Despite their many similarities, the colonial governments in Australia and New Zealand have taken very different approaches to relations with Indigenous peoples. After the referendum, what can Australia learn from Māori people in Aotearoa, and what role can churches play in working towards a post-colonial world? Rev Dr Rangi Nicholson has spent five decades working in the area of Māori language revitalisation as an educator and sociolinguist, teaching at four universities and working across...

Did you know there were Muslims who fought on the side of the Anzacs in World War I, some even in Gallipoli? That ill-fated campaign has become a defining story of contemporary Australia, but we’re still learning new things about who was there and what that means for us. Also, meet the first ever Muslim to serve as a chaplain in the Australian Defence Force. Dr Dzavid Haveric is an adjunct research fellow at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt university. He is the...

What would it take for a wiser and more beautiful world to emerge, even in the midst of crisis? Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee says stories are like seeds, and when they are watered with our attention, they can grow into a landscape of awe, wonder, reverence and love. Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is the founder and executive editor of Emergence magazine, which connects ecology, culture and spirituality. He is also a filmmaker and Naqshbandi Sufi teacher, and grew up in an ashram overseen by the...

What does community look like in this increasingly fractured world? Iona Community Leader Ruth Harvey sounds a note of optimism that, although sometimes dispersed, intentional communities working for justice and peace can create thin places that connect us with each other and the divine. Rev Ruth Harvey is Leader of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community working for justice and peace in Glasgow, the island of Iona, and across the world. She is ordained in the Church of...

Have you ever felt the impulse to just tear it all down? Iconoclasm — or image breaking — has real potency as a way of contesting the sacred and re-imagining the world, even in a post-religious society. From the Byzantines to Sinead O'Connor, iconoclasm remains an almost universal form of protest. Philip Jenkins is Professor of history at Baylor University in the United States, and co-director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion in the Institute for Studies of Religion. He...

We live in a highly visual culture — the image is king, and image-breaking is a key form of protest. But this is hardly new; idols, icons and iconoclasts have been part of the human story for millennia. We’re all familiar with these words though, even if they carry slightly different meanings outside religious contexts. So what’s going on? Vrasidas Karalis is Professor of Byzantine and modern Greek Studies at the University of Sydney. Michael Galovic is an artist and iconographer who has...

James Alison says scapegoating is one of our oldest social behaviours. But casting someone out to maintain group cohesion has its obvious drawbacks — particularly for the person taking the fall! As a gay Catholic priest, Dr Alison was drawn to the work of French polymath René Girard, who proposed that scapegoating is not the only answer. Dr James Alison is a Catholic priest, retreat leader, author and theological interpreter of the work of René Girard. His many books include, Jesus the...

William Shakespeare's world was marked by social change, spiritual tumult, and cosmic disorientation. Elizabeth I was on the throne, defining and defending England's Protestant reformation, and Europe now knew the Earth wasn’t the centre of the universe. So how secular — or perhaps, enchanted — was Shakespeare himself? Professor Kristen Poole from the University of Delaware is the author of The Bible on the Shakespearean Stage: Cultures of Interpretation in Reformation England and...

It’s been 100 years since the publication of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, a book beloved by everyone from Indira Ghandi to Elvis Presley. What is the story behind one of the most enduring spiritual texts of the Twentieth Century, and why did it strike such a chord? Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian American poet, essayist and aphorist. His most recent book is Quarantine notes: aphorisms on morality and mortality. Glen Kalem is founder of the Kahlil Gibran Collective and a research historian of...

None of us are immune from the reality of a changing climate, or perhaps even from the local disasters that seem to accompany it. But what does a changing climate mean for the ways people live out their faith? How is religion tied up with the ways communities actually respond to climate shocks and challenges? Dr Philip Jenkins is a professor of history at Baylor University in the United States, and co-director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion in the Institute for...

“Sovereignty is a spiritual notion”. The Uluru Statement from the Heart makes clear that Indigenous cultures and spiritualities are key to the story of the future of religion in Australia. As Australians head to the polls to decide on the question of a Voice to Parliament, Wagadagam elder Gabriel Bani continues to work towards healing and self-determination in the Torres Strait Islands, whatever the outcome of the referendum. Gabriel Bani is a tribal elder from the Wagadagam tribe on...

The world Christians live in is changing, so Christian theology is too. David Bentley Hart — one of the world’s most prominent and influential theologians — calls elements of mainstream Western Christian thought “a psychotic fantasy”. Wow! In Australia, theological colleges grapple with environmental and postcolonial questions, and it might just change the church here going forward. David Bentley Hart is a philosopher and theologian whose works focus on Christian metaphysics, philosophy of...

The year is 2087 and Istanbul is a glittering, technological metropolis — but is this digital utopia more, or less, religious than today? Religious affiliation and the category of “religion” itself is changing along with technology, politics and the environment. So in the middle of all this upheaval, what future do religious people imagine for themselves? Dr Anna Halafoff is Associate Professor in Sociology at Deakin University and president of the Australian Association for the Study of...

Meet two women who’ve tried to change the world — to give shape to a certain freedom, or liberation, for their community. From Catholic Liberation Theology in the Philippines to a hijabi mountaineer standing on top of the world, encouraging other Muslim women to do the same. Dr Estela Padilla is a community organiser and a theologian from Las Pinas in the Philippines, working to develop Liberation Theology in an Asian context. She is the Executive Secretary of the Theological Commission of...

Religion isn’t always serious business. While the sacred is sometimes considered off-limits for comedy, religious people actually do use humour to bond with each other and teach the tenets of their faith. And in the wake of tragedy, laughter is a defence as well as a comfort. Tami Sussman is an author with a background in theatre, comedy, spoken word poetry and copywriting. Her latest book is So That Happened...But Maybe You Already Knew That. She’s running a writing workshop for tweens at...

On SBS’s hit show Alone Australia, contestants had to spend weeks in the wilderness without any human contact. Isolation can be hard — many people fear it — but some embrace solitude as an opportunity to learn what makes us human. Dr Kate Grarock was a contestant on the reality TV show Alone Australia. She’s also an ecologist, hiker and YouTube creator. Hon Dr Joseph Randolph Bowers is a psychotherapist, spiritual director and lifelong meditation practitioner based in Armidale, NSW. He is...

Everyone dies, but in the last 200 years or so, our beliefs about death have changed dramatically. From pandemic meditations on mortality to the history of euthanasia, attitudes about death are part of life. Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian American poet, essayist and aphorist. His most recent book is Quarantine notes: aphorisms on morality and mortality Dr Caitlin Mahar researches cultural and medical histories of dying in Britain and Australia and the history of euthanasia activism. She is...

The 14th Dalai Lama is arguably the most prominent Buddhist in the world. He has influenced the West considerably, including religious traditions other than his own. How did this come to be, and who will succeed him as the 15th spiritual leader of Tibet? Professor Mario Aguilar is Professor of Religion and Politics in the School of Divinity, University of St Andrews, Scotland. His many books include The Way of the Hermit: Interfaith encounters in silence and prayer. Dr John Powers is a...

Is it possible to really, actually, know yourself? Descartes said the self was the only thing we can know — I think therefore I am — but other philosophical traditions say the self doesn’t even exist. Indian religion and philosophy has explored these questions from all angles for thousands of years, and new ideas continue to develop even today. From the ancient teachings of Vasubandhu, to the relatively modern tradition of the Brahma Kumaris: What, if anything, is the soul? Sister Jayanti...

Birth: we all go through it — according to some religions, at least twice! For Flesh Week, Soul Search looks at ideas and experiences of birth, including the Christian story of Mary as the mother of God, and being a Muslim 'milk mother'. Guests: Raidah Shah Idil is a multi-genre writer based in Malaysia who has studied Islamic Sciences with scholars in Jordan. She is milk mother to her nephew. Jodie McIver is a registered midwife, a theology graduate and a mother of three. Her first book...

Under one of the last remaining scarred trees in Sydney, Pastor Ray Minniecon is imagining a reconciled community. 

In a plague-riven Medieval Europe, a woman wrote a book in English that has inspired 650 years of devoted readers.

The search for a language that can hold rage and heal pain.

The river is sacred to many cultures, including the Barkindji community of NSW. For them, the beloved Barka, also known as the Darling River, is a life source and Ancestor.

The Indigenous people of Papua have a philosophy of nature that’s helping them resist deforestation. And, we explore shinrin-yoku – the Japanese art of forest bathing.