On Tuesday (Oct. 25), director for “The Chosen” Dallas Jenkins addressed the recent criticism of the show’s Season 3 trailer, wherein Jesus delivers a line that some believed was a paraphrase of a verse from the Book of Mormon.
The show is distributed by Angel Studios, which was co-founded by brothers Neal and Jeffery Harmon, who both belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, leading to accusations earlier this year that the show is produced by Mormons.
This caused a social media uproar among fans, prompting “The Chosen” to clear up the misconception, assuring viewers that “we’re not produced by Mormons.”
On Tuesday, Jenkins said that despite the controversy surrounding Jesus saying, “I am the law of Moses,” responses to the Season 3 trailer had been “over the moon,” with some calling the much maligned moment “one of the best lines in the whole trailer.”
RELATED: ‘The Chosen’ Under Fire for Apparent Reference to The Book of Mormon
“99% of people who’ve seen it went crazy and loved it. There’s just 1 percent—well, less than that, actually—who pointed out or said, ‘Hey, in the Book of Mormon, there’s a phrase where Jesus says I am the law in the light [3 Nephi 15:9],” Jenkins said.
“Very quickly, because I don’t want to take this too seriously,” Jenkins continued, “number one, it’s not a direct quote from the Book of Mormon, and it wasn’t referring to the law of Moses in that quote, and the quote is, I am the law in the light.”
Jenkins stated that he has never read the Book of Mormon apart from people sharing it with him, such as in this instance.
“I went, looked it up,” Jenkins explained. “I’m like, ‘Okay, no, it isn’t. But okay, it’s a cool line.’”
“I believe it’s a really great line, and I believe it’s also theologically plausible. I am the Way the Truth and the Life. I am the word. I am the light. I am the light of the world. I am the Creator,” Jenkins said. “So when someone is saying like, ‘We’re gonna follow the law of Moses,’ and Jesus is like, man, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath [Mark 2:27].’ God is over these things. Jesus is over these things. He is these things. He owns these things. They came from Him. And so Jesus makes many I am statements. He’s called the great I AM.”
“So no,” Jenkins affirmed, “I didn’t pull this quote from anywhere else. I just think it’s a theologically plausible line and it’s, I believe, a cool Jesus as King moment.”
, director for “The Chosen” Dallas Jenkins addressed recent criticism of the show's Season 3 trailer, wherein Jesus delivers a line that some believed was a paraphrase of a verse from the Book of Mormon. ){kind=link}