Jesus and His disciples
We spent the day this weekend watching three episodes of The Chosen, Season 4.. Why not? It gives us some quality time with Jesus, and we appreciate that very much.
But when all is said and done, The Chosen is a “Bible movie,” which means the screenwriters will add some things that aren’t in the gospels. That makes me fidgety.
Without committing a spoiler, I must still say that I object to a scene we saw yesterday. If this incident really happened, it should have been mentioned in the Scripture. But I feel certain that it was invented by the writers to make a point.
Later on, when Jesus and His disciples visit their friend Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, in Bethany, we are given a hint that Lazarus has already been touched by the illness that will take his life; and Jesus see this, but says nothing about it. We know from the Gospel that Lazarus dies, his body is entombed–and Jesus raises him from the dead.
It’s not that the earlier incident I’ve alluded to fails to raise an important point. It doesn’t. I understand why the writers invented and included it. But even so, viewers who are not familiar with the Bible may not know that this was an invented incident: it didn’t happen. I think the writers should have found some other way to make their point.
It’s not just me being picky, is it? Shouldn’t the Bible, as written, be sufficient for our needs? We are committed to the proposition that the Bible tells the truth. Saying something happened, when it didn’t, makes me uneasy.
I hope I hear more about this from some of you. Again, I have not described the incident in question because I don’t want to influence your perception of it.
I don’t mind when they introduce peripheral figures who do or say non-Scriptural things after an encounter with Christ or some other Scriptural figure, so long as they don’t “report” non-Scriptural things about Christ. (Having a character say that so-and-so was one of the people cured during an event at which we know Christ cured “many people” is okay, for example.) It’s too easy for a writer to introduce his own ideas into Christ’s voice or actions. And as you say, someone who has only a cursory familiarity with the Bible may think that the interpolated words or actions are supposed to be taken as inspired Scripture.
Of course the Bible uses metaphors and figures of speech that aren’t to be taken literally. And of course you can’t make a movie without fleshing out the story. I’d just like them to be a bit more careful about it.
Mousekin – thanks so much for bringing up this topic. The bottom line is that someone is making money from this and the show must continue so that more money can be made. If that means adding to the scriptures, which is lying in my opinion, the producers will do it. Is this show about bringing people to Christ or about making money? The actors are attractive and I can see how people get sucked into this program, but the devil is sly and crafty and will use every means possible to confuse us and drag us away from simply opening God’s Holy Word and reading it for ourselves. I can see non-Christians getting terribly confused. I refuse to watch the show because of the attractive deception. Maybe the Holy Spirit was alerting you to this.
I keep trying to reply to this post–and the computer won’t do it!
A friend was quite insistent that I watch The Chosen, but I didn’t stick with it for the very reasons you mention. It’s very easy for a seemingly innocuous addition to change the meaning, or at the very least, cast a false impression. One thing I keep in mind with all movies, videos, etc. is that you are seeing only what the camera is pointed at and viewing only what the editor has left in.
A lot of work goes into creating movies that look realistic, but they are, in a sense, illusions. In this part of the country, there are several places where Western movies and TV shows are shot. I will, occasionally, see a scene in such a movie and know the exact spot, because it’s a place I’ve driven right past. So, as realistic as it may look as being the Old West, there are cars driving past while they are filming. In fact, airplanes can be a major headache for moviemakers, because they can fly into a shot without warning. Nothing spoils the scene like having Wyatt Earp walk away from a gunfight and seeing an aircraft contrail above him.
When making a Bible based movie, as I see it, the situation gets murky, because the Bible only tells us what is absolutely necessary. We don’t know the details of most Bible events, because they just are not to be found in the text. When I saw The Chosen, it was obvious that there was a lot of filler and a lot of dramatic license. Even tone of voice has tone surmised, when covering dialogue. Much like yourself, this made me uneasy.
Point to consider: Is “The Chosen” so popular because it fills a cultural vacuum? How are we doing when it comes to knowing the Bible? Not so hot, compared to 100 years ago?
I’ve enjoyed a number of Bible movies. But I like to think I’ve never substituted them for the real thing.
I agree completely, and this is a vacuum I hope to see filled. Here’s the problem, as I see it. Do you know where the Bible says that the Lion will lay down next to the Lamb. I don’t, and no one else does either, because the Bible never says that. It talks about Wolves lying down next to Lambs, but to the best of my knowledge, it never says a word about Lions and Lambs. But, if you asked 100 Christians, I’m certain that most of them would be thinking about Isaiah 11. There are Wolves and Lambs, Leopards and Goats, but no Lions and Lambs.
Now, this is a relatively innocuous example, because Isaiah never claims to cover every permutation of carnivores resting alongside herbivores, but it serves to illustrate the point that it’s very, very easy to conflate information and end up with an erroneous conclusion. Jesus’ words have been misquoted and misapplied to the whims of personal opinion, many, many, times, and dramatic license is a great way to make that happen, if someone were to color their interpretation of scripture, even inadvertently.
Years ago, I had a serious life decision to make, and there were any number of well meaning friends who were more than happy to explain to me what the Bible had to say on the subject. After considerable personal research, I came to the conclusion that the Bible said nothing which would shed light directly on the question at hand, and except for the more general principles of honest dealing, etc. the Bible was mute on the subject. I had an epiphany that day, and realized that if God didn’t see fit to express His opinion on a matter, I certainly was in no position to impose my opinions upon anyone else, in areas which have no direct coverage in the Bible.
But people don’t always work that way. We can easily fall into the trap of attributing our personal opinions tomorrow God. We are so attracted to Lions lying down next to Lambs that we forget the God never inspired that into His written word. God hates dishonesty; I hate dishonesty. God hate immorality, I hate immorality. God hates laziness, I hate laziness. I hate red shoelaces, so God must hate red shoelaces, too.
That sounds like an extreme example, but I once heard of a pastor who would give sermons on the evils of chewing gum. In his background, chewing gum was rude and indicative of low social standing, so when he moved to a place where gum chewing was not scorned, he conflated it to a spiritual problem, and set about imposing his opinions with the weight of Divine law, except that there’s no more a Divine law about gum than there is a verse about Lions lying peacefully beside Lambs.
I wish that there was an iPhone video of everything Jesus did. It would be interesting to see what He looked like, and to hear His voice. It would be interesting to see how the disciples behaved, and how the crowds reacted. Our Creator could have smuggled an iPhone back in time and have made this happen, but He didn’t see fit to do that, so we are left with His written word.
It’s not my intent to condemn dramatic portrayals of biblical events, but there is definitely the possibility that any portrayal can be easily tainted by opinion. I don’t think that it’s wrong to watch something like The Chosen, but I think it’s important to keep in mind that these presentations are not a substitute for the Bible account. Docudramas are notoriously inaccurate.
Isaiah 11:6 “…a calf, and a lion, and a sheep shall dwell together, and a little child shall drive them…” I think that’s where the “lion & lamb” come from.
And then there’s all the controversy over how to translate Scripture into other languages
God understands our weaknesses, and knows how to allow for them.
I’ve seen a few seasons of the Chosen. There are certainly a lot of things added in. They made Matthew authistic. Why? I have no idea. They made Simon a martial arts assassin. Granted, he may have been associated with the militant Zealot movement before joining Jesus, althrough to what extent we don’t know. I can’t imagine him practicing martial arts kicks, though. Now, I imagine it’s unavoidable to add elements when trying to create an entire series around the gospels. There’s only so much source material there to work with. However, given the subject matter, it can be a slippery slope, which I have mixed feelings about.
One thing I will say has been good about the series is that it has brought things out that I didn’t realize were there before. Sometimes, I check, and sure enough, it’s in the Bible. I may have read it many times but somehow missed or didn’t grasp the full implications of it. Simon being a zealot is one of them. It caused me to research the real history of the zealots, which was quite interesting.
Every Bible movie ever made has had things added into it. I’ve come across that in Bible novels, too. Gotta hand it to Lew Wallace: in writing “Ben Hur,” all the material he added was to fictional characters whom we knew were fictional characters. He managed to crank out a classic novel **without** distorting the Scripture.