FOUNDATIONS OF THE WEST: Episode III: “Christ, the Center of the World”

Here is the decision, made easy. This is a strong, four-star hour of documentary television, and it points where every believer wants to look: to the Cross and the Empty Tomb.

Jordan Peterson follows Jonathan Pageau through the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem and into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, tracing the ground where Jesus carried His cross, died, and rose. The episode validates the death and resurrection of Christ, treats their meaning for believers with real weight, and shows how that Gospel became the foundation of Western Civilization — of Europe, England and the United States alike.

The only cautions are gentle: paintings and statues depict the Crucifixion, and Peterson's psychological readings occasionally drift into speculation. Neither should keep a discerning household away.

So watch it — and if you have older children, watch it together and talk about what you see.

Episode III of the five-part Foundations of the West sets out to answer a large question: why did one crucified man become the center of a whole civilization?

To find out, psychologist Jordan Peterson follows Jonathan Pageau, editor of the Orthodox Arts Journal, along the Via Dolorosa — the "Way of Suffering" — in Jerusalem. Together they walk the route Jesus took carrying His cross toward Golgotha, then enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to stand where Christians have long believed the Crucifixion and the Empty Tomb are found. What they discover there reaches far beyond the Holy Land.

Four stars, and they're earned. This is a deep, inspiring hour that never mistakes reverence for dullness. By anchoring itself in real places — the Stations of the Cross, Calvary, the stone where Christ's body was prepared, the Empty Tomb — the episode makes ancient history feel present and urgent.

Pageau supplies the historical and theological framing with clarity; Peterson brings the searching, psychologically minded questions that have drawn so many to his work. The pairing gives the discussion both roots and reach. A companion 76-minute dinner conversation between the two continues the exploration for those who want more.

Peterson's musings occasionally get speculative — that's his habit — but in matters of faith he repeatedly affirms the wisdom of the biblical accounts. The result is documentary filmmaking of a high order.

This episode carries a strong Christian, biblical worldview, and it wears it openly. It offers historical confirmation for Jesus Christ's claim to be divine — seated at the right hand of God the Father — and for His death and resurrection. Then it traces how that Gospel reshaped the world.

The historical argument is striking. After the Emperor Constantine's mother, Helen, rebuilt Jerusalem and built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the sites of the Crucifixion and the Empty Tomb, new towns across Europe rose with a church at their center. As Pageau puts it, "Civilization was born from the Cross" of Christ. What began at Golgotha became the center of the Holy Roman Empire, of Europe, England and the United States — and the film honors Catholics, Eastern Orthodox believers and Protestants alike in telling it.

The themes it lifts up are the ones Scripture lifts up: service, in the image of Christ as the Suffering Servant, and man's connection to God through Jesus and His church. The hosts dwell on Jesus' call to "take up your cross and follow Me," noting that the Via Dolorosa means "the Way of Suffering" — and that the Gospel's promise is not escape from suffering but God's presence within it.

That promise is the film's beating heart, and it is true. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

This is the rare documentary that both informs and stirs worship. It takes you to the very ground of the Cross and the Empty Tomb, then shows how that Gospel built a world. Reverent, intelligent, and true to Scripture, it's an hour older children, teens and adults can share with profit. Our answer is simple: worth watching.