, and thus was among the most sacred relics in Christendom. Then, on New Year's Day 1983, in a tiny village in the Italian countryside, Father Don Dario announced to his expectant flock that their beloved relic had been stolen. New York Times writer David Farley goes on a quest to unravel the story of this mysterious crime.
* Pilgrimage (2013)
For centuries pilgrimage was one of the greatest adventures on earth, involving epic journeys across the country and around the world. This series sees Simon Reeve retrace the exciting adventures of our ancestors. He learns about the forgotten aspects of pilgrimage, including the vice, thrills and dangers that all awaited travellers. He explores the faith, the hopes, desires, and even the food that helped to keep medieval Britons and more recent travellers on the road.
Part 1: Holy Island to Canterbury
Simon embarks on a 400 mile journey to Canterbury from the north of England, beginning at the mystical Holy Island, just off the rugged coast of Northumberland. To reach the island, one of the earliest sites of Christian pilgrimage in Britain, Simon follows a line of posts marking out a crossing that emerges from the North Sea at low tide.
Medieval Britons believed that journeys of endurance, suffering and sacrifice to a holy site would help them find a place in heaven. Now more than half a million visitors make the crossing every year, mostly by car, to enjoy both the rich history of the island and magnificent wilderness.
Travelling further south through England, Simon gets to try medieval food; marvels at the beauty and majesty of Lincoln Cathedral, once the tallest building on the planet; and joins thousands on an annual pilgrimage at a remote village in Norfolk.
Simon discovers the inspiration behind pilgrimage has not always been religious devotion and piety. Pilgrimage was often a chance for long-suffering peasants to get away from a life of drudgery and explore their land. Many were attracted to the road by the opportunity for adventure and an excuse to do a little sinning away from home.
Simon visits the area of London where brothels paid rent to the Bishop of Winchester while tempting passing pilgrims. He learns more about exquisite medieval travel souvenirs that have been discovered in the muddy banks of the Thames.
Heading out of the capital, Simon meets a group of Chaucer enthusiasts who walk the pilgrimage route made famous by the Canterbury Tales, and gets to play the part of a lovelorn Prince during a retelling of a Chaucerian tale.
Simon also meets a pilgrim who has carried a heavy life-size cross thousands of miles, and gets to see the 700-year-old cranium of a monk while staying at an ancient monastery.
The draw of relics for pilgrims was immense before Henry VIII's Reformation, when the golden age of pilgrim was abruptly ended. Until then Britain's ultimate medieval pilgrimage destination was the site where Thomas Becket was murdered: Canterbury.
Part 2: France to Italy
Simon Reeve follows in the footsteps of thousands of travellers from previous centuries, as he travels from northern France to northern Spain, and then crosses western Europe to arrive in Rome.
In the Middle Ages, pilgrimage shaped much of Europe, as inns and churches sprung up along routes and villages near popular shrines developed into towns. To see how this is still happening, Simon visits a route that has come back to life. The Camino is a 500-mile trek not for the faint hearted, starting in a bustling French town before it climbs over the Pyrenees and winds through northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Along the way, he visits a church with a bizarre display of live chickens, experiences the kindness of volunteers who run hostels and meets pilgrims from around the world who are walking for a variety of reasons. At the end of the route, he joins the crowds at the pilgrims' mass as one of the biggest incense burners in the world swings over his head.
In Switzerland, Simon undertakes one of the oldest and most perilous pilgrim routes in Europe. The Great St Bernard Pass, high in the Alps, has claimed many lives over the centuries, including at least one Pope. Simon treks to a monastery and refuge at the top of the pass that has not closed its doors to visitors for 1000 years. He meets some young Americans there and joins in their yoga class, hears their stories, and helps them to clean the monastery.
To see how modern pilgrimage melds into tourism, Simon goes to the shrine devoted to the monk Padre Pio who died in 1968 in San Giovanni Rotondo in the east of Italy. Padre Pio's fame spread globally and the economic impact on the town has been huge. Simon sees the gaudy shrine made from melted down gold jewellery donated by pilgrims, meets the monk who runs the Padre Pio TV station, and discovers that many modern pilgrims rather like staying in fancy hotels.
Finally, Simon arrives in Rome and St Peter's Square when pilgrims gather in their thousands to be blessed by the Pope. He reflects on his realisation that for those who follow a pilgrim's path, it is more about what they discover on the way than reaching journeys end.
Part 3: Istanbul to Holy Land
Simon Reeve follows in the footsteps of travellers who made long, arduous and dangerous journeys to reach Jerusalem.
He begins in Istanbul, Turkey, a busy medieval staging post for pilgrims to the Holy Land. Before falling to the Ottoman empire, it was the centre of Roman Christianity under Emperor Constantine. His mother Helena, arguably the first pilgrim to the Holy Land, brought back relics from Jerusalem to fill the city's churches, which made it a major destination for pilgrimage in its own right for centuries to come. Simon visits the magnificent Hagia Sophia and a traditional Turkish bath, discovering that pilgrims brought public bathing back with them to Europe, showing how pilgrimage spread practical ideas as well as religious ones.
Simon travels on to the Holy Land, following in the footsteps of Victorian travellers who used the definitive guide book of the period, published in 1876 by Thomas Cook, whose grand excursions to the Holy Land pioneered the modern package holiday.
He drives into the West Bank and on to Bethlehem. Despite not being religious, he is moved to tears by the memory of family Christmases when he sees the spot where Christ is said to have been born inside the Church of the Nativity. He then visits the isolated 6th century monastery of Mar Saba, a place few outsiders are permitted to enter today. Simon camps in the desert and goes fishing in the Sea of Galilee. He also meets David, a reformed drug addict who lives in a village inside the ancient town of Nazareth where people dress, live and work as if they are characters from the Bible.
In Jerusalem, Simon meets a doctor who treats visitors who become so overwhelmed that they become convinced they personally are the Messiah. Several million people a year from all three major religions come to visit or worship in one of the most highly-contested square miles on the planet. Simon visits the Israeli CCTV command centre where everyone is kept under constant surveillance.
Finally, Simon joins in the ancient ritual of walking the Via Dolorosa, the route taken by Jesus as he carried his cross to the site of his crucifixion, ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. At journey's end, he reflects on what pilgrimage can offer for a non-believer, bringing a sense of achievement and a chance to learn more about the history and culture that shapes our lives to this day.
Part 1: Holy Island to Canterbury
Simon embarks on a 400 mile journey to Canterbury from the north of England, beginning at the mystical Holy Island, just off the rugged coast of Northumberland. To reach the island, one of the earliest sites of Christian pilgrimage in Britain, Simon follows a line of posts marking out a crossing that emerges from the North Sea at low tide.
Medieval Britons believed that journeys of endurance, suffering and sacrifice to a holy site would help them find a place in heaven. Now more than half a million visitors make the crossing every year, mostly by car, to enjoy both the rich history of the island and magnificent wilderness.
Travelling further south through England, Simon gets to try medieval food; marvels at the beauty and majesty of Lincoln Cathedral, once the tallest building on the planet; and joins thousands on an annual pilgrimage at a remote village in Norfolk.
Simon discovers the inspiration behind pilgrimage has not always been religious devotion and piety. Pilgrimage was often a chance for long-suffering peasants to get away from a life of drudgery and explore their land. Many were attracted to the road by the opportunity for adventure and an excuse to do a little sinning away from home.
Simon visits the area of London where brothels paid rent to the Bishop of Winchester while tempting passing pilgrims. He learns more about exquisite medieval travel souvenirs that have been discovered in the muddy banks of the Thames.
Heading out of the capital, Simon meets a group of Chaucer enthusiasts who walk the pilgrimage route made famous by the Canterbury Tales, and gets to play the part of a lovelorn Prince during a retelling of a Chaucerian tale.
Simon also meets a pilgrim who has carried a heavy life-size cross thousands of miles, and gets to see the 700-year-old cranium of a monk while staying at an ancient monastery.
The draw of relics for pilgrims was immense before Henry VIII's Reformation, when the golden age of pilgrim was abruptly ended. Until then Britain's ultimate medieval pilgrimage destination was the site where Thomas Becket was murdered: Canterbury.
Part 2: France to Italy
Simon Reeve follows in the footsteps of thousands of travellers from previous centuries, as he travels from northern France to northern Spain, and then crosses western Europe to arrive in Rome.
In the Middle Ages, pilgrimage shaped much of Europe, as inns and churches sprung up along routes and villages near popular shrines developed into towns. To see how this is still happening, Simon visits a route that has come back to life. The Camino is a 500-mile trek not for the faint hearted, starting in a bustling French town before it climbs over the Pyrenees and winds through northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Along the way, he visits a church with a bizarre display of live chickens, experiences the kindness of volunteers who run hostels and meets pilgrims from around the world who are walking for a variety of reasons. At the end of the route, he joins the crowds at the pilgrims' mass as one of the biggest incense burners in the world swings over his head.
In Switzerland, Simon undertakes one of the oldest and most perilous pilgrim routes in Europe. The Great St Bernard Pass, high in the Alps, has claimed many lives over the centuries, including at least one Pope. Simon treks to a monastery and refuge at the top of the pass that has not closed its doors to visitors for 1000 years. He meets some young Americans there and joins in their yoga class, hears their stories, and helps them to clean the monastery.
To see how modern pilgrimage melds into tourism, Simon goes to the shrine devoted to the monk Padre Pio who died in 1968 in San Giovanni Rotondo in the east of Italy. Padre Pio's fame spread globally and the economic impact on the town has been huge. Simon sees the gaudy shrine made from melted down gold jewellery donated by pilgrims, meets the monk who runs the Padre Pio TV station, and discovers that many modern pilgrims rather like staying in fancy hotels.
Finally, Simon arrives in Rome and St Peter's Square when pilgrims gather in their thousands to be blessed by the Pope. He reflects on his realisation that for those who follow a pilgrim's path, it is more about what they discover on the way than reaching journeys end.
Part 3: Istanbul to Holy Land
Simon Reeve follows in the footsteps of travellers who made long, arduous and dangerous journeys to reach Jerusalem.
He begins in Istanbul, Turkey, a busy medieval staging post for pilgrims to the Holy Land. Before falling to the Ottoman empire, it was the centre of Roman Christianity under Emperor Constantine. His mother Helena, arguably the first pilgrim to the Holy Land, brought back relics from Jerusalem to fill the city's churches, which made it a major destination for pilgrimage in its own right for centuries to come. Simon visits the magnificent Hagia Sophia and a traditional Turkish bath, discovering that pilgrims brought public bathing back with them to Europe, showing how pilgrimage spread practical ideas as well as religious ones.
Simon travels on to the Holy Land, following in the footsteps of Victorian travellers who used the definitive guide book of the period, published in 1876 by Thomas Cook, whose grand excursions to the Holy Land pioneered the modern package holiday.
He drives into the West Bank and on to Bethlehem. Despite not being religious, he is moved to tears by the memory of family Christmases when he sees the spot where Christ is said to have been born inside the Church of the Nativity. He then visits the isolated 6th century monastery of Mar Saba, a place few outsiders are permitted to enter today. Simon camps in the desert and goes fishing in the Sea of Galilee. He also meets David, a reformed drug addict who lives in a village inside the ancient town of Nazareth where people dress, live and work as if they are characters from the Bible.
In Jerusalem, Simon meets a doctor who treats visitors who become so overwhelmed that they become convinced they personally are the Messiah. Several million people a year from all three major religions come to visit or worship in one of the most highly-contested square miles on the planet. Simon visits the Israeli CCTV command centre where everyone is kept under constant surveillance.
Finally, Simon joins in the ancient ritual of walking the Via Dolorosa, the route taken by Jesus as he carried his cross to the site of his crucifixion, ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. At journey's end, he reflects on what pilgrimage can offer for a non-believer, bringing a sense of achievement and a chance to learn more about the history and culture that shapes our lives to this day.
* Peru's City of Ghosts (1999)
Join a team of archaeologists and the Discovery Channel in an investigation into the mysterious lines of the Nazca region in Peru. Created by the Nazcas, these huge sculptures are only visible from the sky and depict people, animal, geometric forms, and strange creatures. See a premier exhibition of pottery and textiles, musical instruments, and mummies from this long-forgotten, pre-Columbian civilization and visit Cahuachi, a buried city of pyramids and ceremonial buildings which may have once been the religious capital of the Nazca people.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
* Gobeklitepe: The World's First Temple (2010)
While challenging common beliefs on the history of civilization, the film takes the audience back to 12 thousand years ago, to Gobeklitepe, an ancient site recently found in SanliUrfa, Turkiye. With its brilliant graphics and interviews with experts, the film shows how old taboos come tumbling down as we keep scratching the surface.
Archaeologically categorised as a site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC) Gobeklitepe is a series of mainly circular and oval-shaped structures set on the top of a hill. Excavations began in 1995 by Prof. Klaus Schmidt with the help of the German Archaeological Institute. There is archaeological proof that these installations were not used for domestic use, but predominantly for ritual or religous purposes. Subsequently it became apparent that Gobeklitepe consists of not only one, but many of such stone age temples. Furthermore, both excavations and geo magnetic results revealed that there are at least 20 installations, which in archaeological terms can be called a temple. Based on what has been unearthed so far, the pattern principle seems to be that there are two huge monumental pillars in the center of each installation, surrounded by enclosures and walls, featuring more pillars in those set-ups.
All pillars are T-shaped with heights changing from 3 to 6 meters. Archaeologists interpret those T-shapes as stylized human beings, mainly because of the depiction of human extremities that appear on some of the pillars. What also appears on these mystical rock statues, are carvings of animals as well as abstract symbols, sometimes picturing a combination of scenes.
Foxes, snakes, wild boars, cranes, wild ducks are most common. Most of these were carved into the flat surfaces of these pillars. Then again, we also come across some three-dimensional sculptures, in shape of a predator depicting a lion, descending on the side of a T-pillar.
The unique method used for the preservation of Gobeklitepe has really been the key to the survival of this amazing site. Whoever built this magnificent monument, made sure of its survival along thousands of years, by simply backfilling the various sites and burying them deep under, by using an incredible amount of material and all these led to an excellent preservation.
Each T-shaped pillar varies between 40 to 60 tonnes, leaving us scratching our heads as to how on earth they accomplished such a monumental feat. In a time when even simple hand tools were hard to come by, how did they get these stone blocks there, and how did they erect them? With no settlement or society to speak of, with farming still a far cry away, in a world of only roaming hunter-gatherers, the complexity and developed blueprints of these temples represented another enigma for archaeologists. Do we have to change our vision of how and when civilized human history began?
Archaeologically categorised as a site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC) Gobeklitepe is a series of mainly circular and oval-shaped structures set on the top of a hill. Excavations began in 1995 by Prof. Klaus Schmidt with the help of the German Archaeological Institute. There is archaeological proof that these installations were not used for domestic use, but predominantly for ritual or religous purposes. Subsequently it became apparent that Gobeklitepe consists of not only one, but many of such stone age temples. Furthermore, both excavations and geo magnetic results revealed that there are at least 20 installations, which in archaeological terms can be called a temple. Based on what has been unearthed so far, the pattern principle seems to be that there are two huge monumental pillars in the center of each installation, surrounded by enclosures and walls, featuring more pillars in those set-ups.
All pillars are T-shaped with heights changing from 3 to 6 meters. Archaeologists interpret those T-shapes as stylized human beings, mainly because of the depiction of human extremities that appear on some of the pillars. What also appears on these mystical rock statues, are carvings of animals as well as abstract symbols, sometimes picturing a combination of scenes.
Foxes, snakes, wild boars, cranes, wild ducks are most common. Most of these were carved into the flat surfaces of these pillars. Then again, we also come across some three-dimensional sculptures, in shape of a predator depicting a lion, descending on the side of a T-pillar.
The unique method used for the preservation of Gobeklitepe has really been the key to the survival of this amazing site. Whoever built this magnificent monument, made sure of its survival along thousands of years, by simply backfilling the various sites and burying them deep under, by using an incredible amount of material and all these led to an excellent preservation.
Each T-shaped pillar varies between 40 to 60 tonnes, leaving us scratching our heads as to how on earth they accomplished such a monumental feat. In a time when even simple hand tools were hard to come by, how did they get these stone blocks there, and how did they erect them? With no settlement or society to speak of, with farming still a far cry away, in a world of only roaming hunter-gatherers, the complexity and developed blueprints of these temples represented another enigma for archaeologists. Do we have to change our vision of how and when civilized human history began?
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