“I would say, probably 95% of the content of the show isn’t directly from Scripture. People call it a Bible show; they’ll call it a Jesus show. And I’m okay with that, but I’ll say, ‘This is actually—I mean the Bible is for sure the primary source of truth and inspiration for the show, but there’s a ton of content that isn’t actually directly from Scripture,’” Jenkins said.
Jenkins conceded, “It’s a dangerous proposition. You’re walking a fine line, especially as someone like myself who loves the Bible, and I know that people who watch it, the majority of people who watch it, are going to be wanting us to remain faithful to the Scriptures as much as possible.”
“We operate from this question,” Jenkins explained. “Is this plausible? Whatever we write, if it didn’t come from Scripture—is this plausible, culturally, historically? And does it fit within the character and intentions of Jesus and in the gospels, even if it’s not directly from them, or even if we don’t know if it’s fact or not?”
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Jenkins cited the show’s portrayal of the apostle Matthew by way of example, as the character is depicted as being on the spectrum.
“If it’s plausible, and it happens to allow the viewer to connect even more deeply to the people and see Jesus through the eyes of people who actually followed him, that could be really impactful,” Jenkins said.
Again emphasizing that the work “The Chosen” is doing is “dangerous ground,” Jenkins added, “We’re not the Bible. We’re not pretending to be the Bible. We’re not a replacement for Scripture; we never claimed to be…This is a show about first century Galilee using the Bible as our primary source.”
When asked if any of the criticism the show has received has caused him to question the creative choices he and his writing team have made, Jenkins said, “Not a lot. And here’s why: not because I’m arrogant and don’t accept criticism. It’s because we do so much of that work on the front end.”
“So when we do something in the show that someone is bothered by…I’ll say, ‘We thought through all this deeply on the front end,’” Jenkins continued. “I have Bible consultants that I work with. I go through a lot of research, a lot of prayer…We take this very, very seriously. So by the time we’ve released the show, it’s very unlikely that someone’s gonna point out something that we haven’t thought of and considered.”
Addressing the controversy surrounding a line delivered by Jesus in the Season 3 trailer for “The Chosen,” which some accused of being a quote from the Book of Mormon, Jenkins said, “What’s interesting about it is that sometimes I think people make assumptions even about what you mean from something.”
While some critics argued that Jesus’ line, “I am the Law of Moses,” was inspired by a passage from the Book of Mormon wherein Jesus is depicted as saying, “I am the Law and the Light,” Jenkins said that the line was actually inspired by the reality that Jesus has fulfilled the Law of Moses and is the center of divine authority.
“I kind of chuckle to myself, going, ‘A lot of the critics are actually—if they saw the whole scene, it’s probably the most blatant depiction of Jesus as the authority that we’ll ever show,’” Jenkins said.
