April 11 — The Chosen. When The Chosen came out a few years ago, many Christians embraced it. I wasn’t one of them. At the time, it was a product of Angel Studios, which was founded by members of the Mormon Church and is greatly influenced by it. As a former Mormon, just knowing this about the show alone made me not want to watch it.
It’s troubling to hear Dallas Jenkins, who is the creator of the show, profess to be a Christian and at the same time agree with the Mormons that we worship the same Jesus. I don’t know if he truly understands what Mormons believe about Jesus or if he understands the impact of what he’s doing by yoking himself with unbelievers on this project.
After receiving some attention for saying Mormons and Christians love the same Jesus, Mr. Jenkins tried to clarify his initial comments in a YouTube video. He stated –
“When I’ve talked about my brothers and sisters in Christ, and when I talked about those LDS folks that I know who loved the same Jesus I do, I’m referring to some of the friends that I have who as LDS who I’ve gotten to know very deeply over the last few years, in particular. And I’ve had hundreds of hours of conversations with (them), and I stand by the statement that those friends of mine that I’m referring to absolutely love the same Jesus that I do,” he said (CBN News, May 24, 2022)
When I read his quotes or hear him speak on this topic, I don’t understand how he can see a correlation between the Mormon Jesus and the Jesus of the Bible. While I could go as far as saying, yes, Mormons love their Jesus, he’s not the one Christians love and worship.
There is not one member of the Mormon Church who loves, believes in, and worships the Jesus of the Bible. If they did, they could no longer be Mormon, nor could they identify as Mormon. If they had to stay in the Church because of family, it would be very difficult for them to remain there.
The Mormon doctrine teaches that Jesus is a spiritually created being by the Mormon god and one of his goddess wives. He’s the spirit brother of Lucifer, and he atoned for the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane.
His blood isn’t enough to atone for a Mormon’s sin. They must also do all they can do (2 Nephi 25:23), along with temple ordinances, to have any hope of making it into their heaven.
In an interview Pastor Voddie Baucham had with the guys from the Babylon Bee he voiced his concern for The Chosen. In it, he said he believed it was a violation of the 2nd Commandment. I don’t know if I completely agree with his statement, but I can see where his concern is coming from.
I’ve heard people say in their quiet time with the Lord that they picture the actor who plays Jesus and have a conversation with him. In some of the comments I’ve read about the show, people have said this show makes the bible come alive for them.
As Christians, we should look to the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word “come alive” for us. Shows like this tend to take a lot of artistic license and pervert or rewrite biblical stories to make them more entertaining to the masses.
Jesus tells us he will send a helper to teach and help us understand his Word.
John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
I know many can watch The Chosen as they would any other show and not think any more about it. For others, it can become something more, it’s those people I’m most concerned about. I would love for these individuals to open their Bibles to know Jesus and to pray to him without seeing anyone’s face.
If they would do these things, he would bring them more peace and understanding about who he is than any show.
In Christ,
Melissa Grimes melissa@lifeafter.org
References:
My definitive (final) comments on the “LDS issue” – Dallas Jenkins
I would’ve never accepted the job if I was Dallas Jenkins. I don’t care how accurate the show is. It just sends the wrong message. As a Christian I wouldn’t want anyone to believe the LDS church is in agreement of any form to Biblical Christianity. And so, I too never watched it. It’s just another attempt for the LDS church to appear Christian.
I agree Melissa. I just pray that somehow the Lord will speak to those involved and lead them to Him.
I agree 100% Before I even knew of the Mormon background of the show, the idea of it repulsed me for some reason. So, I never watched. I had some ladies leave my MeWe group because I would not allow them to promote it on my group.
But none of the women in my circle who love The Chosen read a King James Bible. So I can not expect them to have any discernment. If they embrace a corrupt Bible, they have quenched the Holy Spirit. As you say, if Mormons worshipped the real Jesus, they would not stay in the Mormon church. Not for long.
[…] The Chosen […]
The Chosen is really just a bunch of rubbish to begin with. The director even says that 95% is made up. I have done quite a bit of reporting on it with my apologetics web site and in February made two posts sort of summing up the whole problem:
https://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2025/02/what-is-wrong-with-chosen-part-1.html
https://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2025/02/what-is-wrong-with-chosen-part-2.html
No Christian should be watching it and filling their head with nonsense even if it didn’t have the LDS connection (and there really is quite a bit of the LDS connection).