Man Alive

Man Alive was a Canadian television series about faith and spirituality. It took its name from a poem by St. Irenaeus, a 2nd-century Bishop of Lyon who wrote: The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. The program, debuted in 1967 on CBC Television, hosted by Roy Bonisteel for more than two decades. Bonisteel retired in 1989, and was replaced by Peter Downie who left in 1993. Arthur Kent succeeded Downie for one season, and then R. H. Thomson hosted until the show was canceled. Man Alive took a diverse non-denominational approach to religious and spiritual matters. The program covered a wide range of topics: nuclear war, UFOs, Holocaust survivors, sexual abuse, Third World development, family relationships, people with disabilities, the Vatican Bank scandal and profiles of religious figures such as Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. After several seasons of co-productions with Vision TV and the Life Network, the last episode aired on CBC Television 17 December 2000.