A Response to Jordan Riley’s Video

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“5 Critical Problems with The Chosen”

If you spend any amount of time online reading about false teachers, you’ll see that most who write – not all, but the vast majority – are either sensationalists, nitpickers, or simply theologically ignorant. Rather than sharing direct quotes from false teachers and comparing them with Scripture, they’ll just write their own thoughts. They’ll call people names. They’ll claim to know another person’s inner motivations, and to know whether other people are saved or not. They’ll often consider a minor disagreement about a secondary matter of faith to be the difference between a heretic and a saint. It’s nice to see so many concerned about the truth, but it’s sometimes discouraging to see how poorly they express themselves.

The man in this video, unfortunately, appears to do some of those same things. He either takes Jenkins’ words out of context, or pretends to know what Jenkins really thinks. He unfairly condemns Jenkins with guilt by association. He seems to take what might be a legitimate question and, rather than finding out the answer, simply draws conclusions without doing his homework. There’s a bit of conspiracy theory in there… where he seems to think he’s uncovered the truth behind the devil’s work in making The Chosen. I’ll respond to each of his complaints below.

After that, I link to a video by Christian apologist Melissa Dougherty. She’s well-educated, handles questions responsibly, and isn’t afraid to ask tough questions. This video was made before the one you shared, and there are others after in which he says the same things.

The key question is what The Chosen says about Jesus, and whether it reflects the Jesus we see in Scripture. We should be especially concerned with whether anything in the show contradicts Scripture. Notice that most of Riley’s complaints aren’t about the content of the show… they’re complaints about what Jenkins might secretly believe, and suggests that the show will publicize false teaching about Jesus as a result.

“We love the same Jesus.”
As we can see in the interview linked below, Jenkins was speaking about personal friends, not the LDS church. During lengthy conversations with them, they expressed agreement with his own biblical view on certain things. That’s all. This is taken out of context and overblown. Jenkins describes himself as a theologically conservative evangelical Christian, and – after hearing him talk about his beliefs – I have no doubt that he is.
TBN
TBN is chock full of awful, unbiblical false teaching. That does not mean that everybody who appears on the network is a false teacher, or approves of false teachers. People like Kirk Cameron and Charles Stanley are also there, along with Ed Young and Franklin Graham and others. Walter Martin, one of the most prominent teachers of the 20th century on the topic of false teaching, appeared a number of times on TBN… but nobody would suggest that he agreed with them. This is guilt by association.
Extrabiblical revelation
This is pretty ridiculous. There’s no indication that this contradicts Scripture, or any suggestion that this was supposed to be a message for anyone else. The idea that God might communicate with us today isn’t unbiblical.
Ownership
This is a red herring. If the owners determined the content, then the beliefs of the owners would be a valid question. As pointed out in the other interview, no Mormons have any input on the content of The Chosen. This is guilt by association.
Defending the Mormon religion
Again, this is taken out of context and goes too far. Jenkins does not agree with Mormonism, and has said so a number of times. Finding common ground with others isn’t a problem unless your common ground is false teaching. I’ve seen no indication of this. Just as with going on TBN, going on a Mormon’s podcast and agreeing with some of what they say isn’t a problem by itself. If Jenkins agreed with any specific false teaching, then we’d have an issue. This is guilt by association.
Exclusive LDS stage for Mormons only
This is dumb. The LDS church built a stage that looks like Jerusalem, and no outsiders had ever been able to use it. Jenkins obviously considers himself an outsider to the LDS church, which is why it seems like a big deal to be able to film there. It’s a stage. There’s nothing religious about a stage. As Riley himself pointed out, there’s no formal endorsement of The Chosen by the LDS church. In the video below, Jenkins points out that the LDS church does not WANT to be associated with The Chosen. This is guilt by association.
Felt the presence of God on an LDS sound stage
Again, this is ridiculous. Where on the earth is one insulated from God’s presence? Is there some place where one couldn’t feel God’s presence? Again, this in no way endorses Mormon theology. This is guilt by association.
Angel Studios is owned exclusively by Mormons
So? They’re the distribution partner. They have no input on the content. Would it be better to use Disney for distribution? How about some other company, run by atheists or Buddhists or Scientologists? This is guilt by association.
Affirm Catholicism
What does it mean to affirm Catholicism? Does it mean being inspired by something a Catholic priest says? Does it mean meeting with the Pope? If I go on CNN, am I affirming CNN… or am I using CNN to further my own goals? Walter Martin was invited to speak at the Mormon church’s general conference, and HE WENT. That created a lot of controversy, like this video. The controversy means a lot less when you see that Martin actually used the time to point out where Mormonism deviated from Christianity, and to preach the gospel to the entire Mormon church. In order to know whether Jenkins “affirms Catholicism,” you’d have to define “affirm,” and you’d have to see if there’s any disagreement about Catholic doctrine. The idea that some of the cast affirm Catholicism should be no surprise, as some of them are Catholic. Most of the “discernment” ministries who complain about this kind of stuff can only speak generally about the indications that there MIGHT be a problem, rather than simply pointing to the facts. This is guilt by association.
Zero discernment… Harvest Bible Chapel
First, I’ve seen no indication that this church teaches false doctrine. This video doesn’t address their doctrine, but Riley calls them ‘false’ anyway. Jenkins was responsible for creating media for the church. Including him in the problems created by the pastor, who was fired, is nothing more than guilt by association.
Ravi Zacharias
This part is either a simple misunderstanding or character assassination. Jenkins admired Zacharias. I did as well. Does that mean we have no discernment? As shown in the video, Jenkins’ positive comment about Ravi was made on May 19, 2020. Many other Christian leaders did the same. Why? Ravi died that day, and they were responding. As Riley points out in the video, it was only AFTER he died that we learned about Ravi’s moral failure. Ravi was an amazing teacher who said many, many true and valuable things about God, Jesus, and the Christian faith. He was also a hypocrite, as he did not live his faith as he should have. That we’re unable to use anything he taught is a great loss to the Christian community, which only magnifies the shame he deserved. This section, about a post from the day Ravi died and before we learned of his crimes, is a cheap shot that nobody deserves.
“I am the law of Moses.”
Is this a quote from the Bible? No. It’s also not a quote from the Book of Mormon. The idea IS in the Book of Mormon. Does that automatically make it wrong? Of course not. The fact that it’s in the Book of Mormon doesn’t make it wrong… gigantic portions of the BoM are actually directly copied from the King James Bible! Jesus never said “good morning” in the Bible. Writing that in the script is technically unbiblical, but it doesn’t contradict anything that IS in there. The idea that The Chosen portrays a Mormon Jesus is pretty silly if you’ve ever studied what Mormonism actually teaches. To his credit, Riley turns to the Bible in this section. I’m willing to agree that this line seems like a bad idea, but it’s silly to say that having Jesus say it makes Him a “Mormon Jesus.” Not even close. Further: I could easily make the case from Scripture that Jesus COULD say these exact words. Being God, He authored the Law. Being God, He made the covenant with Israel where the Law was given. The Law was good and fulfilled its purpose of pointing – in a thousand different ways – to Jesus. It was all about Him, from start to finish… every bit of it. There’s nothing unbiblical in the suggestion that Jesus is the embodiment of the Law. If Jesus could say that He is the way, the truth, and the life… I see no reason that this is evidence of a problem.
“We worship the same Jesus.”
First, this isn’t what Jenkins said. He said “love,” and he clarified – before Riley made this video – that he was talking about a handful of specific friends. It’s important to complain about what was actually said. Next, YES. This IS a problematic thing to say. I would never say it, as it’s not true of Mormonism in general. It may or may not be true of Jenkins’ friends, but saying it in public is a rookie move. I too believe there may be many Mormons who ARE saved. If they are, it’s not because of Mormon doctrine but in spite of it. Saying that we may have many brothers and sisters who are Mormon or Catholic or Orthodox is not the same as endorsing those organizations. YES, it’s a problem. YES, I would counsel Jenkins to say it differently… because it might actually cause some to believe that Mormonism is part of biblical Christianity, which it is not.
The Chosen is a false thing, literally just entertainment
These 13 things do not make The Chosen unbiblical. Some are entirely beside the point, like using a sound stage owned by Mormons. Some are worth consideration as ideas, but are only a problem for the show if they show up IN the show. The idea that the people involved actually hate God and hate the Bible seems pretty ridiculous when you hear them address these question personally.