0:00:13 > 0:00:15I'm David Suchet,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18and I'm on a journey around the Mediterranean, following in
0:00:18 > 0:00:22the footsteps of a man, who, 2,000 years ago, travelled more than
0:00:22 > 0:00:2510,000 miles around the Roman world by foot,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and many, many more by sea.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36This is extraordinary. We must appear that size from up there.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44For the last 25 years, I've been fascinated by St Paul.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48To some, he is the man who did more than anyone else to
0:00:48 > 0:00:52transform Christianity from a small, Jewish sect,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54into the most powerful religion in the world.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58To others,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02he is a preacher of prejudices that have echoed down throughout history.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04- They must have thought, "The arrogance of the man."- Absolutely!
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Here he is, on the basis of one vision,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10so he says, telling everybody what they should do.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Changing all the rules!
0:01:12 > 0:01:15A man of contrasts and confusions,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19a fanatical persecutor of Jesus' earliest followers,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23who once supported the stoning to death of early Christians.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Who then claimed to have experienced a miraculous
0:01:25 > 0:01:29conversion on the road to Damascus.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32"Love, is patient, love is kind,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35"it does not envy, it does not boast.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38"It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered."
0:01:39 > 0:01:42A man convinced that the end of the world was coming,
0:01:42 > 0:01:48and that he had a God-given mission to convert non-believers to Jesus.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51You are just made of stone.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Push you over and you'll break into hundreds of pieces.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58If ever there was an historical character
0:01:58 > 0:02:00I've longed to play, it's Paul,
0:02:00 > 0:02:01so, for me,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03this is a very personal quest.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05I could look like that!
0:02:05 > 0:02:07What do you think?
0:02:07 > 0:02:09A little bit?
0:02:09 > 0:02:13I will be seeking out clues in the places he visited, deciphering
0:02:13 > 0:02:16new evidence from the latest archaeological research, and meeting
0:02:16 > 0:02:20expert witnesses from around the region to help me uncover this
0:02:20 > 0:02:25remarkable man, hidden within the pages of the New Testament.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35My search for Paul has led me out of the Holy Land,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and through Roman Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42I have arrived just off the coast of Kavala, a major seaport,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45in eastern Macedonia, in northern Greece.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51In the first century AD,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53this was the main gateway to Philippi,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56a major garrison city of the Roman Empire.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05And it was here that Paul first set foot on European soil.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08And by the time he'd reached here in around AD 50,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11he had already established small communities of believers
0:03:11 > 0:03:14in Asia Minor, but now, he had set his sights on the West,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18to lands where the name of Jesus was not known.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24For Paul, this is a desperate race against time.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28To convert non-believers to Jesus before the end of the world arrives.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32But he is now moving closer to the heart of the Roman Empire,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35where Caesar himself is revered as a god.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41And he is carrying with him a radical new manifesto,
0:03:41 > 0:03:42preaching that all are equal,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45whatever their place in society.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Calling for love and understanding within communities,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and demanding that pagan ways be
0:03:51 > 0:03:54swept away by a higher moral code.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Surely Paul must've realised he was putting himself in grave danger?
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Attacking the Roman religion was attacking the Roman State.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Once ashore, Paul's journey to Philippi took him along the
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Via Egnatia, a major Roman road that ran through northern Greece.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Incredibly, several long stretches of the road still exist today.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29It really is the most extraordinary feeling to know that I'm
0:04:29 > 0:04:32actually walking on the same stones as Saint Paul walked
0:04:32 > 0:04:33when he went to Philippi,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36and it's 15 kilometres and uphill most of the way.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47This region was one of Rome's oldest and largest provinces.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50The heavy presence of Empire surrounded Paul
0:04:50 > 0:04:52as he approached Philippi.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55He was definitely stepping out of his comfort zone.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00How would he be received in a city where the worship of pagan
0:05:00 > 0:05:04gods was woven into the very fabric of life?
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Where their images adorned not just temples,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10but workplaces, public arenas and even people's homes.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17On the outskirts of Philippi, I met one of the city's modern
0:05:17 > 0:05:19guardians, Alexi Labranidis.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Alex, hello.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23- Hello.- David.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Welcome. How are you?
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Very well, thank you. So, this is Philippi.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30This is Philippi, let's see the city.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34We are entering the city from the city walls.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37They were combined with the theatre.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40What was it like in the first century here?
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Very crowded and full of life.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47It was a city between 10,000 and 15,000 people,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50and imagine that we had people from everywhere,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52not only Romans.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Yes. What was the religion here?
0:05:55 > 0:05:59It was a mixture. Everybody was believing his own faith.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Traces of pagan gods from all over the ancient world,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08from Greece, Babylon and Egypt have been found in Philippi.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Alex was keen to take me in search of new discoveries,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16carved into the cliffs, high above the city's amphitheatre.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Let's see what I can find.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21You go that way, and I'll go up there.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Oh, look, up there. It looks like a hunting scene.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It looks as if the hunter is throwing something.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42It's like a big comic book on the rocks.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45It does look like a big comic book, in a huge quarry,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47a comic book quarry.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48HE LAUGHS
0:06:50 > 0:06:51Are there many of these all over?
0:06:51 > 0:06:53All around, you can...
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Oh, look, there is another one here!
0:06:56 > 0:06:57Wow!
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Here you can see Artemis with a bow, and dog.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04We had a society of hunters,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07they had dogs and they believed in Artemis,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10the goddess of the hounds.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Why are they here amongst these rocks?
0:07:13 > 0:07:17People were mining here, and were taking material to build
0:07:17 > 0:07:19the city of Philippi,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22so they were giving an offer back...
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Back to the earth?
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Back to the earth, yes.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I just love the fact that these carvings are something that
0:07:30 > 0:07:34people put back into the earth, in gratitude...
0:07:35 > 0:07:38for them taking the rocks out of the earth to build this
0:07:38 > 0:07:41fantastic city of Philippi.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Giving back to the earth for what had been removed was a basic
0:07:47 > 0:07:49pagan belief.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52It was clearly well ingrained in this city.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Convincing people to give up these traditions would not be easy.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Paul's first challenge was to try
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and find a way into this possibly hostile community.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04He would have to tread carefully.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11What would become the Christian faith had never been
0:08:11 > 0:08:12spoken of in Europe before.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20He needed to find a sympathetic first audience.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22When Paul first came here,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25he was just outside the Roman colony of Philippi.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28And, as was his custom,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31he went looking for a synagogue to start preaching, but the Jewish
0:08:31 > 0:08:34community here were so small there wasn't even a synagogue,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38so he came down to a riverside, and there were a group of women here.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43One of the women was called Lydia, she was a purple-dye trader,
0:08:43 > 0:08:44and she heard him speak,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46and was baptised.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53The important thing here is that Lydia became the first
0:08:53 > 0:08:57European convert to this new religion that would one day
0:08:57 > 0:08:58be called Christianity.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Other converts followed.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Paul now had a toehold in Europe,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09but his time in Philippi was short-lived.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13When he converted a slave girl without her owner's permission,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15it led to his arrest and public beating.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Philippi was a start, but it was time to move on.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30Along the Via Egnatia to Thessalonica, 150 kilometres,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32and a four-day walk away.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Though Paul was leaving Philippi behind, it was vitally important
0:09:40 > 0:09:43that he stayed in touch with the small community he'd established.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47There was always the risk that a fledgling church would break
0:09:47 > 0:09:50apart after he had gone.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Paul was to become a master of the new technology of letter writing.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59The only contemporary sources we have for Paul's life
0:09:59 > 0:10:03and journeys are in the Bible's Book Of Acts, and in a remarkable
0:10:03 > 0:10:07series of his own letters which now form much of the New Testament.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Each of the surviving letters was written to a specific community.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15The Philippians, the Romans, the Thessalonians.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21What intrigued me was how and why these letters were written.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24At Thessalonica's Vlatadon monastery,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27I met biblical scholar, Eddie Adams.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Paul primarily wrote to communities, and mostly to communities
0:10:31 > 0:10:36that he himself founded, so he was writing to his own converts.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37I think what prompts him
0:10:37 > 0:10:41to start writing is usually the circumstances of the churches
0:10:41 > 0:10:43being addressed. Something goes wrong,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48there is some problem and that causes him to put pen to paper,
0:10:48 > 0:10:53I think he had a very strong sense of responsibility for the churches
0:10:53 > 0:10:57under his control, and I think his activity was absolutely frenetic.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59If he's not writing letters,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03he's going to new places to found congregations. We get the sense
0:11:03 > 0:11:07that Paul is, in every sense of the phrase, a man on a mission.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Something to remember about the letters, which might interest you,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14as an actor, is that they were written, and they were designed to
0:11:14 > 0:11:19be read out loud, in congregations and in community contexts.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23So we actually have his spoken word?
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Yes, I do think we are capturing the voice,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28we have, in the letters, captured the voice of Paul.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Inside the monastery, one of the monks had a surprise for us.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41- Hello.- Welcome.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44So, where are we, what is...
0:11:44 > 0:11:48This is the oldest part of Vlatadon monastery,
0:11:48 > 0:11:53where tradition says that here preached for the first
0:11:53 > 0:11:57time, Saint Paul to the people of Thessalonica.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Wow!
0:11:59 > 0:12:01He actually preached here?
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Right in this space.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04This spot?!
0:12:04 > 0:12:06That's amazing.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12This mosaic is from the seventh century.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16After that, in the 14th century, they built the rest of the church.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21- Doesn't that put shivers up your back?- Hmm, hmm.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24This chapel was erected...
0:12:24 > 0:12:26because Paul actually spoke here.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28That is quite extraordinary.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It gives you a kind of material connection.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33I didn't expect that.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35No, that was an unexpected pleasure.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37So how did he actually write his letters, then?
0:12:37 > 0:12:40He's usually not the person who picks up the stylus
0:12:40 > 0:12:42and actually writes,
0:12:42 > 0:12:44usually his letters are dictated,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48that seems to be his standard procedure for composing a letter.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Paul's letters were written to specific churches,
0:12:52 > 0:12:57but crucially they were also copied and shared between communities,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59carrying his message and voice around the Roman world.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06So, would you put this down for me?
0:13:06 > 0:13:07Yes of course.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12"There is neither Jew nor Gentile...
0:13:16 > 0:13:18"Neither slave nor free.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23"Nor is there male or female.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26"For you are all one.
0:13:28 > 0:13:29"In Christ Jesus."
0:13:31 > 0:13:35- Can you read that back to me, now, in Greek?- Yes.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37HE RECITES GREEK VERSE
0:13:46 > 0:13:49That actually is a quote from one of Paul's letters.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52And that is how he actually wrote them.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57He didn't pick up a quill, dip it in ink and write on a piece of paper
0:13:57 > 0:14:00or papyrus, no, he dictated them to a scribe.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03So what we have, when we actually read Paul's letters,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08are his actual spoken words, his chosen vocabulary,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12his sweep of sentences, his energy, and that tells me
0:14:12 > 0:14:15so much about Paul, the man.
0:14:16 > 0:14:17Thank you very much indeed.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19You're welcome.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26In recent years, some of Paul's letters have come under fire.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29One passage, in particular, has been drawn into the modern debate
0:14:29 > 0:14:31over women's place in the Church,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35and has been used to justify why they shouldn't be priests.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Yet in the very same letter, Paul appears to contradict himself,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54by referring to women praying and prophesying in church,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57implying he doesn't expect them to be silent.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Remember, Paul's first convert in Europe had been a woman.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08In another letter, he mentions 26 prominent
0:15:08 > 0:15:12members of the community, nine of whom were women.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Women were also valuable recruits.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Being in charge of the household meant they could offer a venue
0:15:18 > 0:15:23for meetings, and access to networks of family, friends, and associates.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27So, was Paul a misogynist?
0:15:27 > 0:15:29How should we read his letters?
0:15:29 > 0:15:32The next day, in Thessalonica's central market,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35I met New Testament scholar, Ekaterini Tsalampouni.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Do you think Paul would have attracted women to follow him?
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Paul had many co-workers who were women.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Paul, of course, he is a man of his world, he knows very well
0:15:49 > 0:15:53what the place of women in this society is, he, of course, takes
0:15:53 > 0:15:56into consideration these ideas,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59but I think he's a bit progressive.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01He treats them, somehow, as equals.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04I really find that so fascinating.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06So, is what you are actually saying,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10is that the seeds of women's
0:16:10 > 0:16:15liberation today, could have been sown in Paul's own theology?
0:16:15 > 0:16:21Yes, because, for Paul, we must always connect his thoughts,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23his theological ideas,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27with his expectations of the end of the world.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- He is quite sure that the end is imminent...- Yes- ..so he thinks
0:16:30 > 0:16:33and sees everything through this perspective, and when you see
0:16:33 > 0:16:38things this way, you can see that men and women can only be equal.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41"There is neither male, nor female."
0:16:41 > 0:16:42Yes.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46It's brilliant, I've never read it that way before. Thank you.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Ekaterini's point was simple.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Paul was a man of his time, with the attitudes of his time.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58But he also believed the end of the world was coming soon.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02He didn't differentiate between men and women. His goal was to
0:17:02 > 0:17:04save as many people as possible,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06and no-one should be lost.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10In Thessalonica, though,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Paul's drive for new converts provoked an angry mob.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Some in the city took his claims that Jesus was a king,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and that there was only one God, as a direct challenge to
0:17:20 > 0:17:22the authority of Caesar.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26CHORAL SINGING
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Around AD 49,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35he wrote his letter to the Thessalonians,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39the earliest surviving Christian writing of any kind.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42In it, it is clear that he had left behind a small
0:17:42 > 0:17:44but thriving community.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46The legacy continues to this day.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54After being driven out of Thessalonica, Paul
0:17:54 > 0:17:56set off for Athens.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59To aid his journeys, and the transport of his letters,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02he was able to exploit the supremely efficient communications
0:18:02 > 0:18:04network of the Roman Empire.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I suppose roads like these would have been called
0:18:13 > 0:18:17the super-highways of the ancient world.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19They would have carried messages, information
0:18:19 > 0:18:23and new ideas between cities,
0:18:23 > 0:18:24towns and villages.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29But unlike the modern high-speed internet,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33where messages can travel across the globe in seconds,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36in the ancient world, messages travel slowly,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40and would have required somebody to actually set out on a journey.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Paul knew the risks, but he wouldn't give up.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06For me, the journey to Athens was by car and train.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Paul would have walked or travelled by ship along the Aegean coast.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18On a clear day, he could have seen Mount Olympus,
0:19:18 > 0:19:19home of the Greek gods.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Who are they? The 12 gods of Olympus?
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- Ares.- Ares.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29- Theas.- Theas.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31- Poseidonas.- Poseidoras.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Poseidonas, not...
0:19:33 > 0:19:34- Poseidonas?- Yes.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38- Hera.- Hera.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40We've got four.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43We've got eight more to go.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45You've got 15 kilometres to find eight gods.
0:19:45 > 0:19:46LAUGHTER
0:19:52 > 0:19:55I'm getting quite excited now because there are one or two
0:19:55 > 0:19:57characteristics of Paul's that are rising to the surface
0:19:57 > 0:20:00that there are really changing my preconceptions about him.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03For example, I've been told now by so many people,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06that Paul appears to be pro-women, whereas before I thought
0:20:06 > 0:20:10he was completely anti-women, almost a misogynist.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Another thing is his persistence.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15He goes into these pagan cultures,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17and everything starts off quite well, and then
0:20:17 > 0:20:18it goes totally pear-shaped,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and this repeats itself over, and over again.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Apart from, perhaps, Thessaloniki,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26which seems to have had some success.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32And now, I'm off to Athens, the centre of philosophy and learning.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34I wonder how he fared there.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49When Paul arrived in Athens it had been under
0:20:49 > 0:20:50Roman rule for over 100 years,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52yet it was still the cultural
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and intellectual centre of the ancient world.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59A place of lively debate,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02pretty much all of the time.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Convincing a city of master philosophers
0:21:04 > 0:21:06that they should give up their pagan beliefs
0:21:06 > 0:21:08would be a hard sell indeed.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15According to tradition, Paul confronted the philosophers
0:21:15 > 0:21:19on the Areopagus, a bare, marble hill below the Acropolis in Athens.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23It was there I met historian, Despina Iosif.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Despina, we are in this fantastic location.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30But how does this relate to Paul?
0:21:30 > 0:21:34It is a place where Athenians used to hold philosophical discussions,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38and it is no wonder, because of this amazing view, as you can see.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41When Paul came to Athens
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and he was preaching the Christian message, some philosophers
0:21:45 > 0:21:47found his message intriguing,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49and they decided to bring him here,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52and invited him to give a speech.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56What do you think Paul's reaction would have been, coming to Athens?
0:21:56 > 0:22:00He saw the city full of gods, and so many idols everywhere,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03and so many temples.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08He was, in fact, outraged to see the city full of pagan gods.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Athenians typically worship their gods with offerings,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17or animal sacrifices at altars scattered around the city.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23In his speech, Paul mentions seeing an altar, honouring an unknown god.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28The Athenians venerated the unknown god,
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- just to make sure they didn't leave...- Didn't leave anyone out.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Exactly.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34You've got to hedge your bets when gods are concerned.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36- Exactly. You can never be too sure.- No.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Referring to the unknown god allowed Paul to argue that his god
0:22:42 > 0:22:45was now making himself known to Athens.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Was his message shocking to them?
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Oh, I am sure it was, because they were really unfamiliar
0:22:53 > 0:22:55with the Jewish religion
0:22:55 > 0:22:59and he told them about the coming of Jesus, and
0:22:59 > 0:23:04the resurrection of the dead, which they really found particularly odd.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08To the Greco-Roman mind, humans had an agreement,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12an agreement of a reciprocal nature, with their gods.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Gods expected humans to perform sacrifices for them,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and humans expected, in return,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22gods to grant them prosperity
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and to fulfil their wishes.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28So, the Christian message must have struck, at least initially,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32most pagan listeners as bizarre.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40I wonder what it must have been like for Paul in Athens,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42convinced that he, among all others,
0:23:42 > 0:23:47was the only one who knew that the world was about to end.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Did he ever have doubts?
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Did he ever worry how he was perceived?
0:23:54 > 0:23:57At the city's Agora, the ancient marketplace,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00I met archaeologist Heinrich Hall.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04So, if Athens was such a mega-centre of paganism,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06why would he have bothered?
0:24:06 > 0:24:08I think he had to come here, really.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11I think not coming to Athens, for his mission,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14would simply not have done, because Athens is such a significant,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18intellectual centre, and a centre of debate, as we said,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21so for someone who comes to spread a new idea,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24avoiding Athens would look very odd, and a bit weak.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27So what was the reaction to Paul?
0:24:27 > 0:24:30It's not terribly clear, I think.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34If you read the account in The Acts the reaction seems to be not
0:24:34 > 0:24:37disrespectful, they don't cause him trouble,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39they don't arrest him, there's no fighting.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42It also doesn't seem overly respectful,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45they don't mass converge or anything like that.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Paul faced an uphill challenge to convince Athenians of his message.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54Philosophical debate was woven through the very fabric of the city,
0:24:54 > 0:25:00and I'd heard about the ancient Greek tradition of symposiums.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Basically, a drinking party with added philosophy.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Restaurateur Souli Adamis had researched the food and culture
0:25:11 > 0:25:13of the symposium to bring the tradition back to life
0:25:13 > 0:25:15for modern Greeks.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19First, the men have to be dressed, and then the women.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25I was asked to give a helping hand preparing a typical symposium meal.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Souli, what are we actually going to be cooking?
0:25:30 > 0:25:35Today, we're going to cook piglet, stuffed piglet.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Stuffed piglet?
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- Piglet.- Now, is this a traditional dish?
0:25:39 > 0:25:42This is from the fifth century before Christ.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44They had this during symposium.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Of course, everybody uses this word, but in Greek,
0:25:48 > 0:25:54it means that "I share with my friends, eating, drinking
0:25:54 > 0:25:59"and sharing our ideas, exchanging our philosophical ideas."
0:25:59 > 0:26:04And these symposiums would last around 12 hours.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05SHE LAUGHS
0:26:05 > 0:26:06- 12 hours?!- 12 hours!
0:26:11 > 0:26:15The symposium tradition caused Paul considerable problems.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Taking bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus
0:26:19 > 0:26:23at the Last Supper was an important part of early Christian worship.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26But from his letters, it's clear some of Paul's Greek converts
0:26:26 > 0:26:29didn't understand the difference between the Christian
0:26:29 > 0:26:31celebration and the festivals of eating
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and drinking that they had become used to at symposiums.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03- It's my friend!- This is your friend? This is your friend? OK, what now?
0:27:03 > 0:27:07- What do we do? - We will stuff a pig.- OK.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10- My goodness! I feel like a surgeon now!- Yes.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17And this now goes in the oven? How long do you cook this?
0:27:17 > 0:27:19- Six hours.- Six hours?- Yes.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Six hours, gas mark four. It's going to be fantastic.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31It's been absolutely fascinating for me
0:27:31 > 0:27:34to watch this re-enactment of a symposium.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36And this was going on when Paul would have been here.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38And you'd see how the debating,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43the intellectual society, was really rooted in Athens.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46But apparently, this could become very bawdy indeed.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51I think I'll leave them to it. Could go on for some time.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Paul had little success with the Athens intellectual elite.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03He needed a city with a more receptive audience,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05somewhere it would be easier to convince people
0:28:05 > 0:28:07of the value of his arguments.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17And so to Corinth, and through the magnificent Corinth Canal.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Completed in 1893, amazingly, the first serious attempt to
0:28:23 > 0:28:26construct it was started in Paul's day,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29the Emperor Nero himself digging out the first rock
0:28:29 > 0:28:31with a golden pick.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37This is extraordinary! We must appear that size from up there.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40What a feat of engineering!
0:28:44 > 0:28:48I wonder what Paul was thinking as he approached Corinth.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53I mean, he had a pretty tough time of it in Europe so far.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55And yes, he'd made a few converts along the way,
0:28:55 > 0:28:57but certainly, in Thessaloniki and Philippi,
0:28:57 > 0:29:02he had to leave in a hurry, and he wasn't that well received in Athens.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05So it must have been with a little more than apprehension that he
0:29:05 > 0:29:08was approaching possibly the most notorious city in Greece.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13As he himself says in a letter, "I came to you in weakness
0:29:13 > 0:29:17"and fear and much trembling."
0:29:17 > 0:29:21At that time, Corinth was literally a melting pot of people
0:29:21 > 0:29:25from different nations, different religions, and certainly, different morals.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28So it must have been a huge challenge ahead of Paul.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42When Paul first arrived in Corinth, around AD 50,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46this was a young and dynamic city with attitudes to match.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Unlike Athens, it had been rebuilt as a Roman colony,
0:29:51 > 0:29:52less than 100 years earlier.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57Free of religious and intellectual traditions,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00Paul had more room to operate.
0:30:00 > 0:30:01According to Acts,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05he set up shop and started earning a living as a tent maker.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10Archaeologist Guy Sanders, excavation director here
0:30:10 > 0:30:13for the last 15 years, agreed to show me around.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21Guy, this looks like a major street or road. What's around it?
0:30:21 > 0:30:22It's THE major road of the city.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24It's the Cardo Maximus,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27it's the main North-South drag in the city of Corinth.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29So where we're walking now, Paul would have walked?
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Many times, I would've thought. Yes.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34And would he have had a shop here in these colonies?
0:30:34 > 0:30:36I think this was a high rent for the poor!
0:30:36 > 0:30:40It's more like Harrods than the kind of place that you would find
0:30:40 > 0:30:41a tent maker's shop.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44- Yeah.- He would have been a few streets over, I think.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49Why would Paul have come here, then? What was special about Corinth?
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Well, it was one of the biggest cities in the Empire.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56It had fantastic harbour facilities on both coasts.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59So there would have been hundreds of thousands of people
0:30:59 > 0:31:02living in the region and engaged in international trade.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05So people may have come from as far away as Britain and Egypt,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08- the Black Sea. - Really? We had Britain here?
0:31:08 > 0:31:11I think highly likely you had people from the north-west of Europe
0:31:11 > 0:31:15as well as from the farthest flung parts of the Empire.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18And by coming here, Paul had a captive audience.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21And when they left again, they would be perhaps taking his message
0:31:21 > 0:31:23far further than he could carry it.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Did he have a strategy, do you think, in coming here?
0:31:26 > 0:31:29- He stayed in Corinth for about 18 months.- Yes.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Which, I think, suggests that he did have a strategy
0:31:32 > 0:31:34and he'd invested a lot of money
0:31:34 > 0:31:37and effort in trying to establish his church in Corinth.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40He had to support himself somehow,
0:31:40 > 0:31:42and he was a tent maker, as you said.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45The kind of society that he moved in was probably the lower,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47the poorer echelons of society.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51We're talking about eight in ten people would have been at the poverty line.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53I imagine that he had a lot of contacts with people
0:31:53 > 0:31:55within his peer group.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58There's no reason why he wouldn't be sitting outside a shop,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02making tents so that he could talk to people who were passing by on the streets.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Some people he'd meet once, and many would come back and talk again.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I think what I've learnt about Paul, now having visited Athens
0:32:16 > 0:32:20and Corinth, is that he was very adaptable.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25He was also a man who knew when he was wanted and when he wasn't.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29I mean, we learnt that in Athens, he could talk to philosophers,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31but he wasn't really welcome there and he left.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Whereas in Corinth, it was a different matter.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36He seemed to get on well with the common people.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39This was a port, a great port city.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41People would come in from all over the world and go out
0:32:41 > 0:32:44to other parts of the world.
0:32:44 > 0:32:45He must have felt happier here
0:32:45 > 0:32:49because he stayed here for 18 months, longer than, well,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51anywhere else he stayed.
0:32:51 > 0:32:57So that, in his own words, "I've become all things to all people,
0:32:57 > 0:33:01"so that by all possible means, I might save some."
0:33:08 > 0:33:11While in Corinth, Paul wrote a letter
0:33:11 > 0:33:13to a community of believers in Rome.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17It laid out his theology in the clearest possible terms.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Romans would become the most influential
0:33:21 > 0:33:24script in the history of Christian thought.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27His purpose for writing it was to announce his intention
0:33:27 > 0:33:30of visiting the city to gather funds for a mission westwards,
0:33:30 > 0:33:32perhaps to Spain.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36But before he could go, he had an errand to run. Back to Jerusalem.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44We know that Paul made at least two trips to Corinth,
0:33:44 > 0:33:47and when he was leaving for the final time, he was taking with him
0:33:47 > 0:33:51quite a large sum of money as a donation for the church back at Jerusalem.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54It would appear that his plan was to set sail from a nearby port,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56here at Kenchreai.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00But at the very last minute, he and his companions discovered a plot
0:34:00 > 0:34:07against Paul's life, so he decided to walk clockwise around the Aegean!
0:34:15 > 0:34:16I think this is clockwise.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24Returning to Jerusalem proved to be a fateful decision.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27Trouble was brewing.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Many Jews believed Paul's methods in converting pagans were
0:34:31 > 0:34:34anti-Jewish and were baying for blood.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45A showdown was coming at the Jewish Temple,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48the most sacred site in Judaism.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Archaeologist Ronny Reich has directed the excavations
0:34:51 > 0:34:54on the temple steps where Paul and, indeed, Jesus
0:34:54 > 0:34:56would once have walked.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59We are outside the Temple Mount.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04We just climbed the main staircase leading to one of two gates,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06the Hulda gates.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09And you should imagine masses of people, in those days,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12coming on pilgrimage to enter the Temple Mount,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15bringing their offerings, animals, sheep.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18We slaughter there, in front of the temple, on the altar of sacrifice.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21How many people would have come in the first century?
0:35:21 > 0:35:22Tens of thousands.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Did they have any ritual to go through before they would enter?
0:35:26 > 0:35:27Oh, certainly.
0:35:27 > 0:35:33One obligatory ritual, everybody had to be in a pure state,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35- ritually pure.- Yes.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39That means that he had to take a ritual bath in what is called,
0:35:39 > 0:35:40in Hebrew, a mikveh.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44- There are many mikvehs...- Yes, yes. Let's have a look.- OK, show me one?
0:35:44 > 0:35:45Yes, yes. There.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51Here. Use the steps into the mikveh.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55- We have to imagine that it was full with water.- Right up to about here?
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Up to about here.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00Total immersion of the human body for one moment.
0:36:00 > 0:36:06Just into the water and outside from the water makes you pure.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08And it was so important?
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Well, this was a pre-requisite, entering the Temple Mount.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16You don't go to the temple as a tourist,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18- just to have a look and enjoy.- No.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23You go for the rituals and prayers,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26and to see the house of God.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29- And now we are pure. We can go to the temple.- Off we go!
0:36:32 > 0:36:36When Paul returned to Jerusalem, it would have been natural for him
0:36:36 > 0:36:38to visit the temple.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42The strict purity rules meant that any non-Jewish or Gentile
0:36:42 > 0:36:46companions he had with him were not allowed beyond a certain point.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51Paul new these rules, but he was accused of breaking them.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55Either he purposefully picked a fight or his enemies had framed him.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59We're told that within moments, a riot broke out.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Paul's life was in grave danger.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07Could he really have provoked such a violent response?
0:37:09 > 0:37:13The temple Paul knew was destroyed by the Romans in AD70,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16around ten years after his visit.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18In the seventh century, the Dome of the Rock,
0:37:18 > 0:37:23one of the most sacred places in Islam, was built on the site.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Gershon Solomon, founder of the Temple Faithful movement,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29is leading a highly controversial campaign
0:37:29 > 0:37:32to rebuild a third Jewish temple in its place.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35He fervently believes the biblical temples
0:37:35 > 0:37:37should once again be at the centre of Jewish life,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40and he would reinstate the ancient traditions.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44But, I was hoping Gershon could help me understand
0:37:44 > 0:37:49why Paul's alleged actions were so provocative.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56The temple was the heart and soul of the Jewish people.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00They could not come inside the temple because of the law of pureness.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05- You should know. We are not coming in a regular building.- No.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11Even not to a synagogue. You are coming to the house of God.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16If it was discovered that Paul brought gentiles inside
0:38:16 > 0:38:20this temple area, how would people have reacted?
0:38:22 > 0:38:27First of all, it would be considered as a terrible provocation.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Right.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33- He knew the laws of the temple. - He would've known.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37On the wall was written in Greek,
0:38:37 > 0:38:44- "The stranger that will cross this wall will die."- Will die?- Yeah.
0:38:44 > 0:38:52So, if Paul or any other one will bring gentiles inside the temple
0:38:52 > 0:38:58it could be a terrible thing, and the reaction will be also terrible.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01- Which is why there was a riot.- Yeah.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08In the end, only the intervention
0:39:08 > 0:39:11of the nearby Roman garrison saved Paul's life.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16He was arrested and taken under military escort
0:39:16 > 0:39:18to the Roman governor in Caesarea.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Paul's mission had come to a grinding halt.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Caesarea was the capital of the Roman province of Judaea,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38purpose-built around a magnificent new harbour.
0:39:41 > 0:39:47Roman historian Gil Gambash took me into the water to see its remains.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Now, they're big pillars there, they're huge.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03You can actually touch them. Yes.
0:40:03 > 0:40:04Comes all the way to the surface.
0:40:04 > 0:40:10The columns themselves couldn't be earlier than Herod was,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14- so we're talking about late first century BC.- nearly 2,000 years.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17- That's right.- 2,000 years.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Paul spent two years under arrest in Caesarea.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Back on dry land, Gil showed me
0:40:26 > 0:40:30where it's thought he may have spent much of that time.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36Caesarea would be very much like the era of Rome,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40the governor of this province would be sitting here,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44in this most central city in Judea,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48probably making use of Herod's palace,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51where we stand right now, as his Praetorium,
0:40:51 > 0:40:55his government seat, if you will.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00Where we're standing now, the praetorium, did you say?
0:41:00 > 0:41:05Would Paul have been imprisoned or put under house arrest here,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07where we are now?
0:41:07 > 0:41:12It's very hard to tell, but there is a likelihood that, yes,
0:41:12 > 0:41:14this is the seat of the governor.
0:41:14 > 0:41:19But we have to imagine being held under the custody of the governor,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22not because he's guilty of something,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26but because there are charges standing open against him
0:41:26 > 0:41:28and also, perhaps even more so,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32because these are a destabilising element in the province.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36And I think that would have been a strong enough motivation
0:41:36 > 0:41:39for the governor to keep him close by.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47The Roman governor seemed in no particular hurry
0:41:47 > 0:41:49to resolve Paul's case
0:41:49 > 0:41:52but, after two years, that governor was replaced.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56The new man was minded to send Paul back to Jerusalem.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59It would have meant certain death.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03Paul demanded his right, as a Roman citizen, to be tried in Rome.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10As he languished in prison, Paul seems to have begun reflecting.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Ever since his conversion,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15he'd been preaching that the end of days was coming soon.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39But the years had passed and the world had not ended.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42Paul began to suspect that he himself might die
0:42:42 > 0:42:44before Jesus returned.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46From prison, he wrote...
0:43:02 > 0:43:06Very moving the me to think that it's here in Caesarea
0:43:06 > 0:43:11that Paul would have spent his last two years in the Holy Land,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15that he spent it under guard, fighting for his innocence,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20and having to appeal to Caesar and go to Rome.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25And I wonder, when he left here, what he would have thought.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29Maybe this was his last view of the Holy Land,
0:43:29 > 0:43:33and that's given me pause for reflection.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40Many of Paul's ideas on how converts should live their lives
0:43:40 > 0:43:45challenged the social and political structures of the Roman state.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48If the world had ended, as he predicted,
0:43:48 > 0:43:50none of this would have mattered.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54But, as time went on and communities grew larger,
0:43:54 > 0:43:58it was inevitable that Paul's subversive message would be noticed.
0:43:58 > 0:43:59The world was changing
0:43:59 > 0:44:03and these early Christians now risk the wrath of Rome -
0:44:05 > 0:44:08the very place where Paul was now heading.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18The Bible's Book of Acts tells how Paul was taken by ship to Rome.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22But, on the way, a storm blew up and, after two weeks of being
0:44:22 > 0:44:25tossed around at sea, he was shipwrecked on Malta.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30The ship's company was forced to overwinter on the island
0:44:30 > 0:44:32before continuing to Rome.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48Paul finally arrived in Italy around AD60.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50From the port of Puteoli where he landed,
0:44:50 > 0:44:56he then faced a 130-mile walk along this road, the Appian Way, to Rome.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59By now, he was probably in his late 50s
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and would have spent 30 years on the road.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04He had established small communities of believers
0:45:04 > 0:45:06throughout the Roman Empire,
0:45:06 > 0:45:10but this was his first time in the Imperial city itself.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13And he was arriving in chains.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15It must surely have crossed his mind
0:45:15 > 0:45:18that he might never leave Rome alive.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27The Rome Paul saw was not the Rome of Gladiator.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Many of the big, iconic monuments, the Coliseum, the Pantheon,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34and the triumphal arches had not yet been built.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But the city was under the rule of the Emperor Nero,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41who would launch the first imperial persecution of the Christians.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Back on the Appian Way, I met archaeologist Valerie Higgins.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Very nice to meet you.
0:45:53 > 0:45:59Paul, coming to Rome, he would've come into a pagan society.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02How did the pagans regard Christians?
0:46:02 > 0:46:05Christians were quite threatening,
0:46:05 > 0:46:08because of course the pagan religion was not
0:46:08 > 0:46:10a religion in the sense that we know religion,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14in that it was not divorced from the state and, indeed,
0:46:14 > 0:46:16the state was intimately involved in the religion.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20So, if you are saying that he denies the pagan gods,
0:46:20 > 0:46:24it's really treason,
0:46:24 > 0:46:27because it's really denying the Emperor and his power.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31It may seem to us that Christians wouldn't be that threatening -
0:46:31 > 0:46:34you know, what is it in the message that is so threatening?
0:46:34 > 0:46:38But it is that denial of the Emperor, denial of the gods.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42We're so used to Christianity today, we have no idea that
0:46:42 > 0:46:46it could ever have been that sort of a threat at all.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50No, in a way, it seems bizarre that an empire like the Roman Empire,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54which has all these armies and has all this power
0:46:54 > 0:46:57seems to feel so threatened by a message
0:46:57 > 0:47:00which is actually so mild, in many ways,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04you know, but they really genuinely did feel threatened by it.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Rome was not a good place to argue that there was only one God,
0:47:11 > 0:47:13and that God wasn't Caesar.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21In his search for a fair trial, Paul had insisted on his right,
0:47:21 > 0:47:24as a Roman citizen, to be tried in Rome.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26It may have been a fatal mistake.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34After his arrival in Rome, the story of Paul seems to get a little hazy.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37From the Book of Acts in the Bible, we know that he was allowed
0:47:37 > 0:47:39to stay in rented accommodation for two years
0:47:39 > 0:47:41with a soldier guarding him.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45He was, however, allowed to welcome visitors.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47After that, the story just simply stops.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53There is no record of his trial, nor of the results of it.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55So, what was actually going on?
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Tradition claims that Paul lived in Rome's Jewish quarter.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04Of course, he had supposedly come here to stand trial
0:48:04 > 0:48:06for violating the temple in Jerusalem.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09But, after two years, maybe that offence had been forgotten.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17Curiously, though he was under some form of house arrest, he does seem
0:48:17 > 0:48:21to have been free to carry on trying to make new converts.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23A dangerous game under Nero.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:48:27 > 0:48:32The church tradition is that Paul paid the ultimate price
0:48:32 > 0:48:34and was martyred for his faith.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Father Scott Brodeur, an expert in Paul's writings,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43explains what he thinks may have happened.
0:48:44 > 0:48:49He is announcing that Jesus is Lord.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51And we know, in the Roman Empire,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54there's only one Lord, and he is Caesar.
0:48:55 > 0:49:01So, if someone starts saying, this Jesus, this Jew from Galilee,
0:49:01 > 0:49:08we believe he is the son of God, and he continues to reign, he has power.
0:49:08 > 0:49:15Are you implying that his power is conflicting with that of Caesar? Yes.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17That's political.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19That's very political indeed.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24He's brought before the authorities for this political charge.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26He's not going to back down.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Is not suddenly going to change his tune
0:49:29 > 0:49:31and say this isn't what I believe.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And ultimately, that would get him killed.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35How was he executed?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38He was beheaded. He was beheaded.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42So, compared to crucifixion,
0:49:42 > 0:49:47a far more merciful way to put someone to death. A quicker way.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Horrific in itself, of course, but again,
0:49:50 > 0:49:54compared to crucifixion, far less painful.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57There's something that slightly puzzles me, for such a major event
0:49:57 > 0:50:01in Christianity, why isn't it mentioned?
0:50:01 > 0:50:05We have to remember that the Acts of the Apostles are written
0:50:05 > 0:50:06by Saint Luke.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10And Saint Luke has other concerns.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12It's not a biography.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17So, Luke is concerned with showing that the gospel has reached Rome
0:50:17 > 0:50:19and continues to be preached.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21So, in a sense, what you're saying is that he deliberately
0:50:21 > 0:50:24didn't write it, because if you write the death of Paul,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27people could be reading that's the death of the gospel.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Precisely. That's the point.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37Some have argued that Paul wasn't executed, that he continued
0:50:37 > 0:50:41westward to Spain, or perhaps return to the East.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49The truth is, we just don't know.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52But, the Church tradition is that he was beheaded and buried here
0:50:52 > 0:50:57in Rome, where the basilica of Saint Paul outside the walls now stands.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06Cardinal Francesco Monterisi led me to what he believes
0:51:06 > 0:51:08is the final resting place of Paul.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15The tomb is behind this door.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17If we open it...
0:51:18 > 0:51:23And, inside the sarcophagus is Saint Paul?
0:51:23 > 0:51:28Yes, we believe the disciple is inside.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31Have you been able to see inside?
0:51:31 > 0:51:36We could not open the sarcophagus.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41But a scope has been dropped inside.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46We have been able to see some pieces of tissue
0:51:46 > 0:51:49and some pieces of bones.
0:51:49 > 0:51:57We have been able to remove a small piece of bone,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01and it was examined by experts
0:52:01 > 0:52:08and the submission was that it belonged to a man
0:52:08 > 0:52:15of the first or second century after Christ.
0:52:15 > 0:52:16Right. Amazing.
0:52:16 > 0:52:22Yes, this is the basis of the idea
0:52:22 > 0:52:29that this is real corpse of Saint Paul, buried in this sarcophagus.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Amazing. It's very special.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Thank you.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Thank you very much.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42It's a great privilege for me. Thank you.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46We can never be sure whether Paul's body ever lay in this tomb.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50It seems that the biggest piece of evidence that he died in Rome
0:52:50 > 0:52:52is that it is here that his story ends.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56There is simply no evidence for anything else.
0:53:00 > 0:53:01It's strange that the New Testament
0:53:01 > 0:53:03doesn't record what happened to Paul.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07If he was executed, then perhaps publicising that fact
0:53:07 > 0:53:09would only serve to discourage new converts.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12Or maybe in the midst of Nero's persecution of Christians,
0:53:12 > 0:53:16one man's death simply went unnoticed.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20The Roman persecution of Christians, however, continued for 250 years
0:53:20 > 0:53:22after Paul's death, but the faith
0:53:22 > 0:53:26continued to grow until AD380, when Christianity was made
0:53:26 > 0:53:29the official religion of the Roman Empire.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Rome seem to have no record of Paul
0:53:33 > 0:53:36but it did have one credible last clue
0:53:36 > 0:53:40to the man I thought I had come to know
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Throughout my journey I had carried in my imagination
0:53:44 > 0:53:45a portrait of Paul.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49An image I'd seen repeated in paintings, statues
0:53:49 > 0:53:51and icons down through the centuries.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00And then, in a suburb of Rome,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04in a catacomb deep beneath a modern office block, my guide, Dario,
0:54:04 > 0:54:09took me to meet archaeologist Fabrizio Bisconti.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12He'd made an astounding discovery. Oh, goodness!
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Buongiorno. Buongiorno.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20THEY GREET EACH OTHER IN ITALIAN
0:54:20 > 0:54:21Professor Bisconti, hello.
0:54:22 > 0:54:23- OK, andiamo.- Thank you.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28These catacombs were originally pagan
0:54:28 > 0:54:31but began to be used by Rome's Christians
0:54:31 > 0:54:33in the 4th century AD.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40What I was about to learn about the man
0:54:40 > 0:54:44I had been pursuing for so long would come as a bit of a shock.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Oh, my goodness me. There he is.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19He's got very piercing eyes.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40That's unique, isn't it? And the date of this?
0:55:48 > 0:55:51380 AD.
0:55:51 > 0:55:56So, is this the very earliest picture of Paul in the world?
0:56:04 > 0:56:08It was so exciting to see the earliest ever portrait of Paul.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11He was exactly as I had always imagined him.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17But, it appeared that this was not in fact Paul.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Do you think that is what Paul looked like?
0:56:56 > 0:57:01After all this time, Paul was not Paul.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03His portrait had been based on the image
0:57:03 > 0:57:07of a third century philosopher called Plotinus.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10That image had then been copied down through the centuries.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13So, maybe he didn't look like me after all.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16In a strange sort of way, it was appropriate
0:57:16 > 0:57:19that if I really wanted to find Paul,
0:57:19 > 0:57:22the best place to look was in his own words.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30So, let's hear this extraordinary man speak.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35"For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve
0:57:35 > 0:57:40"to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42"But, by the grace of God, I am what I am
0:57:42 > 0:57:45"and his grace to me was not without effect.
0:57:45 > 0:57:50"How can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
0:57:50 > 0:57:53"If there is no resurrection of the dead
0:57:53 > 0:57:55"then not even Christ has been raised
0:57:55 > 0:57:57"and of Christ has not been raised,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01"our preaching is useless and so is your faith!
0:58:01 > 0:58:04"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06"The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09"For, since death came through a man,
0:58:09 > 0:58:13"the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
0:58:13 > 0:58:20"For, as in Adam, all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive."
0:58:21 > 0:58:29Like Paul, or dislike him, you certainly can't ignore him.
0:58:57 > 0:58:59Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd