God Forbid

ABC
  • 4.6 (183)
  • RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    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.

    54 min

  2. 31 OCT

    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.

    54 min

  3. 23 OCT

    Near-death experiences: myth or mystical?

    What’s on the other side of the near-death experience?

    54 min

  4. 16 OCT

    Was Jesus a real person?

    Only half of all Australians understand Jesus to be a real person who lived at a time and place in history, according to the latest Australian Community Survey. Two in 10 Australians said Jesus was a mythical or fictional character while three out of 10 didn’t know. Their doubts stand in contrast to those of ancient historians, classicists and New Testament scholars, who universally accept that Jesus was a real person in time and place in history. The question here is ontological: what makes “Jesus” Jesus?  Is it enough that a man called Jesus (or Joshua or Yeshua), who became a charismatic teacher, was born around the turn of the millennium in Palestine?  GUESTS: Dr John Dickson, Anglican cleric, historian and author of Is Jesus History?Professor Vrasidis Karalis, Professor of Greek at the University of SydneyRev Dr Karen Pack, lecturer in history at Notre Dame Australia Sound Engineer: Antonia Gauci, Music by Russell Stapleton This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People

    54 min

  5. 9 OCT

    Why do human animals fly planes and build cities?

    What separates humans from other animals? It’s not our brain hardware.  It’s our always changing brain software. For so long, humans believed our brain power separates us from animals: since the earliest human species, our brain size has tripled. But our brains haven’t grown for 30,000 - probably 300,000 years. So, why are we the ones who build cities and fly to space?   Michael Muthukrishna calls it our collective culture. As every generation passes our operating system gets a free upgrade, and we build on the knowledge of the generation before. GUEST: Professor Michael Muthukrishna is at the London School of Economics and, in January 2026, will take up a professorship at New York University  This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

    54 min

  6. 2 OCT

    Are whales Gods?

    In the Pacific Ocean right now grey, humpback and southern right whale populations are increasing. This is important for us all ecologically. But for some of us, even more is at stake. Because around the world, from the equator to the Arctic, from Russia to New Zealand, throughout history and today, humans revere whales, as spiritual ancestors and as harbingers of fortune and protection. And as we’ll learn, some communities and traditions even worship whales as gods.  Which makes their near extinction in the 20th century nothing less than deicide. GUESTS: Aike Peter Rots is principal investigator of the Whales of Power project at the University of Oslo.Mere Takoko is a leading Maori whale conservationist and founder and CEO of the Pacific Whale Fund.

    54 min

  7. 26 SEPT

    The ethics of witchcraft and hexing the far-right 

    Two days prior to the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, a group of writers at US-based feminist magazine, Jezebel, published an article stating that they 'Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk’. The magazine has since pulled the article, on the advice of their lawyers, so as not to cause any confusion about their stance on political violence of any kind.   Is it ever ethical to wish harm on someone, even if that harm is theoretical or supernatural? What code of ethics are witches bound to? And why do witches have such a complex relationship with right-wing politics?  GUESTS Dr Caroline Tully – witchcraft maven, archaeologist, writer, tarot reader, and scholar of modern Pagan religions Dr Kenneth Freeman – Adjunct Professor of social work at North Carolina Central University, author of the research paper Ethical parallels: an exploration of the NASW code of ethics, Wiccan Rede, and the growing influence of Wicca in the United StatesDr Megan Goodwin – scholar of politics, and American religions, senior editor of Religion Dispatches, and author of Religion is Not Done With YouThis episode of God Forbid was made on Gadigal land, in Naarm, and on the land of the Eno, Tuscarora and Occcaneechi peoples.

    54 min

  8. 19 SEPT

    Writing on the body: desecration or worship?

    The art of marking the body – by piercing the flesh and pushing ink into the wound – the tattoo has an uneasy relationship with religion. It's sometimes seen as a desecration of the body, but equally, the tattoo is venerated as a rite of passage as a form of worship. Then there are tattoos in the secular context. They so common in Australia now,  it’s actually hard to find a body under the age of 40 without NOT permanently marked by ink.   It’s a fascinating form of human expression, both in existence for millennia, and changing before our eyes. GUESTS: LARS KRUTAK is an anthropologist and documentary maker who specialises in tattoos and their cultural significance.JULIA MAGEAU GRAY is a researcher, documentary maker, and tattoo artist. Julia is credited with revitalising women's tattoo traditions across Melanesia

    54 min
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4.6
out of 5
183 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    ABC
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    302
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Show Website
    God Forbid

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