Tuesday, 30 April, 8pm BBC Radio 4

Founder Director of The Woolf Institute in Cambridge Dr Ed Kessler MBE presents a 40-minute documentary about the growth of fervently observed religion across the Abrahamic faiths. The rise in numbers of Jewish Ultra Orthodox, Anglo-Catholic or Pentecostal and strictly-observant Muslim communities seems to contradict evidence for the decline of, what might be called, mainstream religious observance. Is ‘fundamentalist’ a good way to describe these? Ed explores questions surrounding this issue in a series of lively and engaging interviews.

 Revd Stephen Earl writes:

…. this should be well worth listening to if you get the chance.

Ed is a brilliant speaker – and gave a ‘Lent Course’ talk here on Lavenham a few years back.

He was founder director of the Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations in Cambridge (CJCR as it was then) which then broaded to include Islam as well, becoming The Woolf Institute.  (I benefitted from being a student of his on my Study Leave in 2004.)

Malcolm adds: Probably available from www.bbc.co.uk/sounds after the broadcast. Also repeated next Sunday, 5pm on Radio 4.