I haven’t watched The Chosen but I may start based on a few clips that I have viewed depicting Jesus preaching. Too often when reading the Bible it is easy to think of Christ stating His teachings in an almost academic setting, reflecting our calm and quiet reading of The Word. Christ preached in the streets and in the fields, and The Chosen does a good job of representing the turbulent reality likely following Him wherever He went.
Jesus was NOT Mr. Nice Guy. This isn’t Jesus is My Buddy.
But if this had been Pope Bob from Chicago, he’d have ingratiated himself with the ones in power exactly as he does today.
I have many seasons of the Chosen on DvD.
It brings me Joy and tears of love at many a segment. Laughter too. Because its not all Catholic doctrine there are scenes that roll my eyes, but so much of the work is truly worthy of time investment, imo.
Nicodemus was so close to being an Apostle and his internal fight, pride v humility, is captured so well by the actors and cinematography. Jesus, knowing how close he was to joining them for the journey says under his breath; “So close Nicodemus. So close.”
Taking liberty as to adding dialogue where dialogue is not found in Holy Scripture is a tightrope act, however the Chosen overall is a moving experience.
I’ve been meaning to write out a reflection on The Chosen. Long and short, after avoiding it for years, I was pleasantly surprised. My sons say it’s like Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. That is, much is fan fiction embellishments. But when the biblical scene of the moment happens, they snap into gear and pretty much unpack the account word for word. Some of the embellishments are a bit much, and I could do without so much emphasis on fictional wranglings. But it also hits things hard that often aren’t addressed today as much as they should be. Being a long series, we actually see all of the disciples get there day in the sun. I think Jenkins gets that his audience is not just non-believers, but people who have spent their lives in a society and age that has told them the Christian Faith is a stupid, evil lie for decades. And those critics have used arguments that sometimes people, even in churches, aren’t ready to grapple with. Your loved one was protected by God in that plane crash you say? Well what about the people who died? So in the Chosen we have James the Lesser (in the show called Little James) who has a disability. Finally he asks Jesus the obvious question – what about me? Later a disciples loses a loved one to a Roman official. When Lazarus is raised, everyone rejoices – except that disciple, who becomes enraged for the obvious reason. It even goes out of its way to show ‘yes, Judas did preach the Gospel, cast out demons and heal the sick, just like the others. The important thing to remember is that it’s really about the Chosen – that is, the disciples and followers of Jesus. Jesus is the main character, just not the one the show is really about.
I am surprised that you have not watched The Chosen. It is so impressive and moving.
I’m a big fan, and I commend Dallas Jenkins for doing this show, because he takes a lot, and I mean A LOT of “friendly fire” due to the process and need of making a coherent narrative out of the Gospels, which are, for all intents and purposes, a “best of” series of vignettes, at least until you get to Holy Week.
The amount of critics (and even friends of the show) who trip over themselves nitpicking things due to their inability to escape their own self-imposed Sola Scriptura box and trap is *staggering*.
I like the show, especially the first two seasons, and especially the first episode … but it is more than a tad anti-Catholic. They go out of their way to say the Catholic numbering of the 10 commandments are wrong, and they reduce the Bread of Life discourse to an offhand comment about munching on Jesus’ words at the home of Lazarus … Right before the Lord tells Mary she should help her sister serve.(?!?)
… But the healing of Mary Magdaline is moving, and the huge catch of fish was really fun!
The Chosen makes full use of poetic license.
This is its great strength and its weakness. Lots of dialogue, subplots and character traits are invented out of pure imagination. For example, Matthew is slightly autistic, providing comic relief in many episodes, almost like Adrian Monk in the TV series, “Monk.”
The poetic license adds to the entetainment value of the story, filling in details where the Gospel is silent. Roman soldiers and officers are given names and personalities. Peter needed the miraculous catch of fish in order to pay his unpaid Roman taxes. Matthew has to give away his dog in order to follow Christ.
They have done a lot of homework to portray the history and culture accurately. In one scene, Peter and a Roman soldier discuss the various knots that must be used on board a small ship. Nicodemus is shown reciting Jewish prayers of exorcism in his failed attempt to cast the demons out of Mary Magdalene.
At times, the poetic license stretches to the limit, blurring the boundaries between history and fiction. At rare intervals, the writers made decisions that show a Protestant mentality and interpretations that Catholics will reject. This problem is rare but real.
The series is worth watching, but it requres a bit of viewer discretion.
Until individuals respect themselves enough to love their neighbors, Death, War, Famine and Pestilence will suffocate the innocence in humanity; The newly begotten innocent human being is the standard of Justice for all nations for it is almighty God Who endows our innocence and civil rights. The state is the public servant of the people.
lepanto:
Viewer discretion it is.
I did not much care for the “modifications” over the years in films about the Trojan War and have the same feelings about biblical epics.