Religious Rebels 04 | John Calvin: Reformed the faith, ruled with fire
A French lawyer-turned-theologian who split from Rome — and built his own city of God.John Calvin fled Catholic France to lead a new Protestant movement in Geneva during the 1500s. His ideas about predestination and the absolute authority of Scripture reshaped Christianity and inspired the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions. Yet under his rule, dissenters were exiled, imprisoned, and violently executed. Was he a reckless heretic or a visionary thinker centuries ahead of his time — and what does his death say about the danger of new ideas?GUESTS:Randall C. Zachman Professor Emeritus of Reformation Studies, at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, after many decades at University of Notre Dame. Professor Ben Myers at Alphacrucis University College in Brisbane - author of The Apostles’ Creed: A guide to the ancient catechism Dr Constance Lee is Lecturer in Law at Adelaide University, and author of a forthcoming book Natural Law and the Nature of Government: John Calvin’s Constitutional Theology This is the fourth episode of God Forbid's Religious Rebels, a six-part special series exploring the lives of spiritual revolutionaries who defied empires, reshaped traditions — and sometimes paid with their lives.
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Religious Rebels 03 | Táhirih: Unveiled the truth, paid with her life
A Persian poet and scholar who tore off her veil — and announced the dawn of a new religious age. In the 1840s, Táhirih became one of the first women to preach in public in Iran. As a leading figure in the Bábí movement — a precursor to the Bahá’í faith — she argued that revelation had not ended and that women should be free to study, speak, and lead. Her defiance of clerical and royal authority terrified the establishment. In 1852, she was executed in secret, her body buried in silence. Was Táhirih a prophet of liberation or a heretic undone by her own courage?GUESTS:Professor Negar Mottahedeh — cultural critic and film theorist specialising in interdisciplinary and feminist contributions to the fields of Middle Eastern Studies at Duke UniversityRaya M Hazini — doctoral candidate with her Masters from the Graduate Theological UnionDr Zara Moballegh — PhD from Tehran University, she’s now visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard Divinity School. This is the third episode of God Forbid's Religious Rebels, a six-part special series exploring the lives of spiritual revolutionaries who defied empires, reshaped traditions — and sometimes paid with their lives.
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Religious Rebels 02 | Giordano Bruno: Imagined the Infinite, Burned at the Stake
A former Dominican friar who dared to say the universe had no centre — and paid with his life.Born in 16th-century Italy, Giordano Bruno broke with Church teachings to imagine an infinite cosmos filled with countless worlds. To him, God was not confined to heaven or hierarchy but alive in every corner of creation. The Inquisition saw it differently. After years of imprisonment and interrogation, Bruno was burned alive in Rome in 1600. Was he a reckless heretic or a visionary thinker centuries ahead of his time — and what does his death say about the danger of new ideas?GUESTS:Ingrid Rowland — Emeritus Professor of History at the US University of Notre Dame. Dilwyn Knox — Emeritus Professor of Renaissance Studies at University College, London Dr Shaun Blanchard — Lecturer in Theology at Notre Dame University Australia.This is the second episode of God Forbid's Religious Rebels, a six-part special series exploring the lives of spiritual revolutionaries who defied empires, reshaped traditions — and sometimes paid with their lives.
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Religious Rebels 01 | Joan of Arc: Mystic, warrior and gender transgressor
A teenage peasant who claimed to hear the voice of God — and changed the course of European history. At just seventeen, Joan of Arc convinced the French prince to let her lead an army against the English, turning the tide of the Hundred Years’ War. But her victories came at a price: captured, accused of heresy, and burned alive at nineteen. Was she a divinely inspired saviour or a dangerous fanatic? Centuries later, her story still provokes questions about faith, gender, and power — and how belief can turn an ordinary girl into a national saint.GUESTS:Dr Charlotte Millar — Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Melbourne. Author Witchcraft, the Devil & Emotions in Early Modern EnglandDr Stephanie Downes — Lecturer at La Trobe University, an expert on the history of English and French, and of books and writing of the periodDr Shaun Blanchard — Lecturer in Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. His anticipated fifth book – Catholicism and Enlightenment.This is the first episode of God Forbid's Religious Rebels. A six-part special series exploring the lives of spiritual revolutionaries who defied empires, reshaped traditions — and sometimes paid with their lives.
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Near-death experiences: myth or mystical?
What’s on the other side of the near-death experience?
Religion: it’s at the centre of world affairs, but profound questions still remain. Why are you here? What happens when you die? Does God matter? God Forbid seeks the answers.
Australia