Disc 1

Jesus the Jew
Leading British writer Howard Jacobson, a Jew himself, examines the origins and consequences of Christian belief. Jacobson talks to Christian and Jewish scholars in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee and Rome to find out more about Jesus the Jew, and discovers how key Christian beliefs - including the notion of a Messiah and baptism - have roots in Judaism.

Rome
Michael Portillo investigates the legacy of the Roman Emperor Constantine, the man who transformed Christianity from a clandestine handful of persecuted followers of Jesus Christ into one of the world's great religions with a global reach of over two billion worshippers.

Dark Ages
In this extraordinary episode the noted theologian Robert Beckford examines the Dark Ages in Britain, beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire 400 years after the birth of Jesus. He examines the precarious survival of Christianity in the Celtic West and Ireland following a struggle for souls between three different religious traditions: the warrior pagan religion of the Anglo- Saxons, Celtic Christianity and a resurgent Roman Christianity, which arrived with St Augustine in 597.

Disc 2

Crusades
Acclaimed war correspondent Rageh Omaar examines the effect the Crusades have on the world today. On his journey through Europe and the Middle East, Rageh speaks to historians as well as ordinary people in order to understand how it is that events of 900 years ago can have such a divisive effect on relations between the West and the Muslim world, and on two of the world's greatest religions - Islam and Christianity.

Reformation
Politician and novelist Ann Widdecombe, a Catholic convert raised in the Protestant Church of England, searches for the causes of the Reformation, the turbulent years that saw merciless intolerance drive a bitter divide between Catholics and Protestants. Beyond the battles of kings, popes and theologians, Ann explores how the Reformation came to affect the common people and why it led to many religious breakthroughs, from attacks on church corruption to the translation of the Bible into English.

Dark Continents
Writer and playwright Kwame Kwei Armah reveals how Christianity became the world's largest religion despite, rather than because of, Western missionary zeal. In Latin America he discovers that in Mexico ancient indigenous concepts have been adapted and included in what is now a genuinely Mexican Christianity, and he travels to Ethiopia, where Christian traditions go back to the century of Christ. A new, vibrant Christendom has emerged in the developing world and these new Christians believe it is Europe that now needs converting to the true faith.

Disc 3

God and the Scientists
Eminent scientist Colin Blakemore interviews esteemed scholars and churchmen in order to understand how science has transformed Christianity over the last four centuries. For over fifteen hundred years, Christians saw the Bible as the primary source of knowledge but, in the seventeenth Century, the beginnings of a scientific revolution challenged the Christian view of the world, with surprising outcomes.

Future of Christianity
Leading British lawyer and committed Catholic Cherie Blair investigates Christianity over the last 100 years and explores its future prospects. Cherie uncovers the reasons for its continued success and looks at what the future holds for Christianity. Are we living in a post-Christian age? Or is the 21st Century really going to be the Christian century?