No one enjoys a (good) Jesus movie more than myself. Admittedly, I’ve watched a number of “Jesus videos” over the years. Some were really good – and some were not.
But the narrow genre of “Jesus Films” has gone through a subtle shift in recent years.
First a brief overview.
The Jesus Film
In 1979, Campus Crusade for Christ produced what became known as “The Jesus Film”. This screen play depicted the life of Christ primarily using Luke’s gospel, and voiceover narration.
CCFC’s story telling methodology was crystal clear. “Instead of telling a parallel story or embellishing the biblical account like other biblical films, the filmmakers chose to adhere to the Gospel of Luke as closely as possible.”[1] Hundreds of scholars were employed in research to make sure they got the story right.
An additional unique feature of the film was the lack of production and cast credits. Producer John Heyman would later explain that the producers and cast were simply being “translators of Luke’s gospel”, and for that reason the viewers didn’t need to know who they were. [2]
“a research firm estimated the known viewings of the film from 1979 to 2015 as greater than 7.3 billion.” [3]
It is also officially accredited by The Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Translated Film" in history, having been translated in 1,803 languages as of April 2020, with many others in process.”[4]
Fast forward fourteen years to 1993…
The Gospel According to Matthew
I remember when I was attending Walla Walla College (now University), The Visual Bible premiered a wildly popular version of Matthew’s Gospel, starring Bruce Marciano. What caught everyone by surprise was the depiction of Jesus. Here was an olive skinned, short haired Jesus, with a full beard an and infectious smile. This “Jesus” was down to earth, loved people deeply (even his enemies), and had a magnetic personality. Marciano actually smiled through much of the 4 hour film, earning him the nickname “The Joyful Jesus”.
But like Campus Crusade’s “Jesus Film”, the producers of “Matthew” were extremely careful to strictly adhere to the biblical text. So much so, that every word in the film is a direct quote from the NIV Bible.
The Chosen
Fast forward another 18 years, and that brings us to today.
Today we have yet another Jesus film taking the world by storm, but this one is remarkably different than any other Jesus film I’ve seen.
According to Wikipedia “The Chosen… is the first multi-season TV series about the life of Christ”. [5]
“Series creator Dallas Jenkins wanted to create a series about Christ that could be "binge watched. Jenkins' intention was not only to dig deeper into the people who encountered Jesus and to see Jesus through the eyes of those who met him, but also to show him in a way that is more "personal, intimate, immediate.” [6]
“As of August 2020, it has been viewed nearly 50 million times in 180 countries. It is currently being translated to 70 languages, with priority on translating it into the 10 most common languages.”[7]
“The makers of the series have expressed that they desire for The Chosen to be seen by over one billion people in every country in the world.” [8]
Personal Analysis
When I first saw the first video trailers on Facebook I largely ignored it. I was too cheap to plunk down money. But when the producers made the first season tantalizingly free to watch, my curiosity kicked in and I downloaded the Android App.
Without a doubt Jonathan Roumie (who plays the role of Jesus in “The Chosen”) is strikingly similar to Bruce Marciano. He smiles, laughs, loves passionately, and can identify with children, prostitutes, tax collectors, and Pharisees alike.
I see what people are raving about. Already this series is getting international attention, and winning awards, and accolades from hardened film critics.
Concern
So what could possibly be so wrong with an innocent “Jesus film”? Don’t we want people to be drawn to the master? How else will a secular culture that has grown up nursing from the breast of Hollywood, be drawn to the Savior, if not through the creative arts?
Let me outline a three specific concerns, which led me to delete the app after watching only three episodes.
Concern #1 - Medium of Video – My overarching concern has to do with the medium, not just the message. For decades, researchers have repeatedly warned that the medium of television has a powerful hypnotic effect on the mind.
As early as 1969, Herbert Krugman conducted experiments on the effect of television on the human brain.
“Krugman monitored a person through many trials and found that in less than one minute of television viewing, the person’s brainwaves switched from Beta waves — brainwaves associated with active, logical thought — to primarily Alpha waves. When the subject stopped watching television and began reading a magazine, the brainwaves reverted to Beta waves.” [9]
During the Alpha State, “We are in a lower mental state, less evaluative, less critical, less able to discern truth from falsity, reality from unreality.” [10]
The significance of Krugman’s research is inescapable. “The more we watch TV, the more we go into alpha brainwave states, the slow and receptive pattern that accepts images and suggestion into consciousness less critically. A state of hypnosis is induced by the alpha frequency, where you are content to just sit and continue watching.” [11]
Isn’t that what Dallas Jenkins wants? Binge watchers?
Concern #2 - Extra biblical material – The Chosen departs fairly radically from preceding “Jesus Films” I’ve watched, by the inclusion of a vast amount of extra biblical material. By creating a TV series that delves deeply into the personal lives of people who met and followed Jesus, the creators of “The Chosen” are forced to…. well… get creative!
But!!! (you say) What about “artistic license”? Everyone uses it a little? Right? Why can’t we extend the same privilege to the creators of “The Chosen.”
I agree, and I would allow for this, IF they would stick unswervingly to the script as given in the bible. I would even go so far as to say, “Pick any version of the bible you want, but stick with the text!” But they simply can’t do this because there simply isn’t enough biblical script to make a cohesive story. So they are forced to create the story
WARNING: If we allow for “artistic” insertions of extra biblical script, it won’t be long before we’ll find ourselves in a subtle quagmire of extrabiblical ideology, for we are not being guided by the accuracy of the scripture, but rather by the director’s own presuppositions and imagination.
A good friend of mine recently reported to me that In one of The Chosen episodes, the Jesus character indicated that his father Joseph had died and had gone to heaven.
Ellen White warns us “Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions.”[12]
If we pause for a moment and consider the frightening combination of Concern #2 and Concern #1, it should cause us to seriously contemplate whether the risk is really worth taking.
“Ahhhhh! I don’t buy it!” (you say) “I know my Bible, and can parse between truth and error!”
Really? What about the millions who can’t?
Concern #3 – Biblical Illiteracy. The American Bible Society and the Barna Group over the last ten years have been tracking a steady decline in both biblical literacy and biblical engagement. Unfortunately the Covid Pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. Before the pandemic hit, biblical engagement hovered around 14% of the U.S. Population. But by July 22, 2020 when the ABS released it’s 10th Annual “State of the Bible” survey, that number had plummeted to only 9%. But strangely enough, the same survey revealed that there was an overall rise in bible curiosity. While biblical engagement went down, there was an increase in first time bible readers.[13]
So it would appear that while people are mildly interested in the bible, and may casually pick it up, they are not connecting with the text in a deep and meaningful way.
Insert a TV Series with an magnetically attractive Jesus, and an eye popping screen play, and you have something that will undoubtably attract millions if not billions of viewers.
Conclusion
I’ve discovered from the comments of my Facebook friends and collogues that “The Chosen” has, in a very short amount of time, done the near impossible. Apparently this series is being actively watched by conservatives and liberals alike. Even on some Adventist Pastor’s forums they are raving about how good it is.
For that very reason, I suspect that this article will not be welcomed at all.
I don’t mean to needlessly run up the red flag. There are so many conservatives crying “wolf wolf” that my voice may get lost in the cacophony. I’ve even considered deleting what I’ve written and biting my tongue. But I sense the potential for great danger ahead. I fear that many are happily paddling their canoe downstream, not realizing that the roar in the distance is a thunderous waterfall.
We have a very subtle adversary who is looking to destroy God’s church from the inside out. Satan is pawning off his sophistries in the most charming and disarming ways. If he can use the medium of television to bypass the prefrontal cortex, and pour his suggestions directly into our fertile minds, so much the better!
Don’t expect the “antichrist” to initially attack from without. In the Greek language, the preposition “anti” is best translated “instead of” or “In place of” as opposed to “against” or “in opposition to” Therefore Satan’s initial attack is not to bash the church from without, but rather to deceive it from within. If he can come up with “another Jesus” that is very attractive, that looks like Jesus, sounds like Jesus, quotes like Jesus, and loves like Jesus, and adds a few extra lines here and there, who in the world would suspect any danger?!
“We need to search the Scriptures for ourselves diligently and prayerfully, lest we be drawn away by the subtle deceptions of the enemy. There are many who must have a deeper experience in the things of God. Unless they arouse to a sense of their danger, they will lose their knowledge of what is truth. `Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you’” (RH December 16, 1909, par. 26).
James Ash is a former Mission Pilot in Guyana South America. He is currently pastoring in Walla Walla Washington.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_(1979_film)
[2] ibid
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_(TV_series)
[6] ibid
[7] ibid
[8] ibid
[9] https://evolveconsciousness.org/tv-mind-control-physiological-psychological-manipulation/
[10] ibid
[11] ibid
[12] Ellen White, “The Great Controversy” pg 587
[13] https://news.americanbible.org/blog/entry/corporate-blog/american-bible-society-releases-10th-annual-state-of-the-bible survey#:~:text=The%20State%20of%20the%20Bible%202020%20report%20shows,for%20the%20first%20time%20compared%20to%20January%202020.