This is probably the question I am asked more than any other about the series, especially by people who know I have been involved with it.
The Chosen has taken the Gospel accounts of Jesus and His disciples and turned them into dozens of hours of television. To do that, it has added conversations, relationships, backstories and events that aren’t found in the Bible.
How much of what we are watching is actually biblical?
My answer is pretty simple. It is very biblical. But, it is not the Bible. That distinction is probably the most important thing an Adventist viewer needs to understand. Some scenes recreate events recorded directly in Scripture. Others imagine what may have happened around them.
The Bible tells us Peter was married, for example, but tells us very little about his wife. The Chosen gives her a name—Eden—and imagines what it may have been like having a husband suddenly leave home to follow Jesus.
Years ago, I actually found myself wondering whether Peter really was married, so I went back to my Bible to check. He was. Matthew records Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14,15), while Paul later refers to Cephas, or Peter, travelling with a believing wife (1 Corinthians 9:5). This is one of the things I love about the series. It often makes you notice things in the Bible you may have previously overlooked.
The Chosen has also always been open about its creative licence. Timelines and locations are sometimes combined, while dialogue and backstories are added. The stated aim is for that imagination to support biblical truth and the intention of Scripture, rather than replace it.
The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins has described the process as asking whether what they create is “plausible”, culturally and historically, and whether it fits “within the character and intentions of Jesus” in the Gospels. That sums it up pretty well.
I don’t ask if every sentence Jesus speaks appears in red letters in my Bible. Obviously it doesn’t. I ask whether what has been imagined goes against the Jesus I find in Scripture, or His teachings. For the overwhelming majority of the series, I don’t believe it does.
Does it clash with Adventist theology?
Surprisingly very little, because The Chosen isn’t trying to teach denominational systematic theology. It doesn’t deal with the investigative judgement, the state of the dead or many other beliefs that are unique to Adventism. It is telling the gospel story.
Adventists aren’t entirely strangers to The Chosen either. Hope Channel International has broadcast Season 1 and produced Story Encounters: The Chosen, a Bible discussion series hosted by Adventist pastors Ty Gibson and David Asscherick. The series used scenes from The Chosen as a starting point for exploring the biblical stories and themes behind them.
In The Chosen, Jesus is shown as the divine Son of God and promised Messiah. He forgives sins, heals, casts out demons, makes jokes, calls people to repentance and discipleship, confronts religious hypocrisy, plays games and teaches that salvation is found only in Him.
There are also parts Adventists should really appreciate. Jesus is a Sabbath keeper. Scripture is pivotal to His ministry and He uses it constantly. The Sabbath itself is shown not as a burden, but as a gift, and Jesus consistently restores its original meaning while confronting legalism without discarding the commandment. Jesus also uses the language of “sleep” when referring to death, reinforcing the biblical teaching that death is a temporary rest awaiting resurrection.
I also love the way the Pharisees are portrayed. Some genuinely love Scripture and God’s law. Their tragedy is that protecting their religious traditions can become so important that they fail to recognise the Messiah standing in front of them. Who knows; there might even be a lesson in that for all of us.
Does it get everything right?
Not necessarily, and I wouldn’t expect it to. One controversial moment has Jesus say, “I am the Law of Moses”. Those exact words don’t appear in Scripture. Jesus does, however, say in Matthew 5:17, “I have not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets] but to fulfil them.”
Critics also noticed similar wording in the Book of Mormon. Jenkins has addressed that controversy directly, saying the line wasn’t taken from the Book of Mormon and describing it instead as “theologically plausible”. That led into another question I hear a lot.
Is The Chosen Mormon?
No. There are certainly some wonderful Latter-day Saints (LDS) involved with the series, just as there are Catholics, Adventists, Baptists, evangelicals and people from many other backgrounds. Some filming also takes place on an impressive Jerusalem set owned by the LDS Church in Utah. However, Jenkins, an evangelical Christian, remains the creator, director and one of the writers of The Chosen, with creative oversight of the series.
Another debated storyline has Little James asking Jesus why he has been given power to heal others while remaining disabled himself. What do we actually know about Little James from Scripture? Very little. James the son of Alphaeus is named among the Twelve (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15), but Scripture tells us almost nothing else about his life and gives no indication that he had a disability. The scene is imagined, yet it explores a very biblical question: why does God sometimes heal and sometimes not?
I love this scene. It is one of my favourites in the whole series. Others may disagree with the theology behind it, and that is okay. The important thing is remembering which parts are Scripture and which are interpretation.
Some viewers didn’t like a scene where Jesus plays a game with friends and drops the ball. Would a perfect Jesus do that? Personally, I love that these moments are included. They highlight His full humanity in a way that feels real and relatable, and they open up harder conversations about what “perfection” actually means in the life of Jesus. Is perfection in Scripture about robotic flawlessness, or about complete alignment with the will and character of God? Does not having perfect hand and eye coordination take away from that?
How seriously do they take the Bible?
This is one area where my own involvement probably gives me a slightly unusual perspective.
Over the past seven years I have been fortunate enough to spend time on set, have meals and conversations with writers, producers and cast members, and I am now an associate producer on episodes in Seasons 6 and 7.
Seeing the project up close has made me more confident, not less, about how seriously the people shaping it take the responsibility of portraying Jesus.
Jonathan Roumie has spoken about how portraying Jesus has affected him personally, saying that spending so much time thinking about Jesus and “reading His words” in preparation for the role inevitably has an impact on you as a person.
The production also deliberately includes evangelical, Catholic and Jewish voices in its biblical discussions, so the writers aren’t simply hearing one theological perspective. That doesn’t make the scripts inspired, but it does tell me there is serious, deep thought behind them.
Why do I support it?
I got involved before Season 1 because I thought this could put Jesus in front of people who may never walk into a church. Seven years later, that remains the reason I support it. People who may know Christianity mainly through rules, politics, scandals or institutions are watching Jesus touch lepers, forgive sinners, welcome children, laugh and cry, challenge religious arrogance, grieve with friends and call ordinary people to follow Him.
Is every conversation historically accurate? Of course not. Does every theological choice perfectly match Seventh-day Adventist theology? Maybe not. Is it Scripture? Absolutely not. But is it introducing millions of people to the Jesus of Scripture? I believe it is.
The Chosen has now had almost a billion episode views, with more than 300 million viewers around the world.
I don’t think there are many Christian projects I’ve seen or been involved with, Adventist or otherwise, that have put the life of Jesus in front of an audience anything like that size.
And perhaps the best response when The Chosen makes us wonder, Did that really happen? isn’t to switch it off. It is to open our Bibles and find out. For a Church that believes in taking the everlasting gospel and the three angels’ messages to the whole world, I think that is something worth celebrating.
What happens next?
Season 6 begins streaming on Prime Video on November 15, with the crucifixion concluding the season in theatres over the Easter weekend in 2027. Season 7 begins with the resurrection and will complete the seven-season gospel story, currently expected in 2028.
After their initial commercial release periods, all episodes will also be available free through The Chosen app.
All churches can view Season 6 Episode 1, two months before the release of Season 6 through this link.
Loren Justins is involved in church leadership at Springwood Adventist Church in Queensland.
