David Suchet: In the Footsteps of St. Paul - Season 1

In the year 40 CE, when Paul began his missionary enterprise, there were only about 1,000 Christians throughout the whole Roman Empire. But just 300 years later, there were more than six million.

In this first episode, David visits Jerusalem to discover Paul's early life as a devout Jew and his subsequent, life-changing, conversion to the new Jesus Movement. David journeys to Tarsus in modern Turkey where Paul was born, and learns he was a citizen of two worlds - Roman and Turkish. He travels to Antioch in eastern Turkey, where Paul set about his mission of converting the Gentile world to the new religion of Christianity, and to Ephesus, where Paul challenged the gods of Empire. In so doing, he was challenging the might of Rome itself.

On this journey, David's personal mission is to discover what motivated Paul. His aim is to work out how Paul triumphed over the Roman Empire and succeeded in leaving a legacy that endures to this day.

In the second episode, David follows Paul's mission in Europe to convert the Gentile Roman world to the new Christian faith. In Greece David visits the ancient city of Philippi, where Paul made his first convert in Europe, and then heads on to Thessalonika, Athens and Corinth.

Local historians and archaeologists help David make sense of Paul's world and the impact he made. We learn of his successes and failures, and how letter-writing was an important social media of his time to keep the young churches together.

David discovers that, contrary to popular belief, Paul valued the role of women in his work. The journey ends in Rome, where Paul met his death, and David uncovers some fascinating archaeological evidence to support the Paul story.

On this journey, David's personal mission is to discover what motivated Paul. His aim is to work out how Paul triumphed over the Roman Empire and succeeded in leaving a legacy that endures to this day.