Original subtitles

[Village people yelling] Blasphemer! Heretic!

Kill him! Stone him!

Death to the Blasphemer!

This should teach the followers of Jesus a lesson.

I hope that you are right.

But I fear we may fuel their fanaticism.

You remember what the Rabbi Gamaliel said,

"Leave these men alone.

If their purpose is of human origin it will fail...

But if it's God's design we won't be able to stop it."

He is wrong!

We must stop these Nazarenes.

There is a young man from Tarsus-

Saul is his name--

a very bright, very ambitious.

I have put him in charge of rounding up these heretics.

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit...

Lord, do not hold this sin against them.

Punish him!

I've done what I can here in Jerusalem to eliminate

the followers of this false Messiah.

I've put several hundred men and women under arrest.

Very good, Saul.

Very thorough.

Thank you, sir...

However, my informers have advised me that

many members of this sect have escaped to Damascus.

What do you propose?

I would like to go to Damascus and bring these heretics

back to Jerusalem for trial.

With all respect Caiaphas, Annas... you know, as well as I

that Damascus is the hub of caravan trading

from all over the Roman Empire.

If we don't stop it there,

this false Messiah movement could spread through Persia,

Mespotamia, perhaps even to Rome itself.

See my scribe in the morning.

He will give you the necessary letters

of introductions to our people in Damascus.

Saul...Saul, why do you persecute me?

Who are you, Lord?

I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting...

What?!...

What have I done?!

Oh Lord, what do you want of me?

Arise.

I am sending you to your own people and to the Gentiles

to open their eyes and to turn them

from darkness to light-- from the power of Satan

to the power of the living God.

Now go into the city, and you will be told

what you must do.

I can't see.

I can't see.

He hasn't had anything to eat or drink for three days.

Ananias...you've come.

How did you know?

In a vision, the Lord showed me a man called Ananias.

He placed his hands on me and opened my eyes.

It is just as the Lord said...

Saul, the Lord Jesus,

who appeared to you on the road here has sent me to pray for you

that you might receive your sight

and be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

I am your servant.

From that time onward Saul of Tarsus was a different man.

He changed his name to Paul

and became an ardent evangelist for Jesus Christ.

And we have been given the message of salvation.

The people of Jerusalem and their leaders

did not recognize Jesus.

Yet when they condemned him, they fulfilled the prophesies

that are read every Sabbath.

They crucified him, but god raised him from the dead

on the third day.

And I am sent by Him to let you know that through

this same Jesus the forgiveness of sins is given.

Through Him everyone who believes is given eternal life.

How long have you been like this?

All my life.

Do you believe that what I've been saying is the truth?

I do.

Then stand up on your feet.

"My God!"

Look at me... I am walking.

Look at me...l am walking!

Look at me...l am walking!

Hail Zeus! Hail Hermes!

Hail Zeus! Hail Hermes!

Listen this is wrong.

Listen! Stop!

No! Listen! Listen!

Stop this, please!

We are not gods.

Barnabas and I are just men, like you.

We've brought you the good news

that these idols have no power.

God wants you to turn from the worship of these

worthless things to the living God,

who through Jesus the Christ has come to save you.

In the past, God let all nations go their own way...

Yet, he did not leave himself with that...

is blasphemed because of them?

They're heretics!

They should be stoned for this sacrilege.

Excellent idea!

It's time to put a stop to their sect.

You must reject these lifeless gods

and worship the one, true living God.

I tried to stop them, from stoning Paul,

but there were too many for me...

If you'd been there, they would have stoned you too..

Where is he?

He's there...

Paul?

He can't be alive...

Lord please...

So what have all your schemes accomplished?

Your persecution of the followers of Jesus

have caused them to flee Jerusalem.

They're scattered all over the Roman Empire

and taken their heretical ideas with them.

And what do you do?

You sent Saul to stop them and what happened?

He becomes one of them!

No...more than that...he is a leader.

Soon Jews all over the world will become devotees of this...

this Jesus.

Then what becomes of us?

How many of them will come back to support the Temple?

Annas, you worry too much.

I'm in communication with our people.

Where ever he goes, they are ready to resist him.

Leave us.

This Saul, or Paul, as he now calls himself,

will be found dead at the hands of an angry mob

before very long.

Yes... I heard that they tried to stone him in Lystra,

but they failed to kill him.

Can't your people do anything right!?

Mark my words Annas.

Within a year know one will remember

the name of Jesus or Paul.

You had your fortune told, it's a waist of money

how many times have I told you to stay away from that woman.

You must be on your guard.

One from the house of Libra will try to take advantage of you.

But another, whose moon is in Pisces,

will make a very auspicious offer.

You must not refuse.

But how will I know this person?

Please tell me more!

Come along Deanok. Come on.

Eurodia has told you quite enough...No, No, No, No,

If you want to hear anymore, you must come another time.

Well, Eurodia's never been wrong before.

She predicted that my father would die last year--

although she said he would fall from a horse-

he died in his sleep-- of course he was

ninety-four years old and never knew how to ride.

It was truly remarkable-- extraordinary really...

Eurodia! Get back in there!

Out of my way!

I know who you are...

Silas and I know who you are...

Let's find a place where we can be alone...

Satan, you have nothing with which to tempt me.

You've come here to tell these people how to be saved,

haven't you?

Do you know who these men are?

They are the servants of the most high god!

I tell you, you must listen to these men,

for they will show you the way to salvation.

Does Eurodia know those men?

Are they fortune-tellers too?

Listen to these servants of the most high God.

For they know the path to eternal life.

These men are servants of the most high God!

Hear them!

Satan, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ,

to come out of her!

Get your hands off her! She is mine.

What have you done to her?!

You better not have damaged my property.

She is mine!

She belongs to Jesus now.

This slave is worth a thousand drachma!

If you've damaged her, I'll make you pay.

Do you think you can go around destroying

other people's property? Well?

This will teach you to touch other people's slaves.

You hear me?

We would gladly pay this price

to see someone freed from Satan's chains.

It is Gods will all people should be free...even you.

If your God wants to set people free,

he should take care of his own.

You don't look very free to me!

These troubles are momentary.

In this life we have freedom through the Holy Spirit

and when we have finished the course that is set before us,

we have the promise of life everlasting.

When your god gets you out of prison--

that's when I'll believe in him.

Beaten and thrown in jail... not important?

A life to come??

Freedom?

Fools...fools...

They make no sense...

What are you looking at?

[Singing/Praying]

The ground is shaking, it's an earthquake!

Earthquake!

Earthquake!

Earthquake! Where's my sword!

The prisoners! They can't escape!

Everybody, this way.

This way, through there...

Quickly, quickly!

Everybody, Through there.

Guards!

Where are my guards!

Anyone here! Hello!

Hello?

They're gone!

Everyone's gone!

I'm finished... I'm a dead man!

Quartus, stop!

Don't!

They're here!

Come!

You're here!

They're all here!

You...You've given me back my life.

You could have escaped.

Why...why didn't you escape?

Jesus set Silas and me free

when he saved us from the law of sin and death...

and Quartus he wants you to be free too.

What must I do to be saved?

Trust and believe in the Lord Jesus

and you will be saved.

I do...l do believe.

The following day, Paul and Silas

were released from prison and continued their tourney

through Macedonia.

Once the city magistrates of Philippi discovered that

Paul and I were Roman citizens they could not wait

to get us out of town as quickly as possible...

no this one...

For it was illegal for them to beat us

and throw us into jail without a trial.

Paul...Silas... You've got to leave!

Why? What is it?

There's no time! The Jews are coming for Paul!

You've got to go!

I'll get our things.

I'm not leaving...

But Paul, they're coming...

There's a huge mob...

It's been the same everywhere. I can't keep on running.

Must we always be afraid?

No!

The Holy Spirit who lives within us,

is stronger than anything on earth!

Anyone who has seen you preach

and the miracles that God performs through YOU.

Knows that you're not afraid, Paul but we need you.

They need you.

If you're killed, who will lead us?

Silas, you stay here. It's me they want.

I'll go on to Athens, We'll meet again there.

They're coming!

If God wills, we'll meet in Athens.

Come on! Hurry!

Men of Athens, I see you are a very religious people,

for as I was passing through your city

I noticed how many gods you worship.

I even saw an altar to an unknown god.

I want to tell you that this god that you worship

without knowing is the same God who made the world

and everything in it.

But since he is Lord of heaven and earth

he does not dwell in temples made by men.

Nor does he served with human hands,

as if he needed anything.

For he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.

We should not think of God as an image of gold

or silver or stone, made by man's design or skill.

Now God commands all people everywhere to repent.

For he has set a day when Jesus, the Christ,

will judge the world.

God has given us proof of this

and that after Jesus was crucified by the Romans,

he raised him from the dead.

Did he say raised from the dead?

Who ever heard of such a thing.

Impossible!

Gentlemen! Be Quiet! Please! Be quiet!

We're here to expand our thinking

and to listen to new truths.

Paul, we've appreciated what you've had to say.

You've given us much to think about...

I know that Jews ask for signs,

and the Greeks search for wisdom...

but we teach Christ crucified and resurrected to life again.

These are stumbling blocks to the Jews

and foolishness to the Greeks...

Well, I regret that the hour has grown late.

We will hear you again, Paul. Thank you.

That is all for today.

Tell us more about Jesus...

Yes, please... We want to believe.

Is he really alive?

Yes, I have seen him. He is alive...

That's the sorcerer.

Paul? Where is Paul?

Oh, Prophet, I've been told you've been given

the power to heal by the Greek God Apollo.

Then you have been told wrongly.

There is only one true God and he is the one who heals.

Is this your son?

Yes, and I have done everything in my power to heal him.

I have exhausted my knowledge of the black arts

and chanted every incantation recorded for healing--

and yet he worsens.

Please help him... I think he's going to die...

Lord, I ask you, in the name of Jesus the Christ,

to heal this little one.

Heal him because you are a God of compassion

and as a sign to all men that you are the one true God.

He's cured... He's cured...

My son is cured!

This Jesus is the one true God.

I'm a sorcerer. How can I serve him?

First you must leave your sorcery and witchcraft.

It is a small price to pay.

Amazing... Truly amazing.

Do you know how much those

scrolls of incantations are worth?

Why at least fifty thousand drachmas.

How much greater is the worth of one man's soul?

The angels in heaven rejoice tonight.

Paul...Silas...

May God forgive me.

I have practiced sorcery, palmistry and astrology.

All these evils I now renounce.

Thank you Lord for this lost soul...

Christ has set you free...

After Paul had been away four years on his third

missionary journey, he set sail for Caesarea in early spring.

He was eager to be in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.

So this is the Temple?

It is.

It's beautiful!

Help us! It's the heretic! It's the heretic!

He's brought Greeks into the temple!

Get him!

These men, who have turned the whole world upside down

have come here too!

[Everyone Yelling] Kill him! Stone the heretic!

Who is this man?!

He's a heretic! The man's a murderer!

What's his crime?

He's an enemy of Rome!

Get him out of here! Take him back to the barracks!

Paul was arrested and sent to Caesarea,

where he was kept in prison for two years.

As a prisoner of the Lord, I beseech you to live a life

that is worthy of the calling you have received.

Be completely humble and gentle...

...be patient,

bearing with one another in love...

(God's Voice) Paul...Paul, don't be afraid...

My Lord...

Just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem,

so you must also bear witness in Rome.

Governor Porcius Festus, Roman Procurator,

King Agrippa, King of Judea and his wife Queen Bernice.

King Agrippa, you have come at a most fortunate time.

There is a man in my custody

and as you are expert in matters of Jewish law,

I thought you might be interested in hearing his case.

Yes?

Well, I have taken the liberty of sending for him.

Good, good.

King Agrippa, the whole Jewish community has petitioned me,

saying that he should be condemned to death.

However, I can not find any particular law that he has

broken deserving that penalty.

Paul has appealed to Caesar and I've agreed to send him,

but I don't know what specific charges to bring against him.

King Agrippa, I need your wisdom and advice in this matter.

Paul, you have permission to speak.

King Agrippa, I consider myself very fortunate to be able

to stand before you today and make my defense,

especially as I know you are well acquainted

with all Jewish customs and controversy.

I beg you to listen patiently to me.

The Jews all know that from the time I was a child

I lived according to the strictest laws of our religion.

I too considered it my duty to oppose the name

of Jesus of Nazareth.

And that is what I did in Jerusalem.

On the authority of the high priests

I put many of his believers in prison, and when

they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

In my obsession to persecute them,

I even traveled to foreign cities.

I was on my way to Damascus, when I saw a light from heaven

brighter than the sun,

shining all around me and my companions.

Then I heard a voice saying

"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

I asked, "Who are you, Lord?"

"I am Jesus.

Now, arise and stand on your feet.

I have chosen you as a servant and as a witness

to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

I am sending you to open their eyes,

to turn them from darkness to light,

from the power of Satan to God,

so they may be forgiven of their sins."

And so, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient

to this vision from heaven.

I have preached that both the Jews and Gentiles should repent

and turn to God.

And that is why the Jews seized me in the temple.

But I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets

and Moses said would happen-- that the Messiah would suffer

and as the first to rise from the dead,

would proclaim light and being to his own people

and to the Gentiles.

Rise from the dead! Are you out of your mind, Paul!

All of this learning is making you mad.

What I am saying is the truth

and was foretold by the prophets.

I know the king is familiar with these things.

King Agrippa, do you believe the law and the prophets?

I know you do...

Paul, Paul... you could almost persuade me

to become a Christian...

I pray to God that not only you...

but all those who hear my words,

may become as I am today, except for these chains.

What do you think?

Paul isn't guilty of any crime.

He could have been set free if he hadn't appealed to Caesar.

It doesn't appear that he's done anything

deserving death or even imprisonment.

But by law, he must go to Rome where Caesar will judge him.

Late in the Summer, a ship was found to take Paul to Italy.

He was handed over to a Centurion

of the Imperial Regiment named Julius.

There will be a loss of cargo, the ship and perhaps

even our lives.

And what is your occupation, a fortuneteller I suppose?

I'm a tent-maker.

Ah, well, tent-maker, the captain and the owner

of this ship have advised me that this is not

a suitable harbor for the winter,

so we must sail further west along the coast to another port.

Look at this weather... it's beautiful.

There's nothing to worry about...

Hey there! Trim that sail!

You heard me! Help him! Help him!

Drop those anchors on the side!

Hurry up! Go on, keep bailing!

Keep it coming! Hurry up!

Everything over!

Faster!

Trim that sail! Trim that sail!

Those sailors are trying to escape.

If they do, you have on hope of being saved!

We all stay together! Am I understood?

We're lost.

I don't know where we are.

Paul, I should have listened to you.

We're probably all going to die.

Yes...that's right...

No!

No!

Do not lose courage!

No one is going to die.

How do you know this?

An angel of the God I serve stood beside me last night

and said, "Paul, do not be afraid.

You must stand before Caesar; and God has also given you

the lives of those who sail with you.

The ship will be lost, but no one will perish."

So do not loose hope, I have faith in God

that it will happen as he has said.

Land, ho!

We'll run the ship aground!

Cut the anchors! Hoist the foresail!

We'll make for the beach!

We've struck a sandbar!

We're stuck fast.

The ship is breaking up!

It's coming apart!

We've got to kill the prisoners!

If they escape, we'll be executed!

No!

Help everyone get overboard.

If they can't swim, give them a plank from the ship.

Everyone will make it to shore!! Is that understood, Soldier?

Yes, sir!

Paul, you can swim?

Like a fish...

It's a snake!

Back away! It's a viper... It's deadly!

It's nothing...

The venom in that snake kills almost instantly.

Julius, don't worry.

The Lord has promised that I shall get to Rome.

Nothing on earth is going to prevent that.

We stayed on the Island of Malta for three months

until a ship from Alexandria took us to Rome.

And your trial before Caesar?

Ah. yes!

After waiting two more years here in Rome,

it happened just as the Lord promised.

I testified before Nero and I was acquitted on all charges.

Amazing!

You must remember, the trial was before

the fire in Rome, before Nero tried to deflect

the blame by charging the Christians with the crime,

before so many of the Faithful had been martyred

for the entertainment of the Emperor.

We heard some of the martyrs

were even from Nero's own household.

I pray that I can remain as faithful to the end.

For God did not give us a spirit of fear,

but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.

So do not be ashamed to testify in the name of our Lord,

or be ashamed of me, his prisoner.

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead

descended from David.

This is my gospel, for which I am suffering

even to the point of being chained like a criminal.

But God's word is never chained.

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering

and the time has come for my departure...

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness...

My Lord!