2009
In 2009, the series of Lent Talks began on 4 March, with the first programme being broadcast by Martin Bell, talking about his experience in the war zones. The second edition was presented by Richard Holloway on 11 March, in which Holloway discussed the power of language and referred to the transcendence of God. His talk referred to both music and verbal language. He also referred to the problem of infinite regress as applied to the question of "Who made God"? providing an answer by stating that this question overlooks the transcendence of God. The third edition was entitled "Does God makes mistakes" and was presented by Sister Frances Domenica. The fourth edition was presented on 25 March by George Pattison, and was about "The Absence of God", dealing with the theme of how we cannot see God. Early in this edition, Pattison referred to the an Anglican liturgy, in which it is said that God knows our hearts, and watches our inner movement. He later referred to the French atheist existentialist, Jean-Paul Sartre, describing Sartre's early loss of faith, and stating that Sartre remained, for the rest of his life, a resolute atheist. However, he later referred to the postmodernist philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, who said that although we cannot see God, God can see us, and discussed how this is important to Levinas' philosophy.
On 1/4 April, Frank Field presented Lent Talks. He described Lent as a time not merely of sackcloth and ashes, but as a time to divide the periods in our lives. The final edition of the Lent Talks in 2009 was broadcast on 8 April, and presented by the Jewish philosopher and theologian Melissa Raphael. Raphael's talk, "In God's Absence", reflected on the meaning of God for Jews during the Holocaust. Raphael mentioned how she, as a feminist Jew, had studied Christianity while at university but had remained a Jew.
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