Do religions die?

04/19/24 • 54 min

Today, billions of people adhere to one of the “Big Five” major religions, but there are many more religions from history that have died out. Conquests, cultural change and conversions have all caused religions to shift, shrink and disappear. But when can we truly declare a religion “dead”? And could the religions of today die out in the distant future?

Guests:

Aslan Pahari, Video presenter/producer, ABC Digital Content and Innovation

Adam Bowles, Associate Professor in Asian Religions at the University of Queensland

Carole Cusak, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney

Guests:

Aslan Pahari, Video presenter/producer, ABC Digital Content and Innovation

Adam Bowles, Associate Professor in Asian Religions at the University of Queensland

Carole Cusak, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney

Previous Episode

Sawdust and the soul

Jesus was famously a carpenter, and many religious texts associate carpentry with wisdom, humility, and devotion. So, is there something divine about working with wood? Woodwork is the most ancient of crafts. It can offer both solitude and companionship, teach us lessons about patience and failure, and connect us to place, people and stories.

Guests:

Phoebe Everill, furniture maker and woodwork teacher from Drummond, Victoria

Father Dan Groody, Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana

Barry Golding, Honorary Professor in adult and community education at Federation University, author of Shoulder to Shoulder: Broadening the Men’s Shed Movement

Next Episode

Will evangelical voters be Trump's salvation?

As the US election approaches, presidential candidate Donald Trump has been doubling down on the religious language - selling bibles, preaching retribution and styling himself as a persecuted saviour. Trump enjoys the support of the overwhelming majority of white evangelical voters, but will that be enough to return him to the White House?

Guests:

D Stephen Long, theologian, Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University

Sarah McCammon, NPR Political Correspondent, author of Ex-vangelicals: Loving, Living and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

David Smith, Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre, and the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney