0:00:10 > 0:00:14I'm Peter Owen Jones, I'm a vicar from the Church of England
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and I've taken a year off from my parishes to see for myself
0:00:18 > 0:00:23the richness of faith across six continents.
0:00:31 > 0:00:40I'm going to witness rituals never seen before, making people's journeys from birth to death.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43I'm going to encounter strange and beautiful faiths,
0:00:43 > 0:00:48expressing people's deepest hopes and fears.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51How can you say such things?
0:00:54 > 0:01:00My biggest hope is to understand humanity's timeless fascination with the divine.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Am I dreaming?
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Excuse me ma'am,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06we're doing a quick survey to see how people feel
0:02:06 > 0:02:08religion impacts their city.
0:02:08 > 0:02:14Here in the Bible Belt, if feels that religion is in the blood,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18and that's because faith has been shaped by great historical waves
0:02:18 > 0:02:21of Evangelical fervour and mass conversion.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will inherit eternal life.
0:02:25 > 0:02:26Give me five.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30There have been four of these so-called "awakenings"
0:02:30 > 0:02:32in the last three hundred years,
0:02:32 > 0:02:37and I'm in America just as reports announce that another is unfolding.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42God apparently is pouring out His spirit here.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45People are being healed, there's miracles taking place.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48It's even being said that people are being raised from the dead.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52What's happening is that this is the heart and soul of a revival.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58I've journeyed further south through the Bible Belt to Lakeland
0:02:58 > 0:03:02to witness a phenomenon called The Florida Outpouring.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04SINGING
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Revivals are fuelled by the belief that
0:03:15 > 0:03:19the supernatural is breaking into the world.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Followers believe that the Holy Spirit gives the gift of tongues,
0:03:22 > 0:03:28a divine language spoken by the first disciples at Pentecost.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31People pray in many different ways.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37In this church, people believe that the Holy Spirit is taking them over.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40What's happening now is that everyone is beginning to pray.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Some people are praying in tongues.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48What I'm impressed with is that people seem to be prepared to let go.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Just feel that tonight.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52Here we go.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55You really want that lightning?
0:03:55 > 0:03:59You really want that lightning of God tonight?
0:03:59 > 0:04:01You want that fire of God?
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Tonight's preacher, Evangelist Frank Seamster,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07has a reputation for "slaying people in the spirit",
0:04:07 > 0:04:09a dramatic act of renewal
0:04:09 > 0:04:12where followers believe they are physically touched by God.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16If you want a fresh touch by God, I want you to come up right now.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18I want to lay hands on you.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21I want to pray for you. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Frank, the preacher, claims he can channel God's power
0:04:48 > 0:04:51to perform miraculous healings.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Fire! Fire! Fire!
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Oh! Oh, Jesus, Jesus!
0:05:00 > 0:05:05In the name of Jesus, fire!
0:05:08 > 0:05:12I hear somebody that's having problems with your prostrate.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14I'm telling you now right now, God...
0:05:14 > 0:05:17God wants to release a miracle right now.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Right now, if you just come up.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22There you are. In the name of Jesus.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26The FIRE of God now!
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Burn it off!
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Oh, oh, oh! Oh!
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Although we didn't witness any miracles, many people claim to have been cured of Frank's services.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45How does what Frank claims to do
0:05:45 > 0:05:50relate to stories about Jesus in the Bible?
0:05:50 > 0:05:53I know we will have those preachers who will say, "Well, God is love."
0:05:53 > 0:06:01Revivalism is all about preaching. Frank's vision for American faith is uncompromising.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07He boils the Bible down to its essentials - Heaven or Hell, saved or damned.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Here in Jerusalem there are so many different ways to God,
0:07:01 > 0:07:07every single different religion believes it has the Holy Grail.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16For Christians this is a big day in Jerusalem, Good Friday.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The day Jesus was sentenced to death.
0:07:19 > 0:07:26I want to understand how Christians interpret their historical connection with this place.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Thousands of pilgrims have arrived from all over the world to recreate
0:07:31 > 0:07:35the journey Jesus made to be crucified on Golgotha.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Many Christians feel they can know God better by travelling
0:07:40 > 0:07:45to the places where the stories in the Bible are believed to have happened.
0:07:45 > 0:07:52For this family from the Philippines, Christianity's roots in Jerusalem remain vital.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54It's knowing him better.
0:07:54 > 0:08:00If you've been to the place where he's been, he's died, he was born, everything that
0:08:00 > 0:08:06surrounds his life, to be there exactly, physically be there, is really very important.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09I think it's like for the Muslim,
0:08:09 > 0:08:14for them, at least once in their life, they have to go to Mecca.
0:08:14 > 0:08:21For us also, as Christians, I think we have to visit the Holy Land at least once.
0:08:22 > 0:08:30For some pilgrims, it's important to get the right props to get the full idea of what Christ went through.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34This is really a sort of... miniature version.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37It's not that heavy.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40It's not heavy enough actually.
0:08:40 > 0:08:46To many of the people taking part, these are serious rituals.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54- I just wondered what part you are playing today? - I'm playing the apostle John.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56- The apostle John?- Yes.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- Hello, I'm John - I thought he was John?
0:09:00 > 0:09:02No, that's my name.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05- I'm playing Simon of Cyrene. - Simon of Cyrene.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08I'm just wondering where you got the nails from...
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Believe it or not, a hardware store in California.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16I've been confused about the invitation to follow Christ.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Is it moral, spiritual or physical, or all three,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24do we find the spiritual by taking the physical path?
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Make way for the Nazarene!
0:09:30 > 0:09:31Move it! Move it!
0:09:40 > 0:09:45But there's something compelling about the experience.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49I think it might really have been like this, a total, chaotic total scrum.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10The pilgrimage ends at the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre,
0:10:10 > 0:10:17which is supposed to be built on the very spot where Christ was crucified and laid to rest in a tomb.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22THEY SING A HYMN
0:10:24 > 0:10:29Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come here to kiss the spot
0:10:29 > 0:10:32where the cross stood and to reflect on Christ's suffering.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43To actually take the route on the day that he was crucified
0:10:43 > 0:10:49involves you in that narrative, it involves you in that story,
0:10:49 > 0:10:54so it's a powerful experience if you let yourself into it...
0:10:55 > 0:10:59You'd be pretty hard hearted if it didn't touch you in some way.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24'Christianity arrived in Ethiopia in the fourth century.
0:11:24 > 0:11:30'I'm heading to a place where one of the oldest forms of Christianity in existence is practised.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34'To see how such a long and difficult history has shaped
0:11:34 > 0:11:39'the beliefs and practices of today's Ethiopian Christians.'
0:11:40 > 0:11:46Somewhere up there is a rock-hewn Ethiopian Coptic church.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Let's get out there!
0:11:51 > 0:11:55'The Church of Mikael Imba was built on the top of this rocky outcrop
0:11:55 > 0:11:57'over 1,000 years ago.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01It's been in continual use ever since.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05'The celebration is for the annual feast of St Michael,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08'the patron saint of the church.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12'One early arrival has come to be healed
0:12:12 > 0:12:15'in a tank of holy water hewn out of the rock.'
0:12:26 > 0:12:28BELL RINGS
0:12:28 > 0:12:31'The festival begins with a prayer service for the priests.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33'The head priest, Father Hailom,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36'invites me to join them in the church.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42'The roof of the church is at ground level.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46'The whole building is hewn out of the living rock of the mountain.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51'Father Hailom is understandably proud as he shows me round.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53THEY CHANT
0:12:53 > 0:12:56HE CHANTS
0:13:02 > 0:13:07'The chant is in the archaic Ethiopian language of Ge'ez,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10'and the rhythms date back to the sixth century.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17'Fortunately, one of the young deacons does his best to teach me.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28'Ethiopia has suffered many famines over the years.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32'In the 1980s, over a million people died
0:13:32 > 0:13:37'in one of the worst famines the world has ever seen.'
0:13:37 > 0:13:40'As we pray, much-needed rain begins to fall.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43'I know it's something they've been praying for,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47'but I'm wondering how Father Hailom keeps his faith
0:13:47 > 0:13:50'in such a harsh environment.'
0:13:50 > 0:13:53What people have experienced here over the last 30 years,
0:13:53 > 0:14:00I would assume would have tested someone's faith to the absolute limit.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34'As the congregation gathers from the surrounding farms and villages,
0:14:34 > 0:14:39'Father Hailom and the deacon invite me to join them for bread and beer brewed from honey.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47'It's the one time of the year when drinking is approved,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49'as long as you don't get drunk.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52'The church beer is strictly rationed.'
0:14:52 > 0:14:57'The meal is an important part of the festival,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01'especially as people are going to be up all night praying.'
0:15:01 > 0:15:03THEY CHANT AND DRUM
0:15:08 > 0:15:10'Hundreds of villagers crowd into the church,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13'much as they have done for over 1,000 years.'
0:15:39 > 0:15:43'As the sun comes up, the priests lead out of the church.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47'By now they've been praying for 18 hours.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58'Father Hailom ushers me to a place of honour near the front.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09'A 10th-century cross, sacred manuscripts,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12'and a painted icon belonging to the church
0:16:12 > 0:16:15'are brought out to bless the congregation.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19'This is the only day in the year when anyone can see these objects.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'Their age gives them great power.'
0:16:22 > 0:16:25THEY CHANT
0:16:35 > 0:16:39'By African standards, Christianity is quite a new religion,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42'but among the villagers worshipping on the hilltop,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46'I feel as close to glimpsing man's earliest connection with the divine
0:16:46 > 0:16:49'as I have felt anywhere on my journey.'
0:16:55 > 0:16:58HE CHANTS IN GE'EZ LANGUAGE
0:16:59 > 0:17:03'For this community, a love of God is at the very heart of their identity.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06'In these merciless conditions,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09'their faith is what breathes life into their existence.'
0:17:38 > 0:17:41What an extraordinary answer. Extraordinary.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Salaam, salaam, salaam.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49'For people to share what little food they have with you
0:17:49 > 0:17:52'is an inspiring and a humbling experience.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Thank you.
0:17:54 > 0:18:01'The sacred relics are packed away and it's time for me to leave.'
0:18:05 > 0:18:06Salaam, salaam.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43'South Africa used to be controlled by a white minority
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'who followed Calvinism -
0:18:46 > 0:18:51'a branch of Christianity that taught them they were chosen by God.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54'Now they no longer rule the country for themselves,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58'I want to ask what future their God has in store for them.'
0:19:02 > 0:19:06'I'm visiting an Afrikaner family near the Groot Marico River.
0:19:06 > 0:19:13Like all Christians, Calvinists believe that Jesus will one day return to Earth,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17'though not all Christians agree about when he might come.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22'I want to find out why these people think his return will be very soon.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26'Every week, the family gather with their neighbours
0:19:26 > 0:19:27'for a prayer service.'
0:19:28 > 0:19:32You're welcome to sing in Afrikaans also!
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I'll try, I'll try, I'll give it a go.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Let's trust him to help us in these days.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42The last days before the Lord Jesus comes.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50# What a friend we have in Jesus... #
0:19:52 > 0:19:57'For over three centuries, the Afrikaners have held on to their Calvinist beliefs.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'Their European hymns, prayers and way of life.'
0:20:00 > 0:20:03# ..In His arms He'll take and shield thee
0:20:03 > 0:20:09# Thou wilt find a solace there. #
0:20:14 > 0:20:21How much of being Afrikaans is about having a strong Christian faith?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Look, our history takes us back as being also a Christian nation,
0:20:25 > 0:20:32as you would find with the Americas or other nations that have their roots, similar roots like that.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36But I think with us, we have been for many years because of our views on apartheid,
0:20:36 > 0:20:41which we trace to the biblical sense of meaning Holy,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44because that is, the Hebrew word of Holy, actually,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48you can tie that to apartheid or being set aside.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50We still believe that God's hand has placed us here
0:20:50 > 0:20:55to spread the gospel to different peoples and different countries in Africa.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59I get the feeling that there's quite a lot of expectation
0:20:59 > 0:21:03in this room that Christ is... Christ is coming, that...
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Christ is King and we expect the Second Coming.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10That is... We are all very convinced about that.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15Because the Bible says when crime is on the increase, and rumours of wars,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17we can expect his soon return.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24May I ask how many people in this room expect Christ to come soon?
0:21:24 > 0:21:29- All of us.- 2020.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31- 2020?- By 2020,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33it's all gone.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35- By 2020?- 2020.
0:21:36 > 0:21:42What will the world be like with the return of Christ?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45- We have to wait and see. - Sodom and Gomorrah.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Earthquakes.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Water, which is...
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Droughts. ..droughts...
0:21:52 > 0:21:53famine.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Illnesses. Where's HIV coming from?
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Well, what a conversation.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01I wasn't expecting that!
0:22:07 > 0:22:10I can understand with the end of apartheid,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15with the end of a way of life that had existed essentially for centuries,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19that that could be interpreted as...
0:22:21 > 0:22:23..really the beginning of the end.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29Looking at Biblical passages, but I wasn't expecting everyone in the room to stick up their hands.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35It must be quite a strange position to be in mentally,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40because the world is coming to an end as they know it.
0:23:12 > 0:23:18'The Philippines was named after the great Spanish Catholic king Philip II
0:23:18 > 0:23:24'in the 16th century, and remained a Spanish colony for over 300 years.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28'Today, 80% of Filipinos are Catholic.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34'I'm going to two of the biggest Filipino Catholic festivals.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36'The first is in the farming town of Pulilan.'
0:23:36 > 0:23:38MUSICIANS PLAY
0:23:43 > 0:23:45This is where everyone is going to celebrate the
0:23:45 > 0:23:48culmination of a nine-day festival, nine days of prayers.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52And the people of Pulilan and the surrounding villages are
0:23:52 > 0:23:57just pouring into this town to celebrate their harvest festival
0:23:57 > 0:24:01and to honour the patron saint of farming, San Isidro.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Really very different from the harvest festivals that I'm used to!
0:24:11 > 0:24:16'In the UK, a church harvest festival parade might be a pretty small event,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20'but here, religion is such an important part of life
0:24:20 > 0:24:23'that it seems everyone is here on the streets
0:24:23 > 0:24:26'joining in to celebrate the harvest.'
0:24:26 > 0:24:28This is absolutely crazy!
0:24:32 > 0:24:37What astonishes me is that the church organised this.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43This is a church festival, but done with 100,000 people.
0:24:43 > 0:24:44How great is that?!
0:24:48 > 0:24:52'With barely time to draw breath, I'm on to the next festival,
0:24:52 > 0:24:57'a few kilometres away in the fishing village of Obando.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03'This is a fertility festival.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06'The tradition is that if you want to have a baby
0:25:06 > 0:25:11'or find a husband or wife, you join the parade and ask the Catholic saints
0:25:11 > 0:25:13'to help you out.'
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Well, really I'm a little confused here.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22I thought that the women who were going to be dancing were those that actually wanted to have children,
0:25:22 > 0:25:27but most of them were of pensionable age, let's say.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31Are you dancing for fertility?
0:25:40 > 0:25:44You believe it was the dance that helped you fall pregnant?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Are you in the parade because you want to have a wife?
0:25:52 > 0:25:53- Yes.- You haven't met anyone yet?
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Not yet. Maybe later, in the church.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Are you allowed to find a girlfriend in church?
0:25:58 > 0:26:03- Yes. After the parade, it will be ended at the church.- Yes.
0:26:03 > 0:26:09- The band will play at the altar and all the folks and people will dance inside the church.- Great.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13'The parade wasn't quite what I expected,
0:26:13 > 0:26:19'but I have been told that the church service is worth checking out.'
0:26:49 > 0:26:55'To the biggest cheers of the afternoon, the priest introduces some of the little success stories.'
0:26:55 > 0:26:58'What's happened here
0:26:58 > 0:27:03'is that the Roman Catholic church has absorbed ancient local festivals
0:27:03 > 0:27:06'and over the years, they have become Christian.
0:27:06 > 0:27:14'The way Christians celebrated Christmas in the UK came about in a very similar way.'
0:27:35 > 0:27:37I have come to Jerusalem
0:27:37 > 0:27:40because I want to find out more about Judaism,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43one of the world's oldest monotheistic faiths.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47I want to try and understand why it is that followers of Judaism
0:27:47 > 0:27:53believe that God gave the land that we know as Israel exclusively to them.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07I'm praying for peace at last in this beautiful land.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13The tradition is that you write the prayer, you fold it up tightly and then you stick it in the wall.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20The Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, is all that remains of the Jews'
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans.
0:28:23 > 0:28:30The Bronze Age tribe of the Israelites was one of the first tribes on earth to replace a belief
0:28:30 > 0:28:34in many pagan gods, with a belief in one God.
0:28:34 > 0:28:41Their religion became known as Judaism and this is the site of the temple where they believe God dwelt.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47Judaism's long history is rooted in this land.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55Tonight, at Jerusalem's main Synagogue, Jews are celebrating
0:28:55 > 0:29:00one aspect of that history in a festival called Purim.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Purim commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia
0:29:04 > 0:29:09were saved from extermination by the courage of a young Jewish woman called Esther.
0:29:11 > 0:29:17Following the Jews' escape, 75,000 Persians were massacred in retaliation.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25The Rabbi reads an account of these events from the Book Of Esther.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29The congregation dress up as characters in the story
0:29:29 > 0:29:34and make a noise whenever the name of their enemy, Haman, is read out.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46It's meant to be a rowdy and entertaining occasion.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51They're celebrating their survival as a people.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57You all come here, you bring rattles and crackers and whistles
0:29:57 > 0:30:00to drown out the name of a man who wanted to kill them all.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08The celebration of their survival continues in the hall next door.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11It's about maintaining the narrative of faith,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14maintaining the narrative of a religion, and all religions have it.
0:30:14 > 0:30:22It was genocide that Haman was planning to perpetrate against the Jewish people.
0:30:23 > 0:30:30Here in Jerusalem 3,000 years later, the celebration seems all the more potent because Israelis still feel
0:30:30 > 0:30:33themselves threatened by their neighbours.
0:30:39 > 0:30:45The Purim celebration continues throughout Jerusalem over the next three days.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00The final part of the Purim celebration takes place in an Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05For the rest of the year this is a place of serious and sober religious scholarship.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09But for one night only it's given over to festivity.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20This is about deliverance, the Jewish people being delivered from their enemy at the time.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25It's celebrating the safe passage to the present moment.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30Here we are in this room, we're together, we've survived.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34To a certain degree, yes, it's a show of joy.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36But it's also a show of strength.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41My experience of Purim has shown me the strength of these people's
0:31:41 > 0:31:44connection with their history and with this land.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49I'm keen to discover what the origins of that connection are.
0:31:51 > 0:31:58Here in the Middle East, religious beliefs are impossible to separate from political realities.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02To understand the politics means looking at the origins of those beliefs,
0:32:02 > 0:32:04and the history of the conflict.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15When most of the Jewish people were exiled from Palestine 2,000 years ago,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18they became scattered around the world.
0:32:18 > 0:32:24In the 19th century, the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people started to spread.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30Eventually the state of Israel was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Jews have been coming to live in Israel ever since.
0:32:36 > 0:32:42I've come to visit a settlement called Efrat built on Palestinian land occupied by Israelis.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45HE SPEAKS HEBREW Pleasure to meet you.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50'The leader of the community, Rabbi Riskin, came here from Brooklyn.'
0:32:51 > 0:32:56This whole area has been a no-man's-land for 2,000 years,
0:32:56 > 0:33:01since we were here at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04The Bible is very specific. It's Genesis, chapter 15.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08"And God entered into a covenant with Abraham,
0:33:08 > 0:33:15"and God said to Abraham, 'Your children will be an eternal people.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19"'And they will have an eternal relationship with this land.'"
0:33:20 > 0:33:23Now likewise, the Bible does not in any way justify
0:33:23 > 0:33:29our pushing people who are innocent people off the land.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33What the Bible does say is, however, we have a right to be here.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Well, thank you.
0:33:35 > 0:33:36It's been a pleasure.
0:33:36 > 0:33:43The belief that this story, written over 2,000 years ago, gives all Jews a right to come and live
0:33:43 > 0:33:44on this land is disputed,
0:33:44 > 0:33:50particularly by Palestinians who lost their homes when Israel was founded.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08The belief that a story written down over 2,000 years ago
0:34:08 > 0:34:12gives all Jews a right to come and live in the Holy Land
0:34:12 > 0:34:18has caused much conflict between Jewish and Palestinian peoples.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23But why are people prepared to kill themselves and others in the name of religion?
0:34:23 > 0:34:29I want to try and understand what drives someone to become a suicide bomber.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35OK, this is Jerusalem. We'll be driving south to Dheisheh Refugee Camp.
0:34:35 > 0:34:40I set off to a refugee camp called Dheisheh, where Palestinians
0:34:40 > 0:34:45who were forced out of their homes have been living for over 60 years.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48We're just coming up to an Israeli checkpoint.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Just be generally well behaved.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56We arrive in the refugee camp of Dheisheh.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01At the main mosque, I meet Samir.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03Samir's a Sunni Muslim.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07On Fridays he brings two of his grandsons to the mosque to pray.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14The mosque is a focal point for the community.
0:35:16 > 0:35:22Muslims believe in the same Old Testament God as their Jewish and Christian neighbours.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27They regard their prophet Muhammad not as the founder of a new religion,
0:35:27 > 0:35:32but as the restorer of the original faith of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39Many Muslims also believe Muhammad himself ascended into heaven from
0:35:39 > 0:35:44Jerusalem and that's one element of their territorial claim to the city.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49I want to ask Samir about his views on the conflict.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59From his house you can see the Jewish settlement of Efrat up on the hill.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28Is this a conflict about religion or is it about land?
0:36:49 > 0:36:55Samir has lived in this refugee camp all his life and has brought up his family here.
0:36:56 > 0:37:04In 2002, Samir's 18-year-old daughter, Ayat, detonated a bomb in an Israeli supermarket.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08She killed two Israelis and injured 28 more.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13She became the youngest ever female Palestinian suicide bomber.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17I'm struggling to understand, was that
0:37:17 > 0:37:20as an act of radical Islam?
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Or was that to say,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26"We are landless, we are rootless"?
0:37:42 > 0:37:46All the Israelis have told me, "Look, ours is a God of love."
0:37:46 > 0:37:50And you have explained that yours is a God of love.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Can we not begin talking on that basis?
0:38:23 > 0:38:28One of the victims of Ayat's bomb was a teenage Israeli girl.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53We're on a typical Moscow street, in the middle of January,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56and there's a Hare Krishna procession coming towards us.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13Hare Krishna is a branch of Hinduism.
0:39:13 > 0:39:20Devotees believe that chanting the Hare Krishna mantra brings about a higher state of consciousness.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24I haven't quite got the walk, it's sort of...
0:39:24 > 0:39:30They believe they have a duty to spread their message across the world.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Is it possible to be spiritual and noisy at the same time?
0:39:37 > 0:39:41So much more movement, so much more open-heartedness
0:39:41 > 0:39:46than the stiffness of Russian Orthodoxy. What do you think?
0:39:54 > 0:39:56You can look at it and you can say, um...
0:39:56 > 0:39:59no meat,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01no gambling,
0:40:01 > 0:40:05no intoxicants, no alcohol, no caffeine, no nicotine,
0:40:05 > 0:40:10no sex at all unless you're married and you want to have children.
0:40:10 > 0:40:16And on the surface of that, that seems like a pretty dour, dowdy religion
0:40:16 > 0:40:21but to be in the midst of it doesn't seem like that at all, doesn't feel like that at all either.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Hare Krishna!
0:40:29 > 0:40:33Religion has been making the most remarkable comeback here in Russia.
0:40:33 > 0:40:391,000 faiths imported by missionaries from all over the world.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43All struggling to gain the heart and the soul of new Russia.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07What has become of the atheist ideals of Communism in the motherland?
0:41:14 > 0:41:19Moscow is not only the capital of Russia, it is also home to the Russian Orthodox Church.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Before the Bolshevik revolution in 1917,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29the Russian Orthodox Church had 80,000 places of worship
0:41:29 > 0:41:31and 100 million adherents.
0:41:31 > 0:41:38But then the Soviet Union became the first state officially to purge religion.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42Believers were persecuted, atheism was taught in schools
0:41:42 > 0:41:44and churches were confiscated.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51And yet today, the Church is thriving.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57This is St Saviours, the biggest Orthodox cathedral in the world.
0:41:57 > 0:42:03But it isn't the original. That was blown up by the Communists in 1931.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08This exact replacement was only finished in 2001.
0:42:08 > 0:42:14This is really a statement about the power of the idea of eternity
0:42:14 > 0:42:18and the power of the idea of everlasting life
0:42:18 > 0:42:23and the power of the idea of the victory of goodness over evil.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28These are powerful ideas and this creation speaks
0:42:28 > 0:42:34about the victory of those ideas over, really, atheism.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37CHOIR SINGS
0:42:54 > 0:43:00To come in out of the cold, grey mist of Moscow
0:43:00 > 0:43:02in to here...
0:43:02 > 0:43:09Not only is it warm but it is sensuous, sensual, full of colour.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11And if this was happening underground
0:43:11 > 0:43:15while the Communist regime was in power,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17no wonder it survived here.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19SINGING
0:43:19 > 0:43:22The churches across Moscow are packed today
0:43:22 > 0:43:27because of the feast of Epiphany, commemorating the baptism of Christ
0:43:27 > 0:43:30and today, holy water is the big theme.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Soon the priests are throwing it around.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36To be drenched is to be blessed.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41We all were blessed by the water. Wonderful chaos.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians across Russia
0:43:47 > 0:43:50are queuing for bottles of holy water to take home with them.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54They believe that it can cure all manner of ills.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Water is a purifying agent.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04If you can sense that the Christian tradition, the Jewish tradition,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08the Islamic tradition, have all emerged out of the desert essentially,
0:44:08 > 0:44:13and therefore water is seen as an agent of life, an agent of purity.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17So that is why, within the Christian tradition, we have Baptism,
0:44:17 > 0:44:23and why water is regarded as a rejuvenator, a healer.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28But not everybody in Moscow is celebrating Christ's baptism.
0:44:28 > 0:44:34The spirit of the Bolshevik Revolution is still alive amongst some of its grandchildren.
0:44:34 > 0:44:40I meet Alexander Novikov on the street outside the rebuilt cathedral.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43Alexander's belief system is that there is no God.
0:44:43 > 0:44:50He's an atheist. I am keen to hear what he makes of the religious revival, so I buy him a coffee.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52Spasibo.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55It's quite cold today, I would say -10, -13.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58RUSSIAN IN TRANSLATION:
0:45:08 > 0:45:14Communism sponsored atheism as the official creed of Communism.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17We have been in three churches this morning - they're packed.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21What's happening, what's going on?
0:45:51 > 0:45:56But all movements, including atheism, have their own leaders.
0:46:05 > 0:46:12Alexander told me about an atheist debating society meeting that evening.
0:46:12 > 0:46:19'I was keen to know more about what contemporary atheism had to offer.'
0:46:21 > 0:46:24I think this must be it.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29'I wasn't expecting the grinding boredom that was to follow.'
0:46:29 > 0:46:32RUSSIAN IN TRANSLATION:
0:46:42 > 0:46:45To see the great idea of atheism and humanism
0:46:45 > 0:46:52reduced to an upstairs room full of, what... 12, 15 old men?
0:46:52 > 0:46:54I'm sure during the height of Communism they thought,
0:46:54 > 0:46:58"This will last for ever, atheism will be here for ever and ever."
0:46:58 > 0:47:03Ask someone in 1965 whether in 50 years' time
0:47:03 > 0:47:06all the churches would be reopening in Moscow, they would have laughed,
0:47:06 > 0:47:08they would have laughed at you.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12The Buddhists...
0:47:12 > 0:47:16perhaps have the answer, you know, "believe in permanence at your peril".
0:47:20 > 0:47:24The tide of atheism may have receded here in Russia,
0:47:24 > 0:47:30but I do know there are hundreds of millions of people worldwide who believe there is no God.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46I'm travelling east to the town of Nanded to find out more
0:47:46 > 0:47:51about a religion that is only 300 years old and yet has expanded
0:47:51 > 0:47:53worldwide.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55This faith has its roots in the big Muslim areas
0:47:55 > 0:47:59of central and western India when three to four centuries ago,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03many Indians were caught between a resurgent Islam
0:48:03 > 0:48:05of the Mughal emperors
0:48:05 > 0:48:08and a Hindu caste system they felt badly needed reforming.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13The Sikh faith was begun by a man named Guru Nanak
0:48:13 > 0:48:16and then developed by nine further gurus
0:48:16 > 0:48:20during a period of time when people were often at war
0:48:20 > 0:48:23and had to fight to defend their beliefs.
0:48:23 > 0:48:28Since then, Sikhism has grown into the fifth biggest world religion.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Nanded is host to a massive festival.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34The town is already packed with pilgrims.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38In fact, whole villages have arrived by lorry from the Punjab,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41the main centre for the Sikh faith.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42Where have you come from?
0:48:42 > 0:48:45IN TRANSLATION:
0:48:45 > 0:48:46How long did it take?
0:48:50 > 0:48:51Four days?
0:48:51 > 0:48:53All the way on top?
0:48:58 > 0:49:02HE BLOWS HORN
0:49:03 > 0:49:05They've come to visit
0:49:05 > 0:49:08one of the most important Sikh temples in India.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11It's where exactly 300 years ago,
0:49:11 > 0:49:16the tenth and last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was assassinated,
0:49:16 > 0:49:19fighting to establish his new religion.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Everyone is here to pay their respects to his creation,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24the Guru Granth Sahib -
0:49:24 > 0:49:29the Sikh scriptures, which are being read continuously.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Sikhs are gathering from all over the world,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35from London, from Toronto.
0:49:36 > 0:49:41Before he died, Guru Gobind Singh decreed all spiritual authority
0:49:41 > 0:49:45be invested in this book containing the writings of Guru Nanak
0:49:45 > 0:49:47and some of the other gurus,
0:49:47 > 0:49:51as well as extracts from Hindu and Muslim texts.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56So the book became the Guru and the Guru became the book.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58But, more astonishingly,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01the pilgrims seemed to be giving equal reverence
0:50:01 > 0:50:04to a room full of military hardware,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07overseen by an image of the Guru himself.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10I mean, you guys...
0:50:10 > 0:50:12There's a lot of weaponry here.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17- A lot of fierceness. - It was needed at the time.- It was?
0:50:17 > 0:50:20- It was needed at the time.- Why? There was fighting, conversions.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Islam wanted to kill all the Sikhs,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25so we needed to defend the Granth Sahib
0:50:25 > 0:50:27but we were not cruel defenders.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34I asked myself what was so new about Sikhism 300 years ago
0:50:34 > 0:50:36that made it worth fighting for.
0:50:36 > 0:50:41Sikhism retained the same ideas of reincarnation and karma
0:50:41 > 0:50:46to be found in Hinduism but had a single scriptural book, as in Islam.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52One god? Just the one source of the divine.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56- That's right, God is one. - God is one.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Not like the Hindu pantheon.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01No. He's the creator.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04I love this idea within Sikhism that there's no caste,
0:51:04 > 0:51:07we are all men, we are all women, we are all human beings,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11- we are all equal.- This is the words of our greatest guru.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13He doesn't believe in caste.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17I want to understand more about how Sikhs demonstrate
0:51:17 > 0:51:20their devotion to God, so I head down to the river
0:51:20 > 0:51:22to meet a group of Sikh holy men
0:51:22 > 0:51:25who call themselves Nihangs.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29They have devoted themselves to the armed service of the religion.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32They spend much of their lives on the road
0:51:32 > 0:51:34with their elephants and horses.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40The Nihangs also run a langar, a vast canteen for the pilgrims.
0:51:40 > 0:51:41For the next 40 days,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43they have pledged to feed, without charge,
0:51:43 > 0:51:48anyone who comes regardless of religion or caste.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51This is an important feature of Sikhism worldwide
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and follows the teaching of Guru Nanak.
0:51:54 > 0:51:59All gurdwaras serve food, prepared and blessed as an offering.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02This great act of giving is known as a prasad.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Quite literally a blessing.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07And it is the blessing on those who give
0:52:07 > 0:52:09and it is the blessing on those who receive.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25In everything you do, in washing up,
0:52:25 > 0:52:28in turning rotors, you are to think of God. All the time.
0:52:34 > 0:52:35OK.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58We have just landed at Addis Ababa.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Local time is ten minutes to eleven o'clock.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia
0:53:04 > 0:53:09was once home to its last emperor, Haile Selassie,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12who was also known as the Conquering Lion of Judah.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15When he came to the throne in 1930,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18he became the messiah for a whole new religion
0:53:18 > 0:53:21that originated in Jamaica.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Before he became Emperor,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27Haile Selassie was called Ras Tafari,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29hence the name Rastafari.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35About four hours' drive south of Addis, there's a patch of land
0:53:35 > 0:53:37set aside by Haile Selassie
0:53:37 > 0:53:40for Rastafarians who want to live in Ethiopia.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44"Welcome home to Ethiopia." Rastafari!
0:53:45 > 0:53:47We're about to begin our little service, you know.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52In reverence, this time and give thanks to the Most High and Praised Selassie I...
0:53:52 > 0:53:55- Hey aye!- Selassie!- Hey aye!
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Selassie!
0:53:57 > 0:54:01Rastafari started among the descendants of slaves
0:54:01 > 0:54:04who believed they should repatriate to Africa.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07Today, about 300 Rastas live here.
0:54:07 > 0:54:13CLAPPING First king of iration, he's the alpha and the omega.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16Beginning without an end, the first and forever.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22HE SINGS, DRUMBEAT
0:54:22 > 0:54:26THEY ALL SING
0:54:27 > 0:54:31They believe they're one of the lost tribes of Israel
0:54:31 > 0:54:34and that Ethiopia is their promised land.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41To Rastas, Haile Selassie's coronation
0:54:41 > 0:54:43fulfils the Biblical prophesy
0:54:43 > 0:54:45that kings will come out of Africa.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49To them, Haile Selassie
0:54:49 > 0:54:52was actually the second coming of Christ.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54By returning to Africa,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57followers can put the horror of the slave trade behind them
0:54:57 > 0:55:00and find peace and redemption.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04Jah! Ras Tafari!
0:55:04 > 0:55:08- Me...Bongo Rocky.- Peter.- OK?- Yeah.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11You ever hear about heaven? A man gone a heaven.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Me is like a man in heaven.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18I'm a redeemed man out of captivity, OK?
0:55:18 > 0:55:22450 years under colonial yoke. 450 years.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26The greatest crime done to humanity is the slave trade,
0:55:26 > 0:55:31and His Majesty is the man who come redeem us out of slavery and colonialism.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35That's why we no say that Christ in the Second Advent. Christ come again!
0:55:35 > 0:55:40- Christ is resurrected?- Yes, yes, and we are living in the resurrection
0:55:40 > 0:55:42and Christ is gonna bring judgment.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47- Christ comes to judge Earth. - How soon will this judgment be?
0:55:47 > 0:55:50It is right now. the judgment is right now.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53You are living in the judgment time.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56Things are happening round about, you do not realise is judgment.
0:55:56 > 0:56:01The wrath of God is pouring now on the world because of this wickedness
0:56:01 > 0:56:03to humanity.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31Brazil's futuristic capital is a global centre
0:56:31 > 0:56:34for new age and esoteric faiths.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Here in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil,
0:56:45 > 0:56:51there is a 21-metre high pyramid called the Temple of Goodwill.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54People of all faiths and none are welcome
0:56:54 > 0:56:56to use this sacred space.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00I think I've got to take my shoes off.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06Bare feet.
0:57:07 > 0:57:13You walk into the centre of the spiral, along the black spiral.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15At the top of the spire here, there is a big crystal
0:57:15 > 0:57:17so when you get to the centre of the circle
0:57:17 > 0:57:22you are bathed within the energy of the crystal.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26You leave all your bad energy, your bad karma, there.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30You are cleansed of it. And then you walk out along the white spiral.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32I think that's what's going on.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44'Everyone can come here - Christian, Buddhist, Muslim -
0:57:44 > 0:57:48'and have their own experience.
0:57:48 > 0:57:54'This is almost the end of an autocratic priesthood telling me what to believe in.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57'It's inviting me to search my own soul,
0:57:57 > 0:58:02'and then come back with the answers, but they are my answers.
0:58:15 > 0:58:20'Those who belong to old religions, and I belong to a relatively old religion,'
0:58:20 > 0:58:22have always criticised new religions.
0:58:22 > 0:58:27Um, but my religion was a new religion at some point.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30All religions were new religions at some point.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.
0:58:51 > 0:58:54E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk