The word "Avatar" was not conceived by a Hollywood film producer but comes from the Sanskrit word for "descent". It relates to when a deity manifests in an earthly embodiment. In Christianity "incarnation" describes the coming of the divine in bodily form to the world in which we inhabit. Does this make Jesus an "Avatar"? Some Hindu's believe so. In this programme Ernie Rea explores the parallels and distinctions between the two and, as new technologies offer the prospect of digital "Avatars" able to simulate our personalities in the online world after death, discusses what such developments tell us about contemporary attitudes to life-after-death and immortality.
Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the theology and digital reinvention of "Avatars" are Dr Chetna Kang, Hindu priest and psychiatrist, David Law Professor of Christian Thought and Philosophical Theology, and Dr John Troyer, Deputy Director of the Centre of Death and Society at the University of Bath.
Producer: Catherine Earlam.