The Story of God, the National Geographic Channel with Morgan Freeman will be airing its third episode of the series on Sunday, entitled, "Who is God?" Freeman once again travels the world in an attempt to understanding the religious beliefs of different people, and finding the similarities and differences in the beliefs, both past and present.
Morgan opens this episode in the Mississippi delta, home of the Blues. He speaks to the music transporting him to another time and place, that it is a religious experience. "Moses saw God in a bush. Buddha found enlightenment under a tree. Mohammed experienced Allah on a mountain. Is there some universal concept of God that all religions share? Or is God fundamentally different to people of different faiths?"
This episode is an exploration about who God is, how believers around the world see the divine, and how the identity of God has changed over the millennia.
He travels to India to see how Hindus see and connect to their gods. He experiences a Hindu prayer ritual dedicated to the goddess , Lalita, who they believe gives them power to fight demons. He is told that on the surface, it looks like Hinduism is a belief in many gods, but behind it all is a single, divine energy.
Freeman wonders where the belief in a single god may have first begun. He suggests that it perhaps begun in Stonehenge, and talks to archeologists who are studying the monument and things buried there that suggest the single worship of the sun.
He flies to Egypt and searches with an Egyptologist to study Akhenaten, who tried to establish a monotheistic belief and worship the sun.
In Jerusalem, he dialogues with a Jewish philosopher, they speak about Abraham, and the start of the belief in one God- which started in Judaism, and branched to Islam and Christianity. He goes back to Cairo to find out if there are differences in the Muslim's belief in God(or Allah). He observes that the prayer is like a conversation with a person.
In Shiprock, New Mexico he observes a Navajo ceremony where a young girl is transitioning to womanhood, where by the end, she will be joined with the Navajo deity, Changing Woman.
He brings science into his search by looking at how the brain reacts to spiritual experiences. Tests showed that the brain changes when connecting with God, and that didn't change in the different religions studied.
Freeman also goes to Joel Osteen's megachurch and asks him who God is. In an interview with Page Six, he says of the experience, "In a Houston megachurch I connected somewhat. Encouraged to think positive. You don't just get some things just like that! You have to go do it to get it. God's plan for us is to succeed."
He wraps up his experience telling his audience that there is a little bit of God in each of us, according to his belief.
This episode will air Sunday, April 17th, 9/8 central on the National Geographic Channel. Last week's episode, "The Apocalypse" is available to viewers who have on-demand with participating TV providers on the National Geographic Channel site.
