S4C (Firm).

The latest edition of “the most comprehensive single-volume history of the popes,” updated to cover the election of Pope Francis (Sunday Telegraph).
 
This engrossing book, from a professor of the history of Christianity at Cambridge, encompasses the extraordinary story of the papacy, from its beginnings to the present day, as empires rose and fell around it. This new edition covers the unprecedented...

This program sheds light on the evolution and spread of Christianity across 13 centuries of architecture and art. Selected sites and masterpieces include the 8th-century monastic settlement on Inishmurray Island, off the coast of Ireland; frescoes in the catacombs of San Domitilla and Caravaggios at Santa Luigi di Franchesi, in Rome; the Hagia Sophia, once a Christian cathedral, in Istanbul; the astonishing underground churches of Lalibela, in Ethiopia;...

In this program, Dennis Wholey has a conversation about Hinduism with Sadhvi Vrnda Chaitanya of Arsha Vijnana Mandiram. Topics of discussion include the history of Hinduism; the Vedas, which are typically committed to memory; the meaning of the words karma, samsara, and moksha and their relationship to one other; the concept that everything is God and that secular and sacred therefore are one; and the individual rather than congregational nature of...

On October 9, 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was summarily executed. After his mangled body was dumped in an anonymous grave, his killers hoped he would be forgotten-but Che's enemies had underestimated him. In this program, Edward George, of the University of Bristol; General Gary Prado, the officer in charge of Che's capture; and nurse Susan Osinaga, who cleaned Che's dead body, discuss Che's appeal as a Communist martyr, probe the contradictions in...

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are generally regarded as the authors of the Gospels. But did they actually write them? And if not, who did, and when? This program focuses on accounts and theories pertaining to the identities of the four Evangelists, as well as the authenticity of the texts attributed to them. Scholars and clerics examine and discuss original manuscripts, such as Codex Sinaiticus, with its Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas,...

The Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966, had less to do with culture than with a violent attempt to control the minds of the Chinese people. Yet it was a play, which slyly criticized Chairman Mao, that raised the curtain on this horrendous period in China's history, acting as a catalyst for the brutal reforms. Beginning with an excerpt from The Dismissal of Hai Rui, this program presents the details of the movement that led to the deaths of...

Of the 27 compositions that comprise the New Testament, 21 are letters: some guide, some warn. This program explores the content as well as authenticity of the various letters attributed to Paul, James, Jude, and Peter. Location footage brings to life Paul's missionary journeys to Antioch, Athens, Corinth, and Rome. The Pastoral Epistles, Gospel of Thomas, letters of Pontius Pilate, and the theological differences between James and Paul are also examined....

The early Church saw a proliferation of writings all claiming divine authority. This program surveys many of these texts and their adherents, as well as traces the course of the New Testament's codification. Original manuscripts and critical commentary are used to explore the infancy gospels, St. Clement's letters to the Corinthians, and the Gnostic gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and Gospel of Philip. Key figures...

Shot mainly in Lyons, this program looks at the problems faced by the city's mainly young Muslim population as they try to gain acceptance into French society while adapting their religion to break ties with North Africa and the Arabic world. A new kind of Islam is emerging, to which France appears to be reacting with the same old racism and religious intolerance.

Since the dawn of humankind, people have wondered: Is there a sentient power within or beyond our world that is involved in our lives? This program examines the practice of paganism through important prehistoric sites such as the capstone dolmen Pentre Ifan, in Wales; the megaliths of Newgrange, in Ireland; some of the 3,000 standing stones at Carnac, in France; and the Altamira caves in northern Spain, with their remarkable examples of pagan rock...