Turin Shroud on the Sunday Programme

While writing my previous post on Talking About Jesus Films on the Sunday Programme, I ran a quick search on previous posts about Radio 4's Sunday Programme, and I didn't find one from when I was last a guest, talking about the Turin Shroud with Ed Stourton, a few years ago. I looked it up and found it, so for the sake of completeness, here is that episode:

BBC Radio 4 Sunday, 21 June 2015

The interview with me about the Turin Shroud begins at 11:53. On this occasion, I was at the studio in Salford, and not on the phone. 

Talking about Jesus Films on the Sunday Programme

 I did a short interview with Emily Buchanan on BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme last week. The topic was Jesus films, and we touch on the possibility of a new Martin Scorsese Jesus film, on The Chosen, and on several of the classics like Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Life of Brian. We also touch on the probably apocryphal story of John Wayne, in The Greatest Story Ever Told, "saying it with awe" (see previous posts on this topic here). 

Here's a link to the BBC iPlayer episode, which you can also download as a podcast:

BBC Radio 4: Sunday, 4 June 2023

The interview with me begins at about 5:10. 

James Tabor on Sunday

James Tabor appeared on Radio 4's Sunday programme this morning, interviewed by Roger Bolton about his new book The Jesus Dynasty:

Sunday

The interview begins about 12 minutes in to the programme and lasts about 6 minutes.

Gospel of Judas on Sunday

The lead feature on this morning's Sunday programme on Radio 4 was on the Gospel of Judas. Simon Gathercole, Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen, was interviewed by Roger Bolton. You can listen here:

Sunday

The interview with Simon runs from about 9:10 to 13:30.

I can claim a little influence here. I had a long phone-call with the producer about the Gospel on Friday morning, expressed a little reluctance about the thought of driving in to Durham on a Saturday to do an interview, and recommended Simon, who did an excellent job, especially in explaining that the Gospel cannot tell us anything of interest about the historical Jesus and the historical Judas, which is always, of course, the angle the media are inclined to explore. Simon explained that the Gospel was written long after the living memory of the apostles, and that it featured anachronisms equivalent to our writing a document about Queen Victoria in which she comments on The Lord of the Rings and on her CD collection.

Sunday: Greek and Christianity

I had to get up early this morning -- very early for me on a Sunday -- to go to Pebble Mill and do a short piece for Radio 4's Sunday programme. It was just four minutes or so and the blurb was:

Tradition dates the first ever Olympic meeting to 776 BCE. The games were abolished nearly twelve hundred years later by the Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius on the grounds that they were pagan. But if that suggests a deep rooted antagonism between Christianity and the ideas that came out of the classical Greek world it would be misleading. . .

You can listen to the programme here:

Sunday

Or click on the individual links for the particular segments.

Sunday programme on The Passion of the Christ

Sunday this morning (BBC Radio 4) kicked off with a short discussion of The Passion of the Christ ahead of its UK release this week. Two Catholics are brought in to discuss it, Father Peter Malone and Peter Stanford, the first of whom loved it and the second of whom did not. Peter Malone makes the useful point about the value of the flashback scenes during the crucifixion. Listen here:

The Passion Debate

Sunday Programme on The Passion of the Christ

There was a short feature yesterday morning on the BBC Radio 4 programme Sunday. Roger Bolton interviews Alistair McGrath and Dan Cohn Sherbok:

The Passion debate

It's not clear from the feature whether either of the two have seen the film and my guess is that they haven't, so the discussion a little less focused than it might have been. Dan Cohn Sherbok is concerned that the film could encourage anti-Semitism; Alistair McGrath seems less convinced and is hopeful that the film will provide the opportunity for people to reflect on the Passion Narrative.

Gospel of John on Sunday programme

Yesterday's Sunday programme on Radio 4 carried a feature on The Gospel of John including an interview with Philip Saville (director) and an interview with Peter Malone (film critic). You can listen again by going to the web site and clicking on the link:

Sunday