Editor’s note: Due to a miscommunication, another piece about “The Chosen” was posted yesterday. Here is the correct posting. We apologize for the error.
Finally! After a months-long wait, fans of The Chosen will soon be able to watch the first episodes of Season Four. The show’s creator and director Dallas Jenkins has announced that the first two episodes of Season Four will be streamed at 7:00p.m. (Eastern Time) this Sunday, June 2. The fourth season is a gateway to the sufferings of Christ; Paras Patel, who plays the role of Matthew in the series, described the season in a recent interview. “It’s pretty difficult,” he said,
“because in Season Four, you’re seeing the implications of Jesus’ message, and how the political leaders and religious leaders are against him. One sees a lot of misunderstanding on the disciples’ part – of not really getting the message, and not really understanding that time is limited.”
The new season will air exclusively on The Chosen app, available free either online or on your television. After the two-episode introduction on June 2, the remaining six episodes will be released via the app, two at a time, on subsequent Sunday evenings. And within a few months, the series will be widely distributed via other outlets including Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock and Netflix.
Drawing from classical Catholic writings
In telling the story of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, Jenkins relied, of course, on the Bible–but also on historical documents which were preserved by the Catholic Church, such as the writings of the early Church Fathers. “Ultimately,” he said, “I am doing my best to honor God and to honor the spirit and intentions of Jesus in the Gospels; but absolutely, I have drawn from some of the writings of my brothers and sisters in the first and early centuries.”
“I am an evangelical Protestant,” Jenkins explained, “…and as you know, we are a little more ‘sola scriptura’ and focusing primarily on the Bible. But this is where my Catholic brothers and sisters have come to help me out a little bit; because their church tradition also includes early Church writings–a lot of stuff that wasn’t included in Scripture, but which is relevant and informative. So we have for sure incorporated some of the early Church writings into our storytelling, depicting their cultural history.
“And you know, the Jewish people also had important contributions, such as the Rabbinical history. We relied on tradition, on historical context, on the writings of Josephus. The Romans told us what the world was like at that time; and then, there are some artistic images!”
Asked whether he would consider a new series after completing the planned seven seasons of The Chosen, Jenkins joked, “After Season Seven, I’m going to take a nap for about a year. And then we will see!”
For now, though, Jenkins feels that he has enough to focus on for the rest of the season. “But if God wills,” he added, “I would love to tell the story of the founding of the Church and the greatest movement in the history of the world!”
A culture of humility on the Chosen set
In a personal interview, Jenkins reported that the set, located in Midlothian, Texas, is truly a place of peace. “We really do try to foster a culture of humility,” he said, “…a culture of surrender. And that starts with me, as a leader. I communicate over and over again to everybody, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter whether one person is watching or, as we have now, over 100 million people are watching!’
And let’s not get ahead of ourselves: Let’s not ever start feeling responsible for the success of the show! Ultimately, we have to stay humble and focus on the work.”
That appreciable humility may start with Dallas, but it’s also an attribute of the cast members. Jenkins explains, “We have people within the cast who take leadership themselves – in setting the tone of hard work and humility. When we cast, we are not only looking for people who are great actors, but we are looking for people who have, I think, what I would call an ‘open soul.’
“Not everyone on this show is a Christian; in fact, the majority of the cast and crew are not traditional believers. And yet they have what I call an ‘open soul.’ There’s openness toward one another; they are open to what God has to say to them; and they are open to what I, as a leader, have to say.”
Deep spirituality and conversion
Dallas Jenkins was respectful of his cast members’ privacy, and he said, “I don’t name names when it comes to someone’s personal relationship with God.” But he added that several actors have come to Christ as a result of working on the show. “We don’t turn the filming day into a church service,” he said, “but if God’s coming to do something special, we are not going to get in the way!”
He reported that in a majority of scenes in which an actor is quoting Scripture, or where the character of Jesus is calling the character that they are portraying to follow him, something “a little extra” happens. “There have been a couple of times,” Dallas recalled, “when a scene ended, and I have seen those actors not able to shake it off. They are still so emotional!”
Just a week ago, Dallas recounted, an actor was doing a scene which takes place during Holy Week, a scene which will be part of Season Five. He and another character were wrestling, when Dallas yelled “Cut!” The actors stopped their performance; but one was deeply affected, and he required a few minutes to recover from it.
How viewers can support this inspiring project
As the series opens again this week with Season Four, Jenkins hoped that fans of the crowd-funded series would step up to help, thus assuring that The Chosen is able to continue for all seven seasons. “The #1 way to help,” he said, “is to donate to the Come and See Foundation (https://www.comeandseefoundation.org/). That is the nonprofit that provides the finances for future seasons.”
But Dallas understands that not everyone is able to donate in support of the show. “We hope,” he said, “that if they cannot support financially, they will do something: they will help to spread the word, or they will pray for us.”
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I gave up watching this as soon as the photos of the gay pride flag were shown, flying on the set during filming.
Same here.
Dallas Jenkins responds to critics who decry the “pride flag flying on the set of ‘The Chosen'” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22GOv9cHVR8
Please stop judging others. You are not God.
I don’t understand what the pride part is?
Why not a flag for straight people then?
Amen to that….love is love!
Your loss. Everyone is a beloved child of God.
And I have found that the character of Matthew is really having a positive impact on me! It’s teaching me to be a better person, it’s teaching me to listen to others and also to give people some space and respect.”
I’ve not watched this series, so I can’t speak to the theology it portrays, but this answer doesn’t inspire me much. While Christians are called to live virtue in imitation of Christ, it’s only secondary to embracing the Passion as the Divine gift of salvation. When faith is flattened into being better listeners and more respectful of others, we’ve lost the plot. I hope The Chosen reveals this somewhere along the way, and that the actors are transformed into living Christ rather than their best selves.
Its funny how people who have never watched the series feel a need to make negative comments about it. In point of fact it is a wonderful series. It is aimed at believers and non-believers all over the world and has been translated into multiple languages. On the internet you will see many comments from people who NEVER knew anything about Jesus, watched this series, and now seek to learn more. Or have gone full on to conversion and going to Church. The show is most certainly NOT just about “being better listeners”. I have heard nothing about the show supporting gay pride but individual employees would be entitled to their own opinions, as this IS the USA and not IRAN.I can tell you the producer, Dallas Jenkins, is a devout evangelical and the actor who portrays Jesus, Jonathan Roumie, is a devout Catholic. Google him and you will find video of him saying the rosary. He is the actor who appears on the tv ads for the HALLOW app as well. It should be noted that not all the actors are Christian and the show does not get into specific denominational theology. A mini series is not the place for that..Its my opinion that anyone trying to give a respectful portrayal of the life of Jesus such that it affords an opportunity for more people to come to Him is doing the right thing. The show has been an international sensation (it has played on the Catholic channels on TV too) and if you have NEVER seen it, you are missing something very worthwhile. The loss is yours. Google The Chosen online, or find their free App( The Chosen) for your iphone.
I agree. It is a wonderful series. My husband and I watched this full season in the theatres and it is a tear-jerker for sure!
My priest loves this series. It’s nice to see something in contrast to today’s dark films and fouled language tv shows. Roumie is a pretty cool dude, and he gives a good portrayal of Christ’s human nature.
I have watched all 4 seasons and can’t wait for season 5. Anything that brings light to the life and death of Jesus Christ should be a must watch for everyone.
I hope the Catholic church will continue the series after the life of Jesus. And how the remaining deciples proclaim the son of GOD. Lastly up until Saint Paul.
Last I checked Jesus was Jewish. So this statement is really sad.
“And you know, the Jewish people also had important contributions, such as the Rabbinical history.
Are you trying to impute an antisemitic tone to that statement? Seriously?? Nobody makes a series about Jesus if they have animosity toward Him or the Jews. Clearly there are differences in religious belief between Christians and Jews and have been since the beginning. Acknowledging reality is not bigotry. That he considers Jewish tradition and belief a source for accurate information and research shows it is valued.The show often highlights Jesus (and other characters) observing Jewish religious rituals. Since the beginning, this show has made a point consulting with ministers, priests and rabbi’s in trying to get the show as accurate as possible, whether that be in clothing, foods, or religious and cultural trappings. In so doing as he says in the article they rely on research from many sources.Including Jewish sources. I fail to see how that would be “sad”.
Having hosted discussion groups for seasons 1 through 3 at my parish the past 2 years, I can attest to this show’s ability to bring the faith alive. Many people are growing in their Catholic faith as a result of watching this show and sharing in our discussion groups. Is the show perfect from a Catholic perspective? No. It almost completely ignores presenting anything that directly looks or smells like a sacrament. That being said, you can still find things that resemble the sacraments if you look for them. In our discussion groups at my parish, we always try to highlight history from artistic license. We also highlight the rare places where the show is at least hinting at things that are not in complete agreement with the Catholic Church’s teachings. But, these occasions are few and far between. In fact, time and time again I have been impressed at just how “Catholic” the show is! If you have not seen The Chosen, I recommend you do. FYI: I have made our parish discussion slides available in a Google Drive folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OMVsVaMFX2cOjMDJwXszqjhQGVIFqi4u?usp=drive_link
There is a pdf file there for each episode that we used in our parish group discussions about the show. These slides were reviewed by people affiliated with The Chosen and I have their permission to share them electronically (i.e. online).
Remember who formed you. The same God formed all. People who raise that flag didn’t choose this role. In fact,if they had a choice,they would not follow this path. Why would you choose a path where you are hated,maligned, attract violence just because of the way God made you. Sound familiar?
Sorry, but I can’t just let bad theology go unchallenged. People are not born gay, and God does not make people gay. People can always choose to obey God’s principles. Gay people, like all other sinners, do what they do because light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Elizabeth, people suffer from all sorts of afflictions & some are self chosen. God didn’t create us as drug addicts, alcoholics, or to be sexually disordered. But some of us can be more susceptible to those afflictions & choose to engage in self destructive behaviors.
Knowing what can make us more vulnerable is key.
The Gay flag flying over the set of the Chosen , disappoints me greatly! Why would an Evangelical Christian Dallas Jenkins, creator of the series, support that ? To follow Christ is a narrow way, not a broad one.Peoplle have a right to believe what they want; but should keep their flags at home.
There was NO GAY PRIDE FLAG FLYING over the set. Do your research And if you are a follower of Jesus then do as he said.. love your neighbor That “sin” is no greater than any other and no one is sinless other than God and his son.. judgement of others should be left to them, not to you
Take the damn flag down. There probably weren’t any in those days and you would be stoned to death if you were . Keep in mind God inspired men to write his words. Not men of pride.
I hope folks can see Jesus as man, and not just God, as this show has wonderfully done. I was moved to tears on that little episode dealing with Dismas who was crucified with Jesus. I hope they show it again. Don’t be distracted by anything other than the story. Jesus is alright.