The Pearl of Great Price

Send us Fan Mail Today we look at the restless life of English missionary and linguist Roger Williams, and how he established the first Baptist Church in Rhodes Island

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember the birth of possibly the greatest artist of all time, Michelangelo.  We look at his work through four classics, the two statues of Pieta and David, the frescos of the Sistine Chapel and the Dome of St Peters in Rome.  And we also look at some controversial theories about his genius. 

Send us Fan Mail We look at the first mass in the vernacular celebrated by Paul VI today in 1965.  The roots of the reform and the consequences since. 

Send us Fan Mail We look at today's speech by President Reagan to an Evangelical Congress in Florida.  It has gone down in history as the 'Evil Empire Speech' and we examine the context of this and the evangelical base to the Republican Party

Send us Fan Mail A chilling story of the death of 40 Roman Soldiers in Lesser Armenia, in 320. They froze to death rather than renounce their Christian faith.  WIdely celebrated in the Orthodox World as martyrs. 

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember how James Earl Ray confessed to the murder of Rev King.  Todays pod takes a brief look at Kings life, his theology and his legacy

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember a fire in Serrmapore which destroyed some priceless translations from Sanskrit but brought international fame to the work of William Carey. Covering the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society and the first degree-awarding university in India

Send us Fan Mail George Berkeley, a father of Empiricism, and Irish Bishop and endower of Yale University lived a fascinating life,  We look at his ideas and his legacy in this podcast. 

Send us Fan Mail The son of a rich silk merchant makes a radical decision to embrace poverty, the Story of Francis of Assisi. 

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember the birth of George Friderick Handel whose oratario 'Messiah' has become a central part of the Christmas season

Send us Fan Mail Today we look at the life and faith of Frederick Douglass, the first African-American to run for Vice President.  He died today in 1895 but achieved a lot in his life after escaping from slavery himself.

Send us Fan Mail Today in 1473  the mathematician, astronomer, and priest Copernicus was born in Poland. He famously formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the centre of the universe, which lead to the rethinking of reality, a Copernican Revolution.  

Send us Fan Mail A book that has never been out of print since it was published today in 1678, we look at puritan preacher John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember the ending of the assembly of teh world council of churchhes in Canbera, Australia. Looking at the evolution of this inter-church organisation and  the challenges for it 

Send us Fan Mail Today a relatively  peaceful revolution  took place in Mania removing the autocrat Ferdinand Marcos,  We look at the crucial role church leaders played in this 

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember the life of a Lebanese Saint who attracts thousands of Christians and Muslims to his grave every month. We look at the purported miracles that surround him,

Send us Fan Mail Today we try and get as close as we can to establishing who St Valentine actually was, and how his feast day has developed over time

Send us Fan Mail Today in 1858 a 14-year old girl, gathering firewood outside a grotto in South West France had the first encounter with a young woman which would transform the town and the area. 

Send us Fan Mail Today in 1692, thirty members of the MacDonald clan were killed by troops of the Earl of Argyll's Regiment, as an example to the Clan chiefs who were dragging their feet in swearing allegiance to the Protestant William of Orange....  we explore the context in today's pod.

Send us Fan Mail Today Christians remember how St Paul was shipwrecked in Malta, looking at the story and the historical evidence linked to it

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember how a misdirected shell landed in Genoa Cathedral on Feb 9th 1941 and failed to explode.  Called the miracle of St Lawrence.... we look at how people fall back on religious objects and places during times of war and stress. 

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember the execution on Feb 6 1927 in Mexico of a priest Fr Matteo Correa Magallenes.  Exploring the Cristero War in Mexico and the involvement of the US.

Send us Fan Mail Today in 1597 we go to Nagasaki where 26 Christians were crucified, part of a long persecution against the Church.  Forced underground, the ' Kakure Kirishitan ' the hidden Christians of Japan developed an ingenious way of keeping the faith alive. Their story has been powerfully told by Shunsako Endo and most recently Martin Scorsese in the film 'Silence' 

Send us Fan Mail Today we remember how the Mormons left their Wintering Grounds in 1846 for the last part of their journey to establish the state of Utah. They received directions from an unlikely source....

Send us Fan Mail Today in 1468, Johannes Guttenberg invented a process for mass-producing movable type; mechanising the process, using adjustable moulds and oil-based ink for printing books. This was an epoch changing invention, changing mass communication for ever. We look at its impact and who used it