{"id":80499,"date":"2024-02-21T10:50:28","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T14:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=80499"},"modified":"2024-02-24T20:56:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T00:56:40","slug":"the-chosen-best-cinematic-gospel-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2024\/02\/the-chosen-best-cinematic-gospel-ever.html","title":{"rendered":"“The Chosen”: Best Cinematic Gospel Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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After watching episodes 4-6 of season four last night at our local movie theater, I was persuaded that The Chosen<\/em> is the best cinematic portrayal of Jesus and presentation of the gospel ever. And it is, in my subjective and fallible opinion, for several reasons:<\/div>\n
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1) Obviously with the amount of hours that a six-season series has, it can get into a depth<\/em> with all the characters \u2014 including, I think most interestingly, Jesus Himself \u2014 that no movie about Jesus or the advent of Christianity ever has.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n2) The whole point of it is to highlight the first followers<\/em> of Jesus (\u201cthe chosen\u201d). That had never been done before, either (excepting some films about St. Peter), and it\u2019s a stroke of genius, because they are, in effect, us<\/em><\/strong>. Because of this focus, the role of Jesus was actually a supporting role for a few seasons, whereas now, at this stage, He is front and center.
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3) It shows the humanness of Jesus (He was both God and man, after all) and what He went through. All other portrayals I have seen only deal with His anguish during physical persecution, excepting the Garden of Gethsemane. The Chosen<\/em> \u2014 especially starting in this season 4, as the director stated at the beginning of it \u2014 shows the whole range of human emotion that Jesus feels, and what His disciples feel. It\u2019s so well done that it actually allows the viewer to relate to what Jesus experienced on our behalf: to think His thoughts and feel His feelings, which is quite a remarkable thing: especially, I think, for those who are just starting to learn about Christianity.
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4) It deals with topics like the problem of evil, which is the most difficult question concerning Christianity that we apologists have to deal with (and that most Christians grapple with emotionally and intellectually). It\u2019s \u201creal.\u201d It doesn\u2019t sugar-coat thorny issues.
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5) As my wife said when we drove home, \u201cit makes the disciples so human<\/em>.\u201d Indeed it does. We can relate to them, too, which has traditionally been difficult because we Christians have the benefit of hindsight and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It\u2019s hard for us to comprehend how they could hardly understand Jesus at all. But they didn\u2019t yet have the Holy Spirit or the sacraments. When they did, and when they saw the risen Jesus, and were with Him for forty days after He rose, it was a different story, and they went out and turned the world upside down, and ten of them were martyrs (all but John and Judas). He conquered death, just as He had said He would. What more proof was needed?
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6) Because of these things and others, I believe this series will be the greatest cinematic evangelization effort and presentation of the gospel that there ever has been. It\u2019ll touch more people and get them interested in Christianity and bring them to Jesus than any other such effort. The director and writer, Dallas Jenkins, knows how to produce great art and also what will be, I\u2019m convinced, a uniquely profound and fruitful piece of evangelization; including even apologetics of a sort, in a roundabout way (why<\/em> we believe what we do, and\/or why we believe, even though it may be difficult to live and comprehend). He\u2019s doing both things simultaneously, and in a flat-out brilliant and Spirit-soaked fashion. I can\u2019t wait to see what else he produces in his directing career.
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7) It works in the way that Jesus of Nazareth<\/em> (which has been my favorite Christian \/ biblical movie these past 47 years) worked, but even better. That film reached into my heart and soul and made Jesus real, so that I could devote my life to Him shortly afterwards. That\u2019s what good Bible-inspired drama can do. It was like being with Jesus in person. God used it in my life. He will use this movie to move the hearts and touch the spirits of many millions of people. Since I experienced that very thing, I think I can particularly relate to it happening to people as a result of watching this amazing series.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n8) People can and will fight about The Chosen<\/em> (since Christians insist on disagreeing about anything and everything, so that we can wreck our witness to the world). I think that\u2019s a shame, because it\u2019s reaching millions of hearts and bringing the gospel alive in a way that I\u2019ve rarely seen happen in my 43 years as a practicing Christian and as an apologist. If we can\u2019t see that and rejoice in it (because it\u2019s evangelism as well as cinematic art), then we\u2019re missing the forest for the trees and being like the Pharisees, who, by the way, are also excellently portrayed in this series. They majored on the minors, while people were being healed and having their lives transformed. If we quibble about this series and approach it the way the Pharisees approached Jesus, we\u2019ll miss what God is doing through it, and we will have failed to see what is important and spiritually exciting.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n9) The portrayal of Judas is done very well, incorporating some things we know from the Bible about what may very well have been a leading cause of his descent into unbelief and betrayal. I\u2019ve never seen other movies about Jesus do this. And so once again the series is following the biblical lead as to Judas, and not speculating too much, in ways that are arguably contrary to what the Bible teaches us. Jesus of Nazareth<\/em> made him out to be a political manipulator and virtually a Zealot (Jews who wanted to bring about a military uprising against the Romans). It\u2019s the biggest fault of that movie, in my opinion. It\u2019s going by what we know in the Bible and building upon it, with a high degree of plausibility, in my opinion. This is what we know about Judas:<\/div>\n
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John 12:3-6<\/strong> (RSV) Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. [4] But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, [5] \u201cWhy was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?\u201d [6] This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box he used to take what was put into it.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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So the series is now constructing a plausible scenario of the development of Judas\u2019 greed, pride, deepening sin and doubt, and eventual betrayal: showing how it could possibly have progressed from this tidbit of information that we know for sure, from inspired revelation. I think it\u2019s great cinema and drama (as well as psychology). Understanding how sin progresses and gets worse over time is very valuable (Screwtape Letters<\/em>-type stuff). There are all sorts of insights into human behavior throughout the film.
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10) I\u2019ve never seen the righteous indignation expressed towards the [corrupt individual] Pharisees portrayed as realistically as it is in this series, and in my opinion it was shown very much like I believe it actually was. There was a reason that prophets were killed, and why Jesus was murdered as well. Jesus of Nazareth<\/em> has that to an extent, and has a great turning-over-the-tables-of-the-moneychangers scene, but it wasn\u2019t as intense or realistic, in my humble opinion.
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\n11) As for theological mistakes (from a Catholic perspective), it\u2019s true that the separate episode about Jesus\u2019 birth didn\u2019t present Mary\u2019s virginity in partu<\/em> <\/a>(i.e., a purely miraculous, non-painful birth different from the usual natural process). This is what Catholics and those who agree with us mean by \u201cvirginity during<\/em> birth\u201d. Most Catholics (I highly suspect, maybe 90%) either don\u2019t know<\/em> what that is or don\u2019t believe<\/em> it, so do we really expect that an evangelical Protestant would? But it\u2019s Catholic dogma, and even Martin Luther believed in it<\/a>. I\u2019m not willing to dismiss the entire series because of one theological error. But I do wonder what the Catholic priest, who is one of three theological advisors, told Dallas about this doctrine. He may disbelieve it himself. Many Catholics do the same. I know, because I have defended it several times (search \u201cin partu<\/em>\u201d on my Blessed Virgin Mary web page<\/a>), and have heard the feedback.<\/div>\n
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12) On a personal note (referring back to #7 above), I think many people have a false perception that I am basically a \u201creason-only\u201d-type person (sort of a Catholic Mr. Spock, minus the pointed ears). But I\u2019m not at all (as my wife and kids could certainly verify). I agree with Chesterton\u2019s observation about the madman: it isn\u2019t that he has no reason, but that all<\/em><\/strong> he has is reason. The two big things that got me interested in evangelical Christianity and serious about God were 1) drama (Jesus of Nazareth<\/em>) and 2) Bible prophecy (an area I have hardly ever written about as an apologist). That\u2019s what God used to draw me in. Apologetics didn\u2019t come into my life until four years later. I have emotions, feelings, an artistic sense, spiritual experiences, compassion, empathy, intuition, a great love of music (majored in it in high school), imagination, hopes and dreams and fears, and many other non-rational aspects that are all aspects of the whole person that is me.
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Of course, I concentrate on reasoned arguments in my apologetics, and so it\u2019s what people who haven\u2019t met me see<\/em>\u00a0the most, but it doesn\u2019t follow that that is all<\/em><\/strong> I am. I\u2019m not some one-dimensional, one-sided caricature of what many people \u2014 for whatever reasons, good and bad \u2014\u00a0 think<\/em> an apologist is supposed to be like (sort of arrogant, intolerant, know-it-all, joyless stick-in-the-mud, etc.). I do think, however, that my writings reflect<\/em> my outlook and approach as a person (not just<\/em> an apologist), at least in places, if someone reads enough of them and gets beyond stereotypes of apologists, to see \u201cbehind\u201d the words to my overall heart and soul and spirit.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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See also a lively discussion thread about The Chosen<\/em> on my Facebook page<\/a>, from January 2023.\n

And see the discussion about this<\/em> article on my Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Practical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 4,500+ free online articles (the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site) or\u00a0fifty-five books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>,\u00a0or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. I\u2019m always in need of more funds: especially\u00a0monthly<\/em>\u00a0support. \u201cThe laborer is worthy of his wages\u201d (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a\u00a0full-time Catholic apologist<\/a>, and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog.<\/p>\n

PayPal donations<\/a>\u00a0are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. Here\u2019s also\u00a0a second page to get to PayPal<\/a>. You\u2019ll see the term \u201cCatholic Used Book Service\u201d, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing (including\u00a0Zelle<\/a>), see my page:\u00a0About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong \/ Donation Information<\/a>.\u00a0Thanks a million<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the bottom of my heart!<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: <\/strong>Simon Peter (Shahar Issac) and Andrew (Noah James) on the Sea of Galilee in episode 4 of Season 1 of The Chosen. <\/i><\/span>[source<\/a>] [Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International<\/a> license]<\/p>\n

Summary<\/em>: The Chosen<\/em>: the Christian series directed and largely written by Dallas Jenkins, is, in my opinion, the best portrayal of Jesus & \u201ccinematic evangelism\u201d ever done.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}