Episode 1 of 2:
With their Messiah executed, their dreams crushed, and their cause deemed subversive by the strongest empire the world had ever seen, Jesus's followers faced a bleak future. Their movement seemed destined for extinction. Incredib…
Episode 1 of 2:
With their Messiah executed, their dreams crushed, and their cause deemed subversive by the strongest empire the world had ever seen, Jesus's followers faced a bleak future. Their movement seemed destined for extinction. Incredibly, though, Jesus's survivors turned defeat to victory; devastation to jubilation. By one account, it happened on the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Simon Peter and others envisioned the risen Jesus. It was an explosive moment of hope. For the sighting convinced them that Jesus had not, in fact, been beaten; that in his death, Jesus was ushering in God's Kingdom on Earth. Re-infused with hope and determination, Peter became an indomitable figure who would unite his group into a tight community of ardent believers. Dark days were coming, however -- days of persecution, imprisonment and dispersal. And when they arrived, Peter found support from an unexpected source. His name was Paul. A fervent Jew and a former persecutor of the Jesus community in Jerusalem, Paul had a startling revelation that led him to embrace Peter's faith as his own. It was a turning point in history. For once inspired, Paul turned his formidable talents to the task of spreading his new cause around the Roman Empire. Paul was educated, passionate and determined. But he was also dogmatic. And soon, he would be at the center of the most divisive conflict yet to face the young Jesus movement.
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Documentary synopsis:
Two millennia ago, in the Roman province of Judea, Jesus was crucified by imperial troops. Thousands before him had suffered the same fate. But unlike his predecessors on the cross, Jesus did not drop from history. Instead, his memory was kept alive by a small band of Jews -- men and women who held fast to their conviction that Jesus was the Messiah… that Jesus had been anointed by God to announce His kingdom on earth. Against the odds, in the face of hostility, indifference, and dissent, these impoverished subjects of Rome managed to carry the news of Jesus out of Judea and around the Roman Empire. They managed to plant a movement that would one day conquer Rome itself. There were Barnabas and Priscilla; James, Stephen, Titus. And most famously of all, there were Peter and Paul. If one was "The Rock" upon which the church was founded, the other was a river, flooding its banks to reach all regions and peoples. Combining the actual words of Paul, Luke, and other ancient writers with period dramatizations and location footage from around the Mediterranean, Peter and Paul and the Christian Revolution is the story of a revolution that changed the world.
