Martin Luther’s attack on the all-powerful Catholic Church was a knife to the heart of an empire that had endured for more than a thousand years. Nailing his treatise to the doors of Wittenberg Cathedral, this previously obscure German monk changed the world forever, unleashing forces that plunged Europe into war and chaos. But Luther would do more than revolutionize the church; he offered the Christian world a new vision of man’s relationship with God and, in turn, redefined man’s relationship with authority in general. Filmed across Europe — from rustic rural Germany to the opulence of Vatican City — MARTIN LUTHER is the dramatic story of the collapse of the medieval world and the birth of the modern age. Liam Neeson narrates.

Part 1 “Driven to Defiance” airs January 2 at 10 p.m. – Martin Luther is born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church. For the keenly spiritual Luther, the church’s promise of salvation is irresistible. Caught in a thunderstorm and terrified by the possibility of imminent death, he vows to become a monk. After entering the monastery, Luther becomes increasingly doubtful that the church can actually offer him salvation. His views crystallize further when he travels to Rome and finds the capital of Catholicism swamped in corruption. Wracked by despair, Luther finds release in the pages of the Bible, discovering that it is not the church, but his own individual faith that will guarantee his salvation. In his famous 95 Theses, he attacks the practice of selling Indulgences, putting himself on an irreversible path to conflict with the most powerful institution of the day.

Part 2 “The Reluctant Revolutionary” airs January 9 at 10 p.m.– The Catholic Church uses all of its might to try to silence Luther, including accusations of heresy and excommunication. Protected by his local ruler, Frederick the Wise, Luther continues to write radical critiques of the church. In the process, he develops a new system of faith that places the freedom of the individual believer above the rituals of the church. Aided by the newly invented printing press, his ideas spread rapidly. He is called before the German imperial parliament in the city of Worms and told he must recant. Risking torture and execution, Luther refuses, proclaiming his inalienable right to believe what he wishes. His stand becomes a legend that inspires revolution across Europe, overturning the thousand-year-old hegemony of the church. As the reformation expands into a movement for social freedom, Luther finds himself overwhelmed by the pace of change, and is left vainly protesting that his followers should be concerning themselves with God.