I'm Not Watching The Chosen
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- čas přidán 21. 12. 2021
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So, a lot of people have been asking me about The Chosen and if I’ve watched it and what I think of it and my reply is always the same. I haven’t watched it and I don’t intend to.
Now that sounds harsh as if I’m prejudiced against it, and maybe I am, but it isn’t meant to be an outright criticism of the show. Like I said, I haven’t seen it so I can’t judge it on its own merit and I wouldn’t fault anyone for watching it, but I can say why I’m, generally as a rule, wary of dramatic depictions of Jesus Christ and why that has discouraged me from taking a look at The Chosen.
The two reasons, broadly speaking, for my apprehension have to do with Christology and the use of sacred art to inform our faith.
So, starting with Christology, if you aren’t familiar with that term, it is the study of who Jesus was and is and some of the nuances of the incarnation of God as man - like how the puzzle pieces of humanity and divinity fit together in a coherent way.
Here’s the first thing to realize: our understanding of Christology is extremely nuanced and very difficult to get right. In fact, it was so difficult that for the first few centuries of the Church, this is what theologians spent their time debating and even fighting about, and trying to resolve.
And even once those controversies were resolved and a clear theology emerged, we still had bishops, clergy, and statesmen who couldn’t even get it right when it was dogmatically defined and explained to them.
All of which is to say that it’s very difficult to get right and requires great care. And that isn’t to say that filmmakers don’t feel the weight of that pressure when they attempt to depict the person of Jesus, but it does mean that it’s extremely easy to make mistakes.
Nothing humans do will ever be perfect, however , this series is badly needed now and God’s hand is in it.
The Chosen has a few mistakes in it but one thing I really appreciate is how they didn't shy away from the existence of demons. They are creatures that a lot of modern Christians seem to pretend don't exist
This is actually one of the things I appreciate about the movie Ben Hur(the 1959 version). Jesus's face is actually never seen by the audience, but is seen by the main character. I always thought the way did it was tastefully done.
I'm a devout Catholic and I thoroughly enjoy the depiction of Jesus in his humanity but also those surrounding Him. The depiction of the wedding feast was incredible.
The Chosen is absolutely blasphemous.
After listening to this, I remembered reading about C.S. Lewis being asked why he never took a crack at writing a reversed version of The Screwtape Letters from the perspective of an Archangel writing to a guardian angel. He said he wouldn't because he knew that no matter how hard he tried to show the grace and good nature of an angel, it would fall short in comparison to the real thing. He felt it would be an injustice. I think there's something to be said about avoiding depicting Jesus in film and TV for this same reason.
For me, the Chosen helps me want to bust out my Bible and get to know Jesus for myself.
Tried watching The Chosen. Made me cringe. I wanted to like it.
When Jesus tells Nicodemus to follow his heart ("what does your heart say" was the line I think), this is when I checked out. Jesus says the human heart is wicked, so why would they ever include such a contradictory line???
I think our Lord was portrayed in a great manner by Jim Caviezel (Passion of Christ) and the actor in Ben Hur (1959). Jim Caviezel is unbeaten!
Good video! We don’t necessarily disagree with most of what you say-it IS very challenging to try to get Jesus right, it’s fraught with risk, and viewers should absolutely seek out other sources in their understanding of Jesus, starting of course with the Bible!
I have not watched The Chosen. I am an elderly Catholic and am spending this Advent trying to add to my usual rosary and devotions by increasing time in mental prayer. I am using The Incarnation” by st. Athanasius as a jumping off point. I am trying to understand more of what God sees in me. And let God reveal Himself to me.
I personally love the Chosen and it has helped convert my husband and many others. Always will recommend the Show.
To me, any biblical film has to overcome what I call the Christmas Pageant problem: this nagging feeling like you're just watching high paid actors running around in bathrobes with towels on their heads.
As a devout cradle Catholic I feel that I’m pretty grounded in my faith. I have been watching the Chosen series since it began and I can honestly say that I am enjoying it immensely, however there were certain parts that I did not agree with that did not follow Catholic dogma such as the birth of our Lord during the Nativity scene, as a matter of fact Jonathan Roumie, who plays the part of Jesus and also who is a devout Catholic said that he was a bit uncomfortable with that scene being left in. It’s funny Brian that you bring up the episode when our Lord was planning out his Sermon on the Mount and he was struggling to figure out how he was going to present it with Matthew sitting there taking down notes and Jesus asking Matthew if that sounded right, that really bothered me and I couldn’t understand why because I too was looking at the fact that Jesus is fully God and fully Man but I couldn’t put my finger on what was disturbing me until you just brought it up and brought it home for me by making it much clearer in the theological sense.
Jonathan Roumie is a Catholic and does a lot of work with Scott Hahn and Word on Fire ministries. He takes the responsibility of portraying Jesus extremely seriously and explicitly says the purpose of the show is to lead people to the Gospel. He also does not hide his Catholicism even though the majority of the audience is evangelical. The praise Mel Gibson gets from traditional Catholics while they offer this actor almost no support is just strange.
It’s very interesting to me that Protestants who have many problems with Catholic Christian representational art depicting saints, Christ and Mary, just love movies about them.
The show uses Bishop Robert Barron as a reference (one of many), and Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, is a very devoute Catholic. So with that said, I trust that their input and backgrounds help make the show more theologically correct. I watch the show, and I haven't found much of anything that conflicts with our faith. That is all, God Bless.
All fair points you made, and they are legitimate concerns. I’ve watched the first season and bits of the second, and if memory serves me right there wasn’t anything about the portrayal of Jesus that made me question the show, but I think the producers have done a good job in emphasizing that the show is not meant to be a substitution for the actual Gospel
I get where Brian is coming from and he makes really good arguments. But, I still like Chosen and I think we need more Christian filmography in that vein. Chosen is clearly made with both love and respect to the source material. When translating Biblical events to film, it is necessary to . . . fill in the gaps. When someone who has nothing but contempt for the Bible tries to fill in this gaps, they invariably fail because they try to undermine it. I don't get that feeling from Chosen.