Thoughts About The Chosen
+ QUALITY • The overall quality is really high. That’s a MAJOR plus for Christian content. We need that. Haha. It doesn’t feel cheesy or cringy. The acting is mostly really good where it counts, and the overall visuals, production, costumes, story, locations, and editing are compelling television to watch.
+ APPROACH • While it’s not the foundation of where you’d want to get your theology, for the most part, it seems that the dramatic and creative liberties they’ve taken don’t step on the toes of actual history or scripture, and I appreciate that. The world-building, the relationships and tension, and the dialogue for dramatic effect (even though they take a modern approach to humor and dialogue that certainly wasn’t present at the time) tends to seem plausible, and I can get on board with the majority of it.
+ JESUS & CREATIVE LIBERTIES • I’m glad that the show acknowledges who Jesus is. I really appreciate that. There are some truly beautiful creative liberties taken, like in the episode when Jesus tears up hearing the children recite the Shema. I love seeing it depicted that God would delight in hearing children recite Biblical truth with a pure heart. That’s a wonderfully plausible addition. Where creative liberty can get us in trouble is when we see Jesus rehearsing His sermon on the Mount. The idea that Christ would need to rehearse His own words, when He IS the Word was, in my opinion, distracting and didn’t highlight His humanity in the right way.
I really do like the portrayal from the actor who plays Jesus. He’s warm, kind, and is also able to bring the intensity you’d expect from Jesus. I did begin to cringe at “quippy Jesus” though. Suddenly, the Son of God is quick with a joke, even in direct quotes from scripture. I am totally aware that it’s all to add some flare for TV, and I like that he’s very endearing, but I think we must thoughtfully pause when we’re watching a depiction of the true Creator of the universe. I begin to bristle when the show’s creators are treating Christ like He’s from a Marvel movie rather than Holy Scripture.
Regarding the newest controversy of Jesus saying “I am the law of Moses” in the season three trailer, my concerns are three fold. First, going back to creative liberties, Dallas Jenkins said literally that he thought it would be “cool.” Which, it is cool, but I’m not sure that’s a good aim when working on Biblical content. A higher bar of care is insisted upon given the subject matter. There’s always a twinge of recklessness in the creative process when we add human reasoning to scripture because scripture is perfect, and we aren’t.
Second, most of the online debate about this moment revolves around the project’s relationship and financial backing from the Mormon church. While this is cause for concern (as Mormonism is not Christianity), the quote isn’t actually intended to be from the Book of Mormon according to the showrunners. Plus, even though Mormonism is a works-based, anti-gospel religion, if the showrunners didn’t actually intend to take the quote from their book, I don’t think this is the most compelling evidence as to why that statement is a problem.
Which brings me to my third and main point - something I haven’t seen articulated yet surrounding this issue, which is that if the statement “I am the law of Moses” were true, what would that mean theologically? I believe that here where the main point of concern resides. The theological chasm between the Biblical statement from Jesus that He is “I Am” versus “I am the law of Moses” is vast. “I Am” is a statement of preeminence, pre-existence and deity.
Jesus claimed to be GOD. And as God, He is uniquely qualified to become the curse of the law on our behalf for salvation. “I am the law of Moses” commingles the gospel with the law in a way Scripture distinctly separates. Christ’s fulfillment of the law as “I Am” gives us His righteousness as a free gift of grace from the punishment the law holds us to. I think the creator’s intent was for this to be a moment of authority on Jesus’ behalf, but unfortunately, I think they missed the consideration that Jesus is not the law, because the law could never save.
The character and justice of God is revealed in the law, but the full glory, mercy, and splendor of God is fully present in Jesus. And truth be told, the actual words of Jesus are SO much more edgy and scandalous than what He’s depicted saying in the show. Rather than claiming to be equal with the law, He claimed to be God. He is not the law, He is GREATER (Romans 8:3).
+ CONCLUSION • I’m definitely not saying, “don’t watch The Chosen!” I don’t think it’s some sleeper-cell tactic by Satan to take us away from Jesus. I just think wisdom and discernment are very important when engaging in any content that depicts Biblical events. We have to be able to separate our good feelings about the actors, characters, music, and dramatic moments that we like from what’s actually true and hold fast to what’s true because after all, it’s a TV show.
Dallas Jenkins is not a theologian. That doesn’t mean we have to avoid the content altogether, and a lot of it might even be helpful to our understanding of the time and location - seeing what it may have looked like - but I think it is a good exercise to acknowledge where the show runners have deviated from scripture ranging from small issues of difference in place and time to big ones like changing Christ’s words that impact theology.
Take the Prince of Egypt for example. It’s one of my favorite movies, but the historicity of it and dramatic flares, while great to watch, don’t all line up with the Bible. I don’t think we ban that film unless there’s a blatant agenda of false teaching in it, but with maturity, discernment, and conviction, we don’t base our theology on a movie or tv show.
With regard to The Chosen, I was moved to tears many times throughout the series so far. To see the life of Christ jump off the page and onto the screen in such dramatic fashion has been truly compelling in so many ways. I will say though, that while creative liberty is indeed an important and worthwhile piece of the puzzle, it doesn’t seem to play well in areas where precision is insisted upon by God’s everlasting Word.
