''Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle'' is a series of twenty 15-minute radio essays by the author and former Bishop of Edinburgh,

Richard Holloway Richard Holloway Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (born 26 November 1933) is a Scottish writer, Television presenter, broadcaster and cleric. He was the Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 to 2000 and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Ch ...

. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 28 May and 22 June 2012, rebroadcast as four 1-hour omnibus editions on Friday evenings throughout June 2012. The series was written and presented by Richard Holloway, and produced by Olivia Landsberg at Ladbroke Productions.

Synopsis

In "Honest Doubt", Richard Holloway explores the relationship between faith and doubt over the last 3000 years. Using Gauguin's painting

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? ''Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?'' (french: D'où venons-nous ? Que sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous ?) is a painting by French artist Paul Gauguin. The painting was created in Tahiti, and is in the Museum of Fine Arts in B ...

as his starting point, he looks at how some of humanity's best thinkers and most creative writers have approached these 'literally life and death questions'. The series takes us from the birth of religious thinking, through the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the

Protestant reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

, the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, the horrors of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, right up to today. As the former head of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

, Richard Holloway's main focus is on the history of doubt in the

Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...

tradition. But as he says, he is 'first and foremost a human being', and so he also considers some of the universal questions about our existence and the meaning of life. "Think of a piece of music", he says. "If faith is the melody, doubt is the descant. Each adds texture and depth to the other, and if we're lucky, a sense of harmony."

Episode guide

* 1 Prologue - an introduction to the series. * 2 In the Beginning - looks at the birth of religious thinking and one of religion's earliest doubters. * 3 Casting Out Idols - considers one of the recurring themes in Judeo-Christianity - idolatry. * 4 Revelation and its Limits - looks at one of the recurring issues in the story of doubt - God's invisibility. * 5 Mysteries not Problems - reflects on the work of the mediaeval mystics. * 6 Breaking Up - explores the role of doubt during the Reformation in the 16th Century. * 7 The Agony and the Ecstasy - looks at the doubts of three priest poets -

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...

and

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...

. * 8 Vacating Heaven - considers the influence of the

Scientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transfo ...

. * 9 Paying the Price - looks at censorship and excommunication. * 10 Caught in the Middle - explores the theme of

Free Will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

. * 11 Embracing Uncertainty - charts the impact of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

and

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

. * 12 Believer's Doubt - considers the doubts of 4 Victorian poets: Cardinal

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and the devoted assistant to Florence Nightingale. He was the brother of suffragist Anne Clough and father of Blanche Athena Clough who both became p ...

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...

and

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

* 13 A Post Mortem - explores the impact of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...

and the 19th-century fashion for historical criticism of the Bible. * 14 God's Funeral - brings together the 19th century English writer

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

and the 19th century German philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

who represented for many the culmination of the Victorian crisis of faith. * 15 Godless Morality - uses

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

and

to explore the future of morality without God. * 16 On the Edge - uses the American poet

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...

and philosopher

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher and writer who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views. Editor from 1982 t ...

to explore the mystery of existence. * 17 Saving Doubt - explores doubt and disloyalty with the help of three great 20th-century writers –

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

and

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

. * 18 Darkness Made Visible - draws on 18th-century Scotsman

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

and the Holocaust literature of

Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a Romanian-born German-language poet and translator. He was born as Paul Antschel to a Jewish family in Cernăuți (German: Czernowitz), in the then Kingdom of Romania (now Chernivtsi, U ...

and Andre Schwarz-Bart to explore: how can we reconcile the idea of God when there's so much suffering in the world? * 19 Presence and Absence - considers the dilemma through three post-war poets;

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

and RS Thomas. * 20 Tears in the Rain - offers a conclusion.

Contributors

Karen Armstrong Karen Armstrong (born 14 November 1944) is a British author and commentator of Irish Catholic descent known for her books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic religious sister, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and m ...

- Episode(s): 3,4,5,6, 13 * Prof.

Harvey Cox Harvey Gallagher Cox Jr. (born May 19, 1929) is an American theologian who served as the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, until his retirement in October 2009. Cox's research and teaching focus on theological developments in ...

- Episode(s) 3, 4 * Prof.

Don Cupitt Don Cupitt (born 22 May 1934) is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He has been an Anglican priest and a lecturer in the University of Cambridge, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and comm ...

- Episode(s): 2, 20 * Prof.

- Episode: 16 * Dr.

Jennifer Michael Hecht Jennifer Michael Hecht (born November 23, 1965) is a teacher, author, poet, historian, and philosopher. She was an associate professor of history at Nassau Community College (1994-2007) and most recently taught at The New School in New York Cit ...

- Episode(s): 2, 4 * Prof.

Carole Hillenbrand Carole Hillenbrand, (born 1943), is a British Islamic scholar who is Emerita Professor in Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh and Professor of Islamic History at the University of St Andrews. She is the Vice-President of the British ...

- Episode: 5 * Prof. Susan James - Episode(s): 8,9 * Prof.

Christopher Janaway Christopher Janaway is a philosopher and author. He earned degrees from the University of Oxford. Before moving to Southampton in 2005, Janaway taught at the University of Sydney and Birkbeck, University of London. His recent research has been on ...

- Episode(s): 10,14,15 * The Revd. Prof.

David Jasper David Jasper (born 1 August 1951) is a theologian, Professor Emeritus of Literature and Theology at the University of Glasgow. Jasper collected multiple degrees from Oxford in both English and Theology. He graduated in English from Jesus Colleg ...

- Episode(s): 1,5,12,17,18 * Prof. Sir

Anthony Kenny Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny (born 16 March 1931) is a British philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein of whose literary esta ...

- Episode(s): 3,8,12,16 * Prof.

Norman Kreitman Norman Kreitman (July 5, 1927 - December 15, 2012) was a psychiatric researcher and academic, based in Edinburgh, primarily known for coining the term parasuicide. He was also a published poet of some distinction, and wrote perceptively on the phil ...

- Episode(s): 2, 15 * Prof.

Peter Millican Peter Jeremy Roach Millican (born 1 March 1958) is Gilbert Ryle Fellow and Professor of Philosophy at Hertford College, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. His primary interests include the philosophy of David Hume, philosophy of reli ...

- Episode(s): 8, 18 * Sir

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...

- Episode(s): 7, 11, 9, 20 * Adam Phillips - Episode: 20 * Prof.

- Episode: 16 * Prof.

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...

- Episode: 1 * Prof Geza Vermes - Episode: 4

Music

The opening, closing and incidental music was composed by Seb Juviler at SNK Studios.

External links

*{{BBC programme
Ladbroke Productions (Radio) LtdAmazon Kindle
BBC Radio 4 programmes 2012 radio programme debuts