By India McCarty
THE CHOSEN creator Dallas Jenkins responded to comments about the Biblical accuracy of his work.
“Normally I ignore videos like this, these criticism videos, as there’s really not much point to responding and I don’t honestly really care what other people think, good or bad,” he said in a recent YouTube video. “I really am more focused on what God thinks.”
However, Jenkins decided to respond to a video made by Wretched Radio that was “addressing the multiple reasons why we are bad and dangerous and it’s kind of the typical video of this type that we see often, the inflammatory type.”
“I always love learning new things about myself,” he joked. “I was able to find out in this one, I learned that I have a very low view of scripture, which I didn’t realize before.”
Jenkins didn’t want to address most of the video’s content but did decide to respond to a specific comment that was targeted at Amazon Prime’s HOUSE OF DAVID.
“Anybody who watches this who doesn’t check their Bible…they’re going to think ‘Oh, that’s what David’s mother was really like’” video host Todd Friel said. “It’s just false, okay?”
Jenkins’ response? “I can agree on that. If people got all of their scriptural beliefs or understanding from our shows, that would be an issue, and if actually 999 out of a thousand people never read their Bibles or checked their Bibles after they watched our show, that would violate everything that I’ve ever said hundreds of times.”
However, Friel’s claims were “simply…false,” Jenkins added.
“We’ve gotten literally tens of thousands of comments directly, as in, like, talking to me directly when they meet me, or social media comments or emails that we’ve gotten, and we’ve also heard indirectly from many, many ministries and people all over the world,” he explained. “I’m telling you 100% of the comments we’ve gotten — alright, maybe I won’t exaggerate — 99% of the comments we’ve gotten….are ‘I’m reading my Bible more than ever.’”
The showrunner also shared a story that someone who works on the YouVersion Bible app told him. They told Jenkins that, after THE CHOSEN episodes introducing the character Nathaniel, the app saw thousands of searches containing the keyword “Nathaniel.”
“I immediately started weeping [after hearing that] because that is a perfect picture of exactly what we are hoping for: to use these stories…to put a spotlight on and point people towards scripture,” Jenkins shared.
Related: Is HOUSE OF DAVID Biblically Accurate?
Jenkins is currently promoting the upcoming season of THE CHOSEN, which will cover key moments in Jesus’ life, from the Last Supper, to Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ arrest.
“You’ve got big, big scriptural moments that everyone knows, that everyone, even non-believers are aware of, have seen, or seen depicted, or read about all throughout the world,” Jenkins told The Christian Post. “I want us to learn the lessons that Jesus was teaching, that they weren’t getting until the Cross and the resurrection.”
In an interview with Crosswalk, the showrunner commented on the movement that THE CHOSEN has kickstarted.
“God is doing something in the hearts and minds of people, and I think THE CHOSEN has had something to do with that, yes, but I think we’ve also been the recipient and the benefactor of something that God is stirring in people’s hearts,” he explained.
Read Next: How THE CHOSEN Became the Incredible Show We Know and Love
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