Take a good look at the key verses today and it is as if God was speaking directly about Joseph Smith! Even if an angel should give you another gospel - call them accursed! The title of this article from Grady states that The Chosen is taking the gospel to millions, but the real question is what gospel? The key verses make it clear we can believe a different gospel, which portrays a different Christ. Dallas Jenkins himself admits that 95% of the Chosen is not from the bible! So why in the world are we watching it as if it were! If we were unsaved, what would we glean from watching the Chosen? First of all, we would learn to minimize sin. Unsurprisingly, sin is constantly portrayed as a mistake instead of willful disobedience to God. John the Baptist is morphed into a "creepy" guy who decides to confront Herod because his followers would love it, instead of because he was a reprobate. The Chosen fundamentally changes the gospel into an unrecognizable story. It rewrites scripture. This is not just artistic license, although one could argue that using such on the words divinely inspired by the Creator of the Universe might be a bad idea. Peter was not a drunkard who cheated on his wife. Matthew was not autistic, presented as such to make give his decision to become a tax collector a softer landing. The unsaved person would walk away from The Chosen with a much more feminist view than God portrayed when He wrote the scriptures. Mary Magdalene is presented as having been raped by a Roman solider to excuse her sin. The woman at the well is presented as having a cruel husband instead of merely being promiscuous as scripture teaches. The women are also elevated to far higher levels than is reasonably possible. Mary Magdalene did not lead the prayers during Sabbath! Dear Lord, Jesus, God Himself, was there! This is not even scratching the surface beloved. The Chosen is not presenting the gospel. It does not represent Christ or Christianity. It presents a false gospel that should be rebuked and avoided at all costs.
"This has always been producer Dallas Jenkins' plan. In a video on the show's website, he says: "We want 'The Chosen' to be in every country in the world, and we want it translated into every language. And we want at least a billion people to see it." Season 1 and 2 are already available in more than 70 languages"with subtitles"and those seasons are available in dubbed audio in 20 languages. Viewers are donating the funds to make these translations possible. If the show continues to gain traction, it's likely that Jenkins will surpass his own goal by 2027, when the seventh season airs. That's the year the show will culminate with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It's possible that more than a billion people could view that season. Thankfully "The Chosen" isn't in a hurry to rush Jesus to the cross. This is not your grandmother's biblical epic, and it's not an Easter-week miniseries. The narrative takes many detours, giving us the imagined backstory on multiple biblical characters and including flashbacks from Old Testament scenes. We get the opportunity to imagine why Nicodemus the Pharisee was so curious about Jesus, why Peter was so impetuous and why Mary Magdalene was at one time tormented by demons.
"The Chosen" also presents Jesus (played perfectly by actor Jonathan Roumie) as authentic and relational. He is not the staid, one-dimensional character of 1960s Hollywood movies. In "The Chosen" Jesus dances with his disciples after the wedding at Cana and roughhouses with them during a swim in the Sea of Galilee." - J. Lee Grady
Is that what we are called to do with holy scripture? Are we called to imagine the backstory of the people involved? Do you think there might have been a reason why God Himself did not reveal to us their back stories? Perhaps He wanted us to focus on the backstory of His only Son? Are we meant to be detoured when reading the gospel of Jesus Christ? Isn't the point also that the reasons why Nicodemus was curious, why Peter was impetuous, and why Mary Magdalene was tormented were entirely made up? Doesn't it matter that Dallas Jenkins created these backstories out of thin air? Sure, maybe J. Lee Grady can differentiate but with all of these millions of people seeing this tripe, shouldn't it at least be vaguely accurate? It's like me saying that the bible does not tell me what Elijah did prior to being called as a prophet so I am going to say he was a circus clown. Or a traveling minstrel. You do not see it as problematic when John the Baptist, who scripture says was the greatest man who ever lived, is portrayed to unbelievers as a creepy guy who hated money? Is that what God wants us to know about John the Baptist? Or did He want us to know about his baptism ministry and how he paved the way for the Lord? Do you think God wanted us to know how much John stood against sin? Well Dallas Jenkins clearly did not because he had Jesus rebuke him for calling the Pharisees out and warped why he challenged Herod, which led to his beheading. Is what was missing from the gospels the fact that Jesus danced at the wedding or roughhoused with the boys? C'mon. I know the false doctrines of the world clamor for a more relational Jesus but that is because they do not like the terms of the relationship He offers in scripture. Repent, obey and worship. Nah, that's for suckers right J. Lee? Much better that He throw us a flying elbow or knows the Electric Slide. Absolute ridiculousness.
"Of course, I wasn't surprised when I learned that a segment of the Christian community is dead-set against "The Chosen." Some fundamentalists have blacklisted the show because they believe Jenkins is supposedly "adding to Scripture" (their words) or distorting the gospel. Some armchair critics on YouTube have dissected every scene of the show, and they warn people not to support it. It's true that "The Chosen" uses creative license to explore the biblical narrative. That doesn't bother me. No dramatic depiction of the story of Jesus can rely on the Bible alone, because we don't know all the disciples' previous occupations, how many of them were married or what Nathaniel was doing when he was under the sycamore tree." - J. Lee Grady
But we still don't know!!! That's the point! Dallas Jenkins does not know any better than my cat what Nathaniel was doing under the sycamore tree! Do you know who does know? God, yet in His infinite wisdom, He chose to not reveal it to us. Do you know why? Because the reason Nathaniel was sitting under the sycamore tree was IRRELEVEANT to the point God was trying to make! The point was not why he was under the tree, but that Jesus saw him. Jesus then used the amazement of Nathaniel to prophesy far greater miracles than merely seeing him under the tree. In fact, J. Lee, can't you make the argument by focusing on the development of minutia, that we allow the point to be missed entirely? Again, J. Lee Grady surely understands the main point of that moment biblically but the regular unsaved person amidst the millions of people you are so giddy about being reached, will now never know. We do not need to know who was married let alone be led to believe that Peter cheated on his wife in between shots of tequila. The bible is not meant to humanized to the point that what God is actually saying gets lost in the weeds. I have not dissected every scene because I do not need to. They had me at Jesus saying there were some things "even I can't do", at the Cana wedding. That is not God. It is not "armchair" criticism to correctly point out that The Chosen adds to scripture because that is all it does! Even according to Jenkins! Do you remember, 95%! It was unnecessary to change the sinful Samaritan woman into an abused wife. Why? Because it fundamentally changes the point of why God included the story to begin with! Dear Lord, forgive us.
'"The Chosen" isn't trying to be a substitute for the Bible; its creative storytelling makes the gospel relatable for a generation that is unfamiliar with it. I'm convinced the show is making unbelievers more curious about the gospel"at a time when so many people are overwhelmed and traumatized by inflation, political tensions and global conflicts. I will be in the theater this week watching the first three episodes of Season 4, along with millions of other fans. I'm supporting this project because it's probably the most creative evangelistic outreach in our generation. "The Chosen" will present the story of Jesus to a larger audience than a thousand Billy Grahams could reach in stadiums. Please pray for success of this project, and for Dallas Jenkins and the cast of the show. "The Chosen" could trigger the greatest spiritual harvest in our lifetime.' - J. Lee Grady
J. Lee Grady should know better than this. The Chosen is not retelling the bible, only rewriting it, so it is a little rich to pretend it doesn't mean to replace the bible. Sure, maybe people will be more interested in Peter now that he is a drunk or interested in Matthew now that he is autistic. This argument is the same one that fans of Joel Osteen make. Well, maybe people become interested in Jesus by this horrible representation of Him. What? Let me give people this wrong gospel in the hopes that they become vaguely interested in the real one? Except why would they? If you already have so little confidence in the preached word that you are running to Mormons to tell you fairy tales about biblical characters, then you obviously have no faith in God's word anyway. Do we not believe that God's word transforms lives? Do we not believe in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit? Here is the problem, the bible is not about Peter, Mary Magdalene, or John the Baptist. Yes, they all play ancillary roles, but the bible is about Jesus Christ. The problem is the apostate church has been taught that the bible is actually about them. That it's you, facing the giant Goliath with your slingshot of faith. That it is you riding around the walls of Jericho in your life. The apostate church does not preach the true gospel so mangling it doesn't bother them. Most do not want to hear about the life and death of Christ because that involves their sin and need to repent. That is why they are so interested in "back stories" of ancillary biblical figures. That is why they have stripped out of the gospel the entire point. That we are sinners in need of a savior. Mary Magdalene was a sinner? Nah, let's say she was raped by a Roman soldier. The woman at the well was a promiscuous sinner? Nah, let's make her a sympathetic figure by making her husband a wife-beater. Jesus is always talking about the end of the world? Let's make Him dance at weddings and wrestle with the other guys. This is the end result of teaching the dominionist seven mountains mandate heresy. You become so enamored with the world winking at you that you do not mind that they completely eviscerate Christ and His gospel. The Chosen is not evangelistic outreach. It will contribute however, not to a great spiritual harvest, but to the very people who stand before Jesus and Judgment Day saying, "Lord, Lord."
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