![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/227\/2021\/12\/chosen-messengers-maryandjoseph.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPoop is a big deal in The Chosen<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n USA Today<\/a><\/i> has an article on the popular life-of-Jesus series that begins by focusing on the scene in Christmas with The Chosen<\/i> \u2014 now playing in theatres across the US \u2014 where Joseph shovels some manure before Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable.<\/p>\n As the article puts it:<\/p>\n Jenkins literally had Jesus\u2019 father Joseph shoveling stable animal droppings to clear the way for his laboring wife Mary in \u201cChristmas with the Chosen: The Messengers,\u201d the first episode to win a theatrical release (Fathom Events, in theaters nationwide through Dec. 10).<\/p>\n \u201cThat image alone, of Joseph scooping manure to prepare a spot for Mary to give birth, is not only one of the special\u2019s defining images but one of the main themes of \u2018The Chosen\u2019 series,\u201d says Jenkins, who featured the shovel shot in the special\u2019s trailer. \u201cIt shows his humanity and his humility. I just think it says so much.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n \u201cThe No. 1 word that we put on our wall, the banner across everything we do, is \u2018authenticity,\u2019 \u201d says Jenkins. \u201cSo many past Bible projects telling Jesus\u2019 story have been a little stiff, maybe a cleaned up, sanitized version of the story. We desperately seek to pursue a portrayal that\u2019s as authentic as possible.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The manure shot isn\u2019t the special\u2019s only nod to animal fecal matter. When Joseph gets into an argument with the innkeeper, who tells him there is no room in the inn, Joseph replies that the man is lying to him, and says, \u201cThis is bull droppings here!\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, as longtime fans of The Chosen<\/i> know, animal droppings and rude puns are a recurring element in this series. The very first episode<\/a> practically begins with Matthew, the fussy tax collector, stepping in poop accidentally, and a man calling him a \u201cpublic anus\u201d \u2014 a play on the Latin word \u201cpublicanus\u201d meaning \u201ctax collector\u201d.<\/p>\n And in the fifth episode, Simon Peter is startled to learn that Jesus was building a latrine when Thaddaeus met him. To quote what I wrote in my analysis of that episode<\/a>:<\/p>\n Simon is startled when he learns that Jesus worked on a \u201clatrine\u201d or \u201cprivy\u201d. Something about the Messiah working on human waste disposal seems a bit off, to him.<\/p>\n As it happens, the Jesus of the gospels actually mentions such facilities, and in language that might be coarser than we expect. In Mark 7:19 and Matthew 15:17, he tells the disciples that food cannot make a person unclean because it goes through the stomach and out into the aphedron<\/a><\/i> \u2014 a word that some translators actively try to avoid.<\/p>\n The King James Version of the Bible translates aphedron<\/i> as \u201cdraught\u201d, and other versions use words like \u201cdrain\u201d or \u201csewer\u201d. But the Revised Standard Version omits the word entirely and simply says the food \u201cpasses on\u201d, while the New International Version simply says the food goes \u201cout of the body\u201d. The New American Standard Bible tries to have it both ways, simply saying in the main text that the food \u201cis eliminated\u201d, but then admitting in a footnote<\/a> that the literal<\/i> translation would be \u201cgoes out into the latrine\u201d.<\/p>\n For his part, Thomas Cahill argues in Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus<\/i> that aphedron<\/i> should be translated \u201cshithole\u201d because, he claims, aphedron<\/i> was \u201cMacedonian slang that would have sounded barbarous to Greek ears.\u201d He adds, \u201cJesus was not bashful about referring to bodily functions, even if his translators are.\u201d<\/p>\n So, yes, Jesus talked about privies, and used them, and quite possibly built them, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I cannot help but note that Dallas Jenkins\u2019 father, Jerry B. Jenkins, co-wrote the Left Behind<\/a><\/i> novels, which are all about the end times. So if Dallas\u2019s life-of-Jesus series focuses more on poop and where it comes from, you might say that one generation focused on the eschatological<\/i> while the other generation is focused on the scatological<\/i>, so to speak.<\/p>\n On a related note, see this post<\/a> I wrote nearly seven years ago on the, um, rude bodily noises that have been made in Jesus movies such as 1999\u2019s Jesus<\/a><\/i> and 2015\u2019s Last Days in the Desert<\/a><\/i> (and, slightly tangential to the genre, 2011\u2019s Holy Flying Circus<\/a><\/i>).<\/p>\n One last note: The USA Today<\/i> article also seems to suggest that there is something unusual about Jesus dancing at weddings and the like in The Chosen<\/i>. But when I reviewed<\/a> 1999\u2019s Jesus<\/i> way back when, I noted at the time that Jesus having emotions and dancing at parties had already become a standard way of \u201chumanizing\u201d Jesus in film even then<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n The Chosen<\/i> can be streamed in full via VidAngel<\/a> or the show\u2019s app (Android<\/a> | Apple<\/a>).<\/p>\n I interviewed co-writer\/director Dallas Jenkins in December 2019<\/a> (after Season 1 came out) and in May 2021<\/a> (during Season 2; we spoke after Episode 5 came out).<\/p>\n I interviewed<\/a> executive producer Derral Eves about Christmas with The Chosen<\/i>.<\/p>\n I reviewed Season 1<\/a> of The Chosen<\/i> and Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n I have also written detailed analyses of each episode of Season 1: From its first streaming episode to its current big-screen Christmas special, the popular multi-season life-of-Jesus series has had a recurring interest in poop and where it comes from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":71409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4490,4047,281,345,490,728,271,559,4990],"class_list":["post-71436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-chosen","tag-dallas-jenkins","tag-jerry-b-jenkins","tag-jesus","tag-jesus-1999","tag-joseph","tag-left-behind","tag-nativity","tag-thomas-cahill"],"yoast_head":"\n
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