Melvyn Bragg and guests chart 1,500 years of Christianity through its most influential movements, events and historical figures.

In Our Time has been the cornerstone of broadcasting on BBC Radio 4 since its launch in 1998. Presented by one of Britain's greatest champions of the arts, Melvyn Bragg, the show explores ideas across history, religion, philosophy, science and culture. With a vast array of contributors from the world of academia, such as Mary Beard, Angie Hobbs and Diarmaid MacCulloch, it is one of Radio 4's most successful programmes.

Collected in this thematic anthology are 25 episodes focusing on notable events and individuals in Christian history, from the third century AD to the founding of Methodism, that have transformed the history of the world. Included are saints such as St Paul, Mary Magdalene, St Augustine, St Hilda, St Cuthbert, the Venerable Bede and St Thomas Aquinas, and other notable Christian figures, such as John Wyclif, William Cecil, John Foxe, Titus Oates and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Also featured are programmes on key religious movements, among them Catharism, the Jesuits, Greyfriars and Blackfriars, as well as major historical events including the Schism, the Spanish Inquisition, the Diet of Worms and the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Packed with thought-provoking facts and informed debate, this fascinating collection of specially collated programmes will captivate In Our Time fans, students of religion and anyone with an interest in theology and the Christian church.

Production credits

Presented by Melvyn Bragg

Produced by Victoria Brignell, Julia Johnson, Thomas Morris and Simon Tillotson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Saints

St Paul 28 May 2009

Mary Magdalene 25 February 2016

Augustine's Confessions 15 March 2018

St Hilda 5 April 2007

Saint Cuthbert 28 January 2021

The Venerable Bede 25 November 2004

St Thomas Aquinas 17 September 2009

Part II: Other Christian Figures

Wyclif and the Lollards 16 June 2011

William Cecil 7 March 2019

Foxe's Book of Martyrs 18 November 2010

Robert Boyle 12 June 2014

Titus Oates and his 'Popish Plot' 12 May 2016

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 27 September 2018

Part III: Religious Movements

Arianism 15 April 2021

Catharism 17 January 2022

Greyfriars and Blackfriars 10 November 2005

Covenanters 12 March 2020

The Jesuits 18 January 2007

John Wesley and Methodism 10 December 2020

Part IV: Historical Events

Early Christian Martyrdom 28 April 2022

The Pelagian Controversy 21 April 2011

The Schism 16 October 2003

The Spanish Inquisition 22 June 2006

The Diet of Worms 12 October 2006

The Dissolution of the Monasteries 27 March 2008