Man Alive is a Canadian television program exploring faith and spirituality. Its name is inspired by 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 premiered in 1967 on CBC Television and was hosted by Roy Bonisteel for over two decades. After several seasons of co-productions with Vision TV and the Life Network, the final episode aired on CBC Television on December 17, 2000.
Following Bonisteel's retirement in 1989, Peter Downie took over as host until 1993. Arthur Kent succeeded Downie for one season,[1] and then R. H. Thomson hosted until the program's cancellation.
Man Alive adopted a diverse non-denominational approach to religious and spiritual matters. The program covered a wide range of subjects including 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.