The Cidade de Deus, or City of God, has never had anything biblical about it apart from its name. The history of this favela in Rio de Janero has been marked by violence, poverty and drugs trafficking. In 2002, the eponymous film made it the best known favela in the world. But over the last 4 years, the City of God has been undergoing a minor revolution.
The Cidade de Deus, or City of God, has never had anything biblical about it apart from its name. The history of this favela in Rio de Janero has been marked by violence, poverty and drugs trafficking. In 2002, the eponymous film made it the best known favela in the world. But over the last 4 years, the City of God has been undergoing a minor revolution.
This is not fiction, it’s crude reality. This film tells a true story about the customs, problems and enigmas, of one of the most primitive ethnic groups on the planet- the Baka pygmies - as they fight to maintain their way of life. In the depths of the jungle of south-east Cameroon, recreating the scene, we see how a woman and her daughter are kidnapped by sorcerers for the start of a cannibal ritual, the woman is petrified, her face a mask of terror.
Human consciousness is the most mysterious phenomenon in the universe. Not only does it exist; it is sophisticated beyond understanding. The big issue: does the immaterial reality of human consciousness point to an immaterial mind behind the universe? Examining the evidence from ‘the God gene’ to near death experience, this episode brings the final clash of views of this God question series.
If ever God had an undertaker, it surely must be Charles Darwin. Yet, says his biographer James Moore “Darwin was never really an atheist”. He has, nevertheless, become its patron saint. The evidence for evolution is compelling. Indeed its achievements are so spectacular that they lead to underlying questions about why it is so successful if there is no over-arching mind. In this episode champions of the view that Darwin has buried God clash with their theistic counterparts.
Its origin shrouded in mystery, operating according to its own laws, described with the precision of mathematics, there is nothing as impressive as the cosmos. Life on earth is supported by forces finely tuned to an astonishing degree. So is it all luck? Or does the evidence suggest something more behind our ordered universe? In this episode atheism and theism are on a collision course. Where does the truth lie?
