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Beyond Belief began on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 in January 2002, four months after the 9/11 attacks. The subject of the first programme was ‘martyrdom’. Ever since, Beyond Belief’s aim has been explore the way faith motivates people and events, for good and ill.

In the latter years of the 20th century, there had perhaps been an assumption in the West that faith was anachronistic, declining, irrelevant. But as the new millennium got under way, even those without any faith of their own had to acknowledge that religion was not something they could ignore.

In Britain, the story often told is of a steady decline in institutional religion and of increasing secularisation. But that’s not the whole story; the religious make-up of Britain is younger, more diverse and more bespoke, and, according to a recent survey, young adults are more likely to pray than older generations (Church of England, 2022).

For Ernie Rea's last programme on Beyond Belief he's joined by guests to explore two decades of change. Is our religious literacy improved, or is ignorance more entrenched? And what is role might religion play in our future?

With Sheikh Dr Usama Hasan, Right Reverend James Jones KBE, Seeta Suchak, Christina Patterson and Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producers: Peter Everett and Josie Le Vey
Editor: Dan Tierney