0:08

Well this is headsets are live and this and every

0:10

Saturday we come to you with conversations about

0:12

what's going on sometimes what's going on in a cultural

0:14

issue, sometimes what's going on in the church in

0:16

this case, something that's going on in

0:18

media. And a lot of you are familiar

0:21

with the TV series

0:23

called The Chosen. I guess it's it's kind of hard to say. It's

0:25

just a TV series. It's got lots of

0:28

other things now. People have got movies

0:30

and premieres and all that sort of stuff. And so we're

0:32

going to talk some about what

0:35

this is all about here

0:37

and specifically what's what's

0:39

going to be happening with the the future

0:42

of the chosen. Now we

0:44

to do that, I'll tell you a little bit of the background. So you're aware

0:47

of what the chosen is. So the chosen

0:49

is the brainchild of a guy

0:51

named Dallas Jenkins. I happen to know, in fact,

0:53

I was at I was at the very first, um,

0:56

time when he sort of presented I forgot it was called,

0:58

but he sort of presented something in a church setting.

1:00

And then I think it

1:02

was something about the shepherd or something. And,

1:04

um, but boy, it is just

1:06

explore located in and

1:08

around the world. And so let me tell you a little bit

1:11

about what his intent was and

1:13

what what ultimately is

1:15

going on today. We're going to have a guest in just a minute, but I

1:17

want to give you a little background first. So the chosen

1:19

is this it's a Christian historical

1:22

drama. That is.

1:24

And it's a little it's a little hard to explain sometimes

1:27

because people are familiar with something like the

1:29

Jesus film. And in the Jesus

1:31

film, what you do in the Jesus film is you

1:33

just have, um, you know, you literally

1:36

like the words and the Gospel of Luke

1:38

are the words that Matthew says,

1:40

for example. And so what

1:42

the chosen has done is actually,

1:45

um, fill in, you might say, fill in

1:47

with additional context, you know, Kurt, create

1:49

taking some creative liberties.

1:52

And for example, Matthew,

1:54

I mean, does speak the words that he speaks in Scripture.

1:56

But Matthew, for those of you watch, has a whole backstory

1:59

and and fasting. In fact, Matthew may be

2:01

my favorite character. Um, and

2:03

now now with that backstory comes. Well, I

2:05

guess I'll just tell you what the backstory is. For example, Matthew's

2:07

on the spectrum is what we would say today and,

2:11

and sort of, sort of it makes sense. It's not

2:13

contrary to the Bible, but there is creative,

2:16

uh, taking some creative, creative liberty

2:18

in describing some of the story.

2:21

So when Dallas Jenkins was

2:23

asked why he wanted to create this,

2:25

he said he wanted to create this because he wanted to create

2:27

a binge worthy, binge

2:30

worthy, um, show

2:32

about Jesus. And I think it's done that

2:35

very thing now. Um, now, basically

2:37

it has the characters of the Bible,

2:39

right? The characters of the gospel. And, uh,

2:42

there's actually a kind of an advisory committee

2:44

made up of three people who make sure

2:46

they don't do anything contrary to. They

2:48

do according to and not contrary to,

2:50

uh, the teachings of the New Testament. In fact,

2:53

Doug Huffman is one of the,

2:55

uh, one of the people who who is involved

2:57

in that? Doug's actually a professor on my faculty

3:00

at, uh, the Talbot School of Theology. So

3:02

they sort of beat make sure everything's good and solid,

3:04

uh, theologically and, uh, and that

3:06

even the creative liberties, that liberties

3:08

that they take don't really take anything

3:11

that would be contrary to the teaching

3:13

of Scripture. But it is important. I mean, what they keep saying,

3:15

well, you heard Dallas Jenkins say over and over again, and

3:17

I'm sure you hear our guests say to is, you

3:19

gotta, you gotta at the same time,

3:21

you got to make sure that you,

3:24

you don't do anything contrary to

3:26

to the Bible in this process.

3:28

Right. So, so, so that's that's

3:30

ultimately what it was,

3:32

how it started. But then it becomes this

3:34

multi series thing. Now it is it is

3:36

sort of interesting because I, I Dallas

3:38

on the radio program. Uh not that

3:40

long ago. And I you know it's kind

3:43

of like everyone sort of knows where this

3:45

is going to end. Uh, everybody knows

3:47

that Jesus dies on the cross for our sin. And

3:49

in our place, God raised him from the dead. And

3:51

yet, I think it's fascinating how this is just kind of caught

3:54

the attention of so many people.

3:56

So a couple of fun facts about this before we bring

3:58

on our guest. And we're going to take your calls as well.

4:00

And again, let me let me remind you too, because my guess is people

4:02

will want to discuss I mean, The chosen has been so

4:05

widely seen

4:07

that my guess is that some of you will want to

4:09

going to weigh in, ask questions. So,

4:11

um, so the, the, you know,

4:14

but now because what we're gonna talk about today is how the chosen

4:16

is going to be going soon into 600

4:18

different languages. We'll talk about why why

4:20

that is and why that's important in just a minute

4:22

okay. A couple of things about it. So one of the things

4:24

that this made news early on is something called

4:26

crowdfunding. So, um, it's

4:28

actually this is the most successful

4:30

crowdfunded TV series,

4:33

uh, ever in history or film

4:35

project. And it's really a strange thing when you think about

4:37

this, that a bunch of people all said, I want to be a part of this, I'll

4:39

be a part of this. And they and they, they help

4:41

fund through, you know, some giving platform.

4:43

And then boom, you have this series

4:45

that's just globally connected.

4:48

Um, according to a 2022

4:51

analysis, 108 million

4:53

people had seen at least part of the show. 108

4:56

million has seen at

4:58

least part of the show. So it's pretty remarkable.

5:00

And I think it'll give us kind of a a

5:02

fun conversation to have today.

5:04

So let me tell you what we're doing. And.

5:07

We bring in our guest who's going to kind of fill in

5:09

some of what we've talked about

5:11

already today. So I mentioned

5:14

just casually that the chosen

5:16

will be translated into 600

5:18

languages. 600 languages. That's that's crazy.

5:20

Now, now, already 100 plus million

5:22

people have seen it. So the question

5:25

is why? What's going on here? Well, so

5:27

Stan Jans is actually he's a friend of mine. He

5:29

leads come and see. Now come and see

5:31

is a foundation. And its mission

5:34

is to share through

5:36

the chosen and other things, the

5:38

authentic Jesus with a billion people.

5:40

He was president of one of the nation's largest

5:42

Christian bookstores, and then began a writing career

5:44

that is published 75 books

5:47

with more than 4 million copies sold.

5:49

And Stan's been the president of the Evangelical

5:52

Christian Publishers Association. I think that's actually

5:54

where he and I first met. He had

5:56

me come speak at one of his meetings, and for

5:58

24 years he has actually served on the

6:00

board of trustees of Biola University, including

6:02

a term as board chair. So we actually I

6:04

literally saw him Thursday, and now,

6:06

well, Stan, tell us, where are you

6:08

and what are you doing there, Stan?

6:10

And it's great to be with you. I am in London,

6:13

and, uh, we are

6:15

on Monday having a

6:17

world, or I should say European

6:19

premiere of The Chosen. Uh,

6:21

at the same theater in London where

6:23

the Barbie movie premiered not long

6:26

ago. So this is a big deal. And,

6:28

uh, come and see his host hosting

6:30

event for for would be donors, and

6:33

we'll have a pre-event for that. But this is

6:35

why I'm here. And I'll be continuing

6:37

editor on to Warsaw, Poland,

6:40

uh, next week for another premiere

6:42

there in that country. It's a huge

6:44

in in Poland and

6:46

Brazil, which are heavily Catholic. And

6:48

it's awakening Catholic viewers,

6:51

uh, to a new, uh, image

6:53

of Jesus and a new connection and

6:56

intimacy. And it's just it's thrilling to be here, but

6:58

it's great to be with you from across

7:00

the pond.

7:00

Good to talk to you, man. That's so funny that, like, literally, we

7:02

were together two days ago and now you are

7:04

in London. Thanks for taking the time to connect with us as

7:07

well. And we're going to invite people to call in. They're going to have a chance

7:09

to talk to you. Um, but I want to frame

7:11

a little bit about, like, who

7:13

you are in all of this. So you're not.

7:15

Yeah. You and I just we just snuck into

7:17

the set of season four of The Chosen,

7:20

and we did some videos about to be released, and,

7:22

uh, that unseen set, you know, we were in that,

7:24

uh, I guess that synagogue kind of setting. So,

7:27

uh, so we haven't been able to release it quite yet, but we should be. It

7:29

should be out, I think, next week. Um, so.

7:31

And you're here and you're working with the chosen.

7:34

You're at the chosen premiere, but you're leading something

7:36

else called Come and see. So,

7:39

I mean, are you putting on costumes and are you

7:41

meeting with actors or what does come and see

7:43

do help explain it to folks, because for everyone out there, it's

7:45

going to be new to them.

7:47

Well, come and see. Our vision is real simple. We want

7:49

to reach a billion people

7:51

with the authentic Jesus. And

7:53

it just so happens that the chosen

7:55

is, in our estimation, the best

7:57

way to do that. So we're really doing three things.

7:59

And the first one is to ensure

8:03

the completion of all seven

8:05

seasons. As you said, season

8:07

four is released and we'll talk

8:10

a little bit more at I'm sure you want to know about

8:12

the release schedule and what the theatrical

8:14

plan is for that, but that's our that's

8:16

our primary focus is to make sure that

8:18

the seven seasons are completed. So we're we're

8:20

raising money for the production. And

8:22

then number two and probably the heart. And

8:24

what gets me most excited and what I'm finding

8:27

is you just said, Ed, that people just

8:29

their eyes grow big when you say this, that we

8:31

are enabling and making it possible

8:33

for all seven seasons to

8:35

be translated into 600 languages,

8:38

which is extraordinary, has never been

8:40

done. Now the Jesus film has gone to

8:42

2000. I mean, it's extraordinary what they've done,

8:44

but we're talking that's a two hour film.

8:47

This is these are these would be 56

8:49

episodes through seven seasons,

8:52

uh, eight episodes each. And then finally,

8:54

what we're we're also about to

8:56

come and see is to collaborate

8:59

with global ministries and churches

9:01

to take the chosen everywhere

9:04

and to keep it free. And

9:06

that's something that, again, is also

9:08

a unique, uh, we want to make sure that

9:10

every person has a chance to see

9:12

it and to experience it. And so

9:14

not just the language translation, but also the accessibility.

9:17

And so we work we're working with some wonderful

9:20

organizations that you know very, very well. So

9:22

YouVersion uh, is carrying

9:24

it the first three seasons. They'll have the fourth when

9:26

it's out. And of course from YouVersion

9:29

watching it, you can go right to Scripture and

9:31

find out. And I'd like to talk to you about that,

9:33

because that's what gets my heart going to is

9:35

the, the way this gets people engage with

9:37

Scripture. And we're working with crew

9:39

and their students. And of course, crew is the

9:42

parent company of Jesus Film, uh,

9:44

parent ministry, I should say. And so they're very

9:46

excited about working with Come and see. And,

9:48

uh, and with the chosen, uh, Bible

9:50

Project, a marvelous, uh,

9:53

organization, they're providing Bible resource

9:55

plans and reading plans, uh,

9:57

one hope, which their goal is,

10:00

uh, uh, Bible for every child

10:02

in the world. And so this the list is going on.

10:04

It's growing. And so we're just, uh,

10:06

come and see, is that nonprofit

10:08

that works with this production company

10:10

called The Chosen, who are producing

10:13

this, uh, amazing television

10:16

show? It's a TV show, multi episodic.

10:18

And our job is to make sure the seasons

10:20

get finished and to translate and

10:22

to distribute.

10:24

Good deal. Good. Okay. We're going to continue our conversation

10:27

with Stan. And Stan is leading

10:29

the Come and See Foundation, which is partnering with The Chosen.

10:31

You've already heard some of that. We're going to take your calls

10:33

as well. All right. It's (877) 548-3675.

10:38

Now, Stan's not gonna be able to answer your questions about why do they

10:40

do this in season three? Because again, you kind of

10:42

heard his role a little bit, but lots of good questions

10:44

about what the chosen about where we're going with it.

10:46

Again, our number is (877) 548-3675.

10:50

That's (877) 548-3675.

11:05

Hey, we're back at Stetson Live. I'm

11:08

the dean of the Talbot School of Theology and

11:10

serve here at Biola University.

11:12

Fun fact Stan is one of our trustees at my

11:14

old university. So we have that that connection

11:16

there as as well. And I mentioned that

11:18

Doug Huffman, who's, uh, is one of the

11:20

three theological advisors to the campaign as,

11:23

as well. And they they have a Doug is

11:25

a New Testament scholar. They have a, uh, a Catholic

11:27

scholar, and they have a messianic Jewish

11:29

scholar. And that's been, uh, been the team

11:32

that kind of helps them stay aligned,

11:34

attuned, well connected, not contrary

11:36

to and always in accordance with the Word of God.

11:38

So, um, anyway, so we're we're talking

11:40

with Stan Van Stan's lead in this come and see

11:42

foundation, and the Come and See Foundation

11:45

is again trying to translate to 600

11:47

languages. That should be a

11:49

well, that that that would be an

11:52

amazing thing. Now let's talk about languages for just a second.

11:54

Stan. Now, I know that you are

11:56

not a missile ologist, but that's you're

11:58

stepping into my field. We start talking about all these languages. I

12:00

love this, they're over there. Over 7000

12:02

languages in the world, which might people might say,

12:04

we're doing less than one out of ten of the languages.

12:06

However, when you get 600 languages,

12:09

well, what do you get when you get 600 languages?

12:12

How much of the world is covered?

12:14

95% of the world will

12:16

be able to understand the chosen.

12:18

It may not be their primary, their heart language,

12:21

but they will be able to understand it and

12:23

that yes, 7000. You get a really

12:25

long tail with that. But it's

12:27

never it's never been done to this extent with this

12:30

many episodes of a show like this,

12:32

to go to six and a like.

12:33

I don't know, like there are very few things,

12:35

there are very few things that have been translated into

12:37

600 languages. And so

12:39

when you said that, I was kind of, you know, and remember

12:42

that there's two kinds of languages in the world today. People

12:44

have their their their heart language and then

12:47

the language, which they can also do commerce. And, you

12:49

know, so at 1.4 billion people speak English, for

12:51

example, and Chinese is the second most

12:53

spoken languages, etc., etc.. So

12:55

right now my understanding is the chosen has been translated

12:57

into about 100 different languages.

12:59

That could be old news, but but

13:02

so to get it to 600 languages will make

13:04

it one of the most translated anything

13:06

in history, let alone it would be the most

13:08

translated TV program in

13:11

and the episodic TV program

13:13

in the world. And I covered 95%

13:15

of the people. So keep in mind as as

13:17

mixologists, we want to say, let's get the Bible in every

13:19

heart language. And that's great. But

13:22

95% means

13:24

that people who watch television now, most people

13:26

who who speak a smaller language

13:28

don't watch media in their

13:30

heart language, small languages don't

13:33

have media in it. So this is a very accustomed

13:35

bridge to travel for people.

13:38

So it's really stunning to me. So how long,

13:40

uh, do you think it's going to take, or is this sort of. I mean,

13:42

I know you're in London at the premiere where you're also doing a

13:44

fundraiser. Uh, maybe. Maybe the answer is dependent

13:46

upon some funding. How long is it going to take to get to 600

13:48

languages?

13:50

You know this we were talking about that with our team

13:52

just the other day. And, um, we

13:54

don't really know. It's the seasons

13:56

will complete in 2027, the season

13:59

seven. Uh, but when you think about

14:01

it, if you multiply what will eventually

14:03

be 56 episodes time 600,

14:05

that number is 33,800. That's

14:08

33,800 episodes

14:10

that are in the various

14:12

600 languages. It's a monumental

14:15

task. And so it's going to take

14:17

longer than that. We don't even know. We aren't going to say,

14:19

uh, because we don't know. But right

14:22

now and, uh, we're

14:24

there about we're and we're using

14:26

and I just want to brag on the person

14:28

that God brought to come and see,

14:31

uh, who is kind of overseeing this two people,

14:33

actually. But Rick Dempsey, uh,

14:35

kind of directs our translation efforts. And

14:37

by the way, of the 600, 100

14:39

will be dubbed, fully dubbed and

14:42

by professional voice actors, and

14:44

all 600 will be in subtitles. But the

14:46

dubbing is something that is an art form in itself.

14:48

It's not just a matter of, you know, putting

14:50

on a switch and, you know, it's very,

14:52

very carefully curated. I mean,

14:54

the actors that that do it, the voice actors

14:57

have to match the tone of the original

14:59

actor and to match that voice and to

15:01

that, those lips. So it looks that doesn't distract

15:04

you like early Godzilla movies perhaps

15:06

did. It's just it's got to be something

15:08

that is so precise and, and artistic.

15:11

And so, uh, it's it's

15:13

a, it's an art form in itself. And we're finding

15:15

already in the obscure languages that there

15:17

is great interest. So, uh,

15:19

I don't know if you have had or I'm

15:21

sure you heard about this because it was pretty well publicized.

15:23

But back in June of last year,

15:26

uh, the the chosen, uh, 2

15:28

or 3 episodes were shown in Madagascar,

15:31

and Madagascar is, uh, one

15:33

of the poorest countries on Earth, and it has

15:35

a language called Malagasy. Uh,

15:38

and Malagasy is not probably

15:40

in the top 100 even. But there was a request

15:42

from the president of Madagascar

15:45

for the chosen to be shown in his country.

15:47

And so we partnered with an organization

15:49

called Jesus Wnet. Uh,

15:51

and there's a kind of a French origin

15:53

of this ministry. Uh, they're headquartered

15:56

in Rotterdam, but they have in

15:58

Malagasy is a French hybrid of

16:00

French for, for when it was colonized by the French

16:03

Madagascar. And so we

16:05

just and there were no professional voice

16:07

actors for that. But they they got volunteers.

16:09

They got people who were dedicated

16:11

to it. They made it happen. They delivered

16:14

it. And it was extraordinary

16:16

to see, uh, the

16:18

results. Some of our team were there. I was not there,

16:21

uh, in June when it was shown, they showed it

16:23

in an orphanage for 2000 people. And I think

16:25

that's probably people could access

16:27

it there through YouTube, just Madagascar, The

16:29

Chosen. And these kids were

16:31

so delighted to hear this. And they showed them,

16:33

they did this beautiful ceremonial dance of

16:35

Thanksgiving after it was done. But

16:37

it was, I was told, when they watched Jesus

16:39

and they showed the children the episode three

16:42

of season one, which is Jesus and

16:44

the children. So those of you who are familiar with the chosen

16:46

know that episode. It's just it's very, very,

16:49

um, precious the way Jesus

16:51

interacts with these kids. And so

16:53

when he brushed his teeth, he's got his little Campese

16:55

there, and he used his finger right with,

16:58

with some and they just they just loved

17:00

it. They were delighted because that's how they brush their

17:02

teeth. And when he carved his

17:04

little toy out of a piece of wood, they loved it

17:06

because that's how they make toys. So

17:09

and to this day, Ed,

17:11

um, the president asked, you know. Very

17:14

few people have televisions. And so they did these public

17:16

events, but they also put it on a big Li led

17:18

screens on the back of trucks, and

17:20

they've been taking it to remote villages throughout

17:23

Madagascar and to this day. And

17:25

just a video was posted showing a

17:27

bunch of kids are also watching it, and they had

17:30

little chosen t shirts on. And

17:32

so we see this, and it is just the power

17:34

of the gospel to go into

17:37

places that would never have the opportunity

17:39

to experience. Uh, the

17:41

Living Word this way, in a visual way. And

17:43

then of course, to experience

17:45

then in the Bible what it would be

17:47

to to read these stories. So that's just

17:49

one. And we think these are kind of stories are going to be coming

17:51

more and more. But that's that one's pretty, pretty

17:54

precious just because of the just

17:56

the response they've had and the way it's ongoing. And so

17:58

I've got this little saying Ed, and it's based on what

18:00

happened in Madagascar, The Chosen,

18:03

which is just like the gospel, it

18:05

relates from the president to,

18:08

uh, from the palace to the pauper,

18:10

you know, uh, and from,

18:13

you know, the just the highest

18:15

places to the lowest. And we just

18:17

are just thrilled that this is it.

18:19

Another ministry of partnering with is

18:22

Prison fellowship right now,

18:24

prison fellowship, they have a network of, of,

18:26

uh, where they can show videos in

18:28

prisons of of 300 prisons

18:30

that chosen is being shown in 300 prisons.

18:33

So you can maybe change it from the palace to the prison.

18:35

And there's there's just been extraordinary

18:37

results. Uh, Heather rice, who's

18:39

the CEO of of come and see.

18:41

She, uh, attended our,

18:44

um, uh, one of our screenings we did

18:46

a couple of weeks ago in Houston, where

18:48

they have a strong prison ministry. And she

18:50

said just the results have been extraordinary. What

18:53

the prisoners are gaining from this,

18:56

uh, this this story of

18:58

Jesus that's being shown through the chosen. Yeah.

19:00

Just so we're clear, you're the president of. Come and see. Heather rice

19:02

is the president of, uh, of Prison

19:05

Fellowship. Just right. No. No worries. Just.

19:07

Yeah, I think everyone knew that. But just in case you

19:09

didn't know. And let me just. I want to come back to the

19:11

the Madagascar showing as well, because I think a

19:13

lot of times people don't realize that, uh,

19:15

that people who most

19:18

of the world, well, much of the world speaks more

19:20

than one language. So people in Madagascar might consume

19:22

a lot of their television or their media consumption.

19:25

It could be in French. Uh, could be maybe

19:27

some in English or other languages. And then

19:29

to actually see, uh, something

19:31

like that in their own language is just

19:33

significantly, significantly

19:36

impactful. And it draws people

19:38

in. Okay. So let me let me give our phone number again.

19:40

I want to make sure people have the opportunity to,

19:42

uh, to ask some questions. And again, I

19:45

want to remind you that that, uh, stand

19:47

second, answer questions about the show. But, Stan,

19:49

it leads the nonprofit that, in a sense,

19:51

is taking the show around the world,

19:53

you know, ensuring that it finishes all seven seasons, but also

19:55

making sure that the message gets

19:57

translated to 600 different languages. He leads

19:59

the come and See foundation. Uh, we

20:02

put in the show notes. We got

20:04

Karen, my producer, put in there a,

20:06

a link to a story, a church leaders, and

20:08

it kind of tells a story when they launched this as

20:10

well. You'll see a picture there with Mark Green

20:12

and Dallas Jenkins and Stan, and

20:14

they were talking about this. You'll want to check that out.

20:16

Our phone number to call with questions about

20:18

about you can ask about the chosen or about what the future

20:21

plans are is (877) 548-3675.

20:26

That's (877) 548-3675.

20:32

So let's jump into a conversation

20:34

and and ask some questions here. Let's first go

20:36

to Tom. Uh Tom in

20:38

Chattanooga. Tom, you're live on the air with

20:40

your question or your comment. Go right ahead. Tom.

20:43

Thanks for taking my call. And,

20:46

uh, I think, you know, I've listened

20:48

to for you a long time and called him before. So he you

20:50

know, I'm not a trying to be an adversary

20:53

or anything. I'm just asking for some information.

20:55

Oh, great. Go for it. It seems kind of. Okay.

20:58

Uh, it seems like this is a really

21:01

huge project, and,

21:03

uh, the Bible is

21:06

the Bible. Translation efforts in the world aren't

21:08

finished, and it's a living supernatural

21:11

book. And so

21:13

it it just seems I'm just curious

21:15

about why this is such a great

21:17

idea. I and I would like to know

21:19

because it seems, you know,

21:22

I'm not trying to say, don't do this. You're awful

21:24

people. I'm just trying to say I'm kind of

21:26

puzzled. It seems like a gigantic

21:28

project. And, um,

21:31

it's like God gave us one big

21:33

but, you know, quite a bit

21:35

smaller than a seven season TV show.

21:38

And then. But anyway, if

21:40

I'm making any sense, I'm kind of nervous.

21:42

No, you make a super sense. So basically, it's why.

21:45

No, you're super Tom. It's a super question. Hold on

21:47

just a second. And, uh, look, we'll give him a chance to answer.

21:49

It's a super question, Stan. I mean, why

21:51

translate a TV show around the world

21:53

while the Bible's not been translated

21:55

into every language?

21:58

Yeah. And great. Tom, I want to affirm

22:00

that's a very good question, and I'll just answer

22:02

it this way and that. The Bible is

22:04

inspired, the inspired Word of God, where

22:06

the Holy Spirit only spoke through

22:08

the man who wrote it, but also

22:11

through to us. They help us understand it. Um,

22:14

however, we wish more people

22:16

read the Bible. But you know, as we know,

22:18

even in this country, Bible literacy

22:20

is not all that it could be. And

22:22

so what we're finding that

22:25

this program is doing and what attracted us

22:27

as a foundation to it, it is

22:29

it is encouraging in many

22:31

cases driving people to go to Scripture. I'll give

22:33

you an example. I have my my

22:36

brother in law who is a new Christian,

22:39

uh, and he came into into

22:41

the church and grew up in it, but it hadn't

22:43

been a part of it, didn't really know the Bible very.

22:46

I mean, just the basic outline

22:48

that's about it. And so what we've done

22:50

is we're taking him through this with his

22:52

wife, through the chosen episode

22:55

by episode. And guess what has happened?

22:57

He he wanted a Bible. We gave him a

22:59

Bible. He can have more. We gave him a study

23:01

Bible. He is reading the Bible now,

23:03

and especially after watching an episode to go

23:05

and find out. Okay, where is that story

23:07

now? These are in the Gospels, of course, but but oftentimes

23:10

you go back to the prophets. When you talk about

23:12

Jesus, you got to look at Isaiah and some of those things.

23:14

So it's encouraged him. And he has

23:16

become an avid reader

23:18

of the scriptures. And and maybe that

23:20

would have happened without this. I mean, God can

23:23

work in any way, but I just know that this

23:25

was a motivation for him. And what we're finding

23:27

is that people are engaging

23:29

with Scripture. After viewing The Chosen, I

23:32

mentioned YouVersion, which is has been

23:34

downloaded on 500 million

23:36

devices. And YouVersion,

23:38

of course, is the Bible. It has it in

23:40

multiple translations and multiple languages.

23:43

And so they just are excited

23:45

the way people are able to watch the episodes

23:48

of The Chosen on the YouVersion app and then,

23:50

uh, go directly then to Scripture in the same

23:53

app. And I think I know I probably

23:55

am speaking where I shouldn't, but I

23:57

think if you, any of you, Tom, or anybody

23:59

else has Amazon Prime and you can have

24:01

this little feature, I think it's

24:03

called x ray, where you can actually stop

24:05

the episode or, uh, kind of scroll

24:08

down, it'll tell you who's who's in that

24:10

particular. This is for any episode

24:12

of, of Amazon Prime. Uh,

24:14

and so this idea says, well, what if people

24:17

bother watching it? It could kind of find out what

24:19

passage is this from, because

24:21

it is, as Ed said earlier, rooted in Scripture.

24:24

And to give them and give all of us

24:26

a chance to know. But it is it drives

24:28

people. When I see an episode, I'll go

24:30

back and read that because I want to say, okay,

24:32

is that what? Oh, yeah, Jesus did

24:34

say that, or Matthew did do that.

24:36

And it just is a is a wonderful

24:38

way. So that's what we think, Tom, is that it

24:41

is it is not the Bible. It's a TV

24:43

show about Jesus. And

24:45

the Bible is the inspired Word of God. So people,

24:48

by reading what they're seeing

24:50

or excuse me, watching the chosen, can then go

24:52

to the scriptures and read it and experience it.

24:54

That's where life change takes place.

24:56

Yeah, I think that's super helpful. And I think I think Tom's

24:58

question is super is that, you know, where's the energy

25:00

there? I would say it might be helpful to know,

25:03

Tom, that the some of the same folks who

25:05

are helping with the Currency Foundation actually help

25:07

with what's called the illuminations, which

25:09

is actually a project to finish the translation

25:12

of the Bible into all the languages in the world. We

25:14

actually just put a link there at the show notes

25:16

as well. You can follow along and see that

25:18

also. And as far as the it's interesting

25:21

as far as the number of Bibles translations,

25:23

I think about 700 languages of the full Bible.

25:25

I'm going off the top of my head. About 1500

25:28

have, in addition to that, 700 have

25:31

the New Testament and additional 1500

25:33

have portions of the New Testament. So

25:35

we're talking close to 3000.

25:38

Almost 4000 languages have engaged

25:40

the Bible at some level, but at great

25:42

point. And we want more, not less. And just so you know,

25:45

I'm guessing there's a lot more resources going into

25:47

the finishing the Bible translation than the chosen.

25:49

We're going to continue with your calls in just a moment.

25:51

(877) 548-3675.

26:06

Hey, Rebecca. That's alive. I'm Ed Setzer.

26:09

We are having a great response with phone

26:11

calls wanting to talk about chosen, which tells me

26:13

people are watching, people are having conversations about

26:15

it, and more I like it. So let

26:17

me remind you of our phone number. Stan Janz,

26:19

by the way, is our guest. He leads the Come and See Foundation

26:21

in its mission to help translate

26:23

and multiply in some of what that means by translate

26:26

the authentic Jesus. With 1 billion people.

26:28

Billion people. Our phone number is (877) 548-3675.

26:33

Okay, Stan, I know I mentioned earlier

26:36

that you know, our mutual friend Doug Huffman, one

26:38

of our New Testament professors at the Talbot School

26:40

of Theology, and two other scholars,

26:42

one Roman Catholic and one Messianic

26:45

Jewish rabbi, kind of serve

26:47

as a theological filter, whatever term you want to

26:49

use. I'm not sure the term Dallas uses. So whatever

26:51

I said may not be what they say, but they look

26:53

at this from a theological New Testament angle

26:55

and lens. But now one of the things,

26:57

you know, I mean, this is my field. I'm a missile ologist.

27:00

You can't just take words

27:02

in English, change them to

27:05

Cosa and think that they'll

27:07

have the same meaning. So

27:09

how are you making sure that the language,

27:11

sometimes even they use kind of modern

27:14

idioms occasionally. So. Or

27:16

idioms that 2000 years ago meant one thing. It might mean

27:18

something different today. So how do you work that internationally

27:20

with all these languages?

27:22

Sure. That's a great question. So two things.

27:24

One is come and see is responsible

27:26

for theological governance.

27:29

And what I mean by that is that we have

27:31

the final say. Our board has the final

27:33

say of any theological matter

27:35

that may be in dispute. Now, nothing

27:37

to this point has has come to that.

27:40

But we have that role and we have a

27:42

team of four scholars. Doctor

27:44

Jesse Stone is our lead theologian.

27:46

He is a graduate of Saint Andrews. He was the

27:48

last student that N.T. Wright

27:50

took on in that program before he

27:52

moved to Oxford. This is at Saint Andrew's. And

27:55

then we have three global scholars

27:57

Doctor Finney, Philip, who is the president

28:00

of Philadelphia Bible College in

28:02

India. We have no

28:04

idea who is a Nigerian

28:06

scholar, also trained. He's got his PhD

28:08

from the University of Manchester, and these

28:10

are all evangelical scholars. Then Miguel

28:12

Alvarez, who is also president

28:15

of a seminary in Guatemala.

28:17

So these are three evangelical scholars,

28:20

and we entrust them

28:22

as the scripts come to us before it goes to

28:24

production, to make sure that

28:26

the theological integrity,

28:28

the biblical faithfulness, the

28:30

orthodoxy of the script is, is intact.

28:33

And again, this is after the chosen. They've

28:35

reviewed it with their team. So we work kind of together

28:37

in this. But then also as we go to

28:39

translation, we rely

28:41

on what we call subject matter experts.

28:44

And so before a translation

28:46

is then dubbed, we

28:49

have people that are from the country

28:51

that could be pastors, it could be theologians.

28:53

They review the translated script in their

28:55

language to make sure. And

28:57

the term is localization and

29:00

the term I think also contextualization, making

29:02

sure the context is correct, that it means the same

29:04

thing as you said, the idiom, if that's being used,

29:06

but also that it's localized, that

29:08

it is for them, but it's the same meaning.

29:11

And we rely on these and we have right now 85.

29:14

And that's just for the first, you know, 50 languages

29:16

that we're working on. There have been more added

29:18

as you mentioned, but we're going back and kind of

29:20

redoing some of those that were done earlier. So

29:23

this is the guardrails that are in place.

29:25

And the theological component to that

29:27

is so important. And we take that very

29:29

seriously. So it's not just about production

29:31

and translation, but it's about that theological

29:34

faithfulness. And we have that governing authority

29:36

as the currency foundation for that. And

29:39

Dallas wants this. This is not something they're imposing

29:41

on him. He has asked for it. He wants it.

29:43

And so we have this marvelous

29:46

system in place to make sure that this

29:48

stays true to orthodox,

29:50

historic Christian belief and to

29:52

putting Jesus is

29:54

who he is, the Savior of the world, in

29:56

the view that we know as evangelicals,

29:58

as Orthodox Christians, is the one

30:00

that is faithful to Scripture.

30:02

Oh, I love it, I love it. I think it's important to

30:04

note that because it's filmed

30:07

in a set that would be 2000

30:09

years ago, cultures around the world,

30:11

you're not going to have like huge cultural

30:13

distance. It's like everyone knows that people

30:16

in some, some places still are, have no electricity

30:18

and are living in a, you know, a basic economy.

30:20

So there's a really nice commonality with

30:23

that, that then you can bring that conversation

30:25

forward. Okay. Let's take some calls. We've got some great

30:27

callers here. Callers want to encourage you to, uh,

30:29

you know, uh, just jump in right with your question

30:32

and kind of stand to answer our guest.

30:34

He leads the Come and See foundation. So let's jump

30:36

in. We're going to go to Ann in Elmhurst,

30:38

Illinois, just down the road from I used to live in Wheaton. And

30:40

so you're live on the air with your question, your comment. Jump

30:43

right in, please.

30:44

Hi. Thanks for taking my call.

30:47

I've been in a Bible study for years, and

30:49

the teacher is very biblical, very conservative,

30:52

and she has big issues

30:54

and kind of gets on her soapbox about

30:56

the chosen and that it's being produced

30:59

in a mormon facility

31:01

and kind of stuff like that. I'm not sure

31:03

where she gets it, although I. Do think she mentioned

31:06

Christianity Today? Maybe. I have

31:08

done some research. Didn't really

31:10

see that, but can you address that

31:12

a little bit? I kind of scared to

31:14

say anything to her unless I have a really

31:17

good backup, you know.

31:18

Sure. And you're correct. There's actually two

31:20

parts of the question and you talk about

31:22

the set. There is a set in Utah that that the LDS

31:24

church built for a series

31:27

that they did. And it was

31:29

they completed the series and it was pretty much

31:31

left abandoned. And so the chosen

31:33

came to them. And it's a set that when you see

31:35

the Jerusalem scenes with the temple

31:38

and the Pool of Siloam and these really

31:40

large set pieces, I've been

31:42

to this set and it's it's pretty impressive.

31:44

But they then lease that is

31:47

strictly as a business arrangement and there's no

31:49

effect or influence at all. It's

31:52

just something that was there. And they

31:54

have another set that is in Texas

31:56

that is more of the around

31:58

the Sea of Galilee region and Capernaum.

32:00

And so they use these two sets interchangeably.

32:03

And what you're going to see is the seasons continued

32:05

to unfold, especially season four,

32:07

which releases in theaters starting February

32:10

1st. Quite a bit of that was shot in the

32:12

set in Utah, but again, it's just as strictly

32:14

these rented from them. But they have their

32:17

own soundstage in Texas, along

32:19

with a beautiful village

32:21

of Capernaum said that they use. And

32:23

when you kind of identify which is which, you can kind of see

32:25

that. So that's really what it is. And I

32:27

understand your concern. And the other is

32:30

that the very first couple of seasons,

32:32

the distributor was Angel, and you'll see

32:34

the title card. Angel and Angel is

32:36

not an LDS company, but there are LDS

32:39

folks involved. But again, they

32:41

were simply the distributor. They stepped in

32:43

at the very beginning with crowdfunding and

32:46

then pay it forward and got the chosen

32:48

kind of on its feet. But now

32:50

the model to support the chosen is through

32:52

come and see Foundation. And so you'll see in

32:55

season four and beyond. And if

32:57

you watch the Christmas special which is in theaters,

32:59

you'll see Come and see now in the title card,

33:01

which means just the beginning of the show as you

33:04

as you start watching each episode. But

33:06

the key is, and I think you can tell your Bible study

33:08

leader, and I appreciate people who have

33:10

such passion for Scripture to make sure

33:13

that there's no compromise in any way. But I think

33:15

this little description I gave you

33:17

earlier of these, let's just call them theological

33:19

guardrails that exists. And it's not

33:21

just for one particular belief,

33:24

you know, that may infiltrate. I mean,

33:26

there's a lot of beliefs out there. And yet

33:28

here's what's wonderful is this is a tool

33:30

that, coming from an orthodox

33:32

evangelical Christian perspective, that

33:35

is faithful to Scripture, can

33:37

go to the nations, and we know how many

33:39

different beliefs that are out there.

33:41

And I'll just give you another quick example

33:43

is and you can be praying for this an

33:45

and your Bible study team, the effect

33:48

that the chosen is starting

33:50

to have and will continue to have

33:52

in the Arab world. It's

33:54

an extraordinary thing. And here's why.

33:57

We're told by our partners in the Arab

33:59

world why this is so effective. It's

34:01

the quality of the show

34:03

that is impressive to them.

34:05

They love there's there's

34:08

a sensibility of art that

34:10

is so strong in the Arab world. And

34:13

as you know, the number of Christians, the Arab world is pretty

34:15

small, but it's growing. Uh,

34:18

and so what they when they see this,

34:20

there's something that happens when they

34:22

see it visually and they can see the

34:24

characters in the scriptures.

34:26

Of course, in, in Islam,

34:29

they respect Jesus. You know,

34:31

they consider him a prophet. Of course, he's nothing

34:33

like the Bible describes him. But when they

34:35

see the Jesus, this authentic Jesus,

34:38

this biblical Jesus on screen, done

34:40

in such a high quality way,

34:42

we are we are being told by our partners

34:45

in ministry that this is having an effect, and

34:47

we really believe that it could

34:49

reach, uh, Arabic

34:52

is a seventh largest people

34:54

language group in the world. Seventh,

34:56

and there are many different dialects. And right now

34:59

the chosen is being translated. I mentioned

35:01

this gentleman, Rick Dempsey. Rick came

35:03

from Disney, where he worked for 35 years

35:05

directing all of their translation and localization

35:07

efforts. He now spends his time with

35:09

Come and See retired from Disney and

35:12

he is overseeing this to do

35:14

it well, to do it with quality

35:16

and uh, interacting with with

35:18

the the Arab translators. And we're doing

35:21

classic Arabic, we're doing

35:23

Egyptian Arabic and Syrian Arabic right now.

35:25

The first, uh, 50 episodes of,

35:27

of uh, excuse me, a

35:30

that's part of the first 50 languages we're doing

35:32

for the chosen. And so they're just about finished

35:35

with seasons one through three in that. But you can be

35:37

praying for that. And there are other people, groups

35:39

who are hungry to to

35:41

see what is the authentic Jesus. And

35:43

from Scripture. And this is, this is how

35:45

they're seeing him. And again,

35:48

you've got the scriptures that have already been translated

35:50

into those languages where people can go and read for

35:52

themselves. The story is told in the Gospels

35:54

and in the scriptures.

35:56

Also, I'm gonna continue our conversation with Stan Janz in just

35:58

a moment. We've got one more segment for your calls.

36:00

Great calls. They've been 87754836.

36:05

Seven five. We're going to kind of do a lightning round.

36:07

So I want you to be ready to ask those questions when we come

36:09

back. (877) 548-3675.

36:13

Stanchions is our guest. He's leading the Come and See foundation

36:16

working with the chosen. And we're going to continue with

36:18

our conversation with you.

36:31

Hey! We're back.

36:31

Its stats are live. We're continuing our conversation

36:33

with Stan. We're going to go to your calls. Callers.

36:35

I'm going to start going to the calls. But I really

36:38

want to ask you to jump right in with your question

36:40

in your comment, so we can get through as many as

36:42

we can. We're going to go to first to Judy

36:44

in Grand Rapids. Judy, you're live on

36:46

the air. Go right ahead.

36:48

Okay. So my question was, how

36:50

can I pray for like specific

36:52

problems that you see that can possibly arise or

36:54

conflicts or any obstacles?

36:56

Because when I heard that you guys are

36:58

aiming to translate it to 95%

37:01

of the world, basically I

37:03

felt like there was definitely going to be some

37:05

attacks from the enemy.

37:08

One great question, Judy. Good.

37:10

Stan, tell us.

37:11

Judy, go to come and see

37:13

Foundation org and

37:15

you'll you click on um, you know,

37:17

uh, how to partner with us and there's you can

37:19

be a member of the Come and See prayer crew,

37:22

and they will outline specific things

37:24

that you can be praying for. And

37:27

obviously, we want to pray for Dallas

37:29

Jenkins. He's the creator of the show,

37:31

the director. There's an enormous amount of,

37:34

you know, what's expected of him. Pray

37:36

for the actors. And they're going to start filming

37:38

season five in April. Pray

37:40

for the audiences that watch season

37:43

four. As I said, it's releasing in theaters

37:45

starting February 1st in thousands

37:47

of theaters around the country. And as people watch it together,

37:50

just pray that God would move and stir their hearts,

37:52

begin reading their Bibles, maybe return the church

37:54

if they haven't gone, or if you're in a church, get

37:56

a group to going. So those would be things. But I

37:58

would encourage you to join our prayer crew. We've

38:00

got 47,000 people

38:02

right now actively praying for

38:04

Come and See and The Chosen, and we would love to

38:06

have you part of that.

38:07

Love that. And we'll put that link to I think it's

38:09

right there, but not Karen. Just check and make sure that

38:11

link is there so people can sign up for the prayer thing.

38:14

What a super question.

38:16

Uh, I think it's Darryl in Fullerton, California.

38:18

Listen on K wave. Darrell, you're live on the air. Go right ahead.

38:21

Yeah. Thanks for taking the call. It's kind of a quick question.

38:23

I'm wondering if they are going to be

38:25

using descriptive video for the blind

38:28

and physically and visually impaired,

38:30

like in the theaters or any of the streaming that

38:32

they're going to be doing, so that

38:34

people who are visually impaired can be

38:36

able to hear what's going on.

38:38

Love the question. What do you think, Stan?

38:40

Yep. Darrell. Absolutely. And

38:42

that is being in process right

38:44

now. I can't give you a date when they'll start having

38:46

the seasons for that, but that is incredibly important.

38:49

And there's a really descriptive video

38:52

is what it is is describing what's happening on the

38:54

screen so people can understand

38:56

it and not just understand it, but also

38:58

in their own internal visualization of what that

39:00

would look like. So yes. Thank you. Great question.

39:02

And yes, it's a part of our our ministry

39:04

has come and see.

39:05

Love that Eileen in Cleveland Ohio you're

39:07

live on the air.

39:08

Yeah. Hi. I wanted to just

39:11

be encouraging to the

39:13

staff of the chosen and to the

39:15

people behind it. I work with the refugee

39:17

and immigrant population in Cleveland.

39:20

So the translation is not only useful

39:22

overseas, it's incredibly useful

39:24

here. And I have sat

39:26

with people from

39:28

Iraq and we have watched the

39:30

chosen together, and I wasn't sure how

39:32

it was going to be received. But I was

39:35

incredibly encouraged that not only

39:37

the mother, but the son watched it.

39:39

And it is the quality and

39:41

it is also the Middle Eastern

39:43

life, the understanding of

39:45

the culture that's within it. I think

39:47

it really speaks to people.

39:50

And so I just wanted to encourage

39:52

that. It is incredibly useful

39:54

as we work in the populations

39:57

here. It's a very good tool

39:59

to begin conversations.

40:01

Love this, love this. What a great call. What

40:03

a great exhortation as well. All right, let's

40:05

go to Kim in Baltimore. Kim, you're

40:07

live on the air with your question or your comment.

40:10

Thank you for taking my call. How do

40:12

I respond to a family member

40:14

who doesn't think we should watch The Chosen?

40:16

Because she says it's a graven image of

40:18

Jesus?

40:20

I think that's a great question too. And Stan, let me

40:22

mention quickly on this as well, because we've talked about this

40:24

before, that in the theological

40:26

traditions are out there. There are some people, particularly on

40:28

the reform side of evangelicalism

40:31

or elsewhere, who think that any images

40:33

of any person of the Trinity

40:35

are theologically prohibited. That's

40:37

not what most Christians have thought for

40:39

2000 years. You know, I just was in,

40:42

uh, I, we lived in Oxford for the fall, and there's

40:44

this church that's been meeting there for a thousand years, and they

40:46

have a beautiful mosaic of Jesus.

40:48

And so for for most of the history

40:50

of the church, Christians have in

40:53

most places, not all places thought it was

40:55

appropriate and perceived graven image

40:57

as something else. Uh, however,

41:00

now, of course, you've got the idea

41:02

of movie and, you know, pictures and

41:04

film and those sorts of things.

41:06

But I would say, Stan, I'm sort of answering

41:08

the question, please forgive me. You can weigh in at any time.

41:10

But what I would say, Kim, you said your

41:12

family member. Well, I would say if your family members

41:14

conscience is that they don't want to see any

41:17

visual depictions of Jesus. And sometimes

41:19

the reason is a lot of Americans, their picture

41:21

of Jesus is this blond haired Jesus

41:23

kind of standing at the door, because that was

41:25

the most famous picture of Jesus that was ever

41:28

made in the whole world. And I got to. That's

41:30

not what Jesus looked like. Jesus didn't have blond hair.

41:32

Um, and so I think for some

41:34

might say, well, I just don't want to have my

41:36

image of Jesus shaped by

41:38

something else. I respect that.

41:41

I don't share that because I, I love

41:43

to look at the beauty of art and to see how

41:45

people have depicted Jesus for 2000

41:47

years. Right here on the Biola campus, there's a depiction

41:50

of Jesus painted on the side of a wall

41:52

of, uh, the word became flesh. So

41:54

I'm of the view. And Stan, I'll have you weigh in.

41:56

I'm of the view that this is not

41:59

the category, but when my sisters or brothers

42:01

say to me, you know, I don't want to. I don't

42:03

want to do this because of graven image, man. I just respect

42:05

their convictions. Just like people have different convictions

42:08

about different things. What do you think, Stan?

42:10

Yeah, that's a great answer. And this

42:12

comes up from time to time. Judy. So that's a very

42:14

legitimate question. And I think

42:16

what happens is, is we have to look, how

42:18

did God create us? God created

42:20

us to be visual. You know, we have the question about

42:22

the blind, obviously. So there are those that are

42:24

impaired. And but yet we want that description.

42:27

And I think through history it has been

42:29

some of the beautiful portrayals. But

42:31

what I like also, though, and one of the previous

42:33

callers, I believe it was Eileen, was

42:35

saying how they're using it with Iraqis and

42:37

that they're responding. This is the first time we've

42:39

had a show about Jesus that uses ethnically

42:42

accurate actors. And so

42:45

you do have Jesus. In fact, the actor who plays

42:47

Jesus, his father was Egyptian.

42:49

And you have others. We have

42:51

a couple of Jewish actors. And so these are people

42:53

of Middle-Eastern descent who are playing these parts.

42:55

I think that adds a lot of authenticity to

42:58

people who are from those regions that would

43:00

be able to identify or as Ed said,

43:02

we don't get the blue eyed blond hair Jesus either,

43:04

that it's been portrayed many times.

43:06

So I think that's a great answer. AD I

43:08

think it's one that does come up from time to time.

43:10

But I think for most folks, there's a there's

43:13

a verse and I can't quote the, the location

43:15

for it, where the Apostle Paul says that

43:17

he would ask that the Lord open the eyes

43:19

of our heart and the heart

43:21

being the seat of our emotions. And it's

43:23

that part of us that is, I think,

43:26

where sometimes where art comes from.

43:28

And so then you have this, that, but it's the eyes

43:30

of the heart to see and be able to experience

43:32

and to embrace these.

43:34

He is human. He is still

43:36

human. He's at the right hand of the father, seated

43:38

at the right hand of the father. He is praying

43:40

for us, interceding for us. And

43:43

Jesus is a human. He is

43:45

a he is God, completely God,

43:47

completely human. But he is

43:49

in human form, completely

43:51

God. And it's just it's one of those mysteries of

43:53

the Trinity. But he is he

43:55

came. God sent his son

43:58

so that we could identify with him

44:01

in this, this human form. So

44:03

by great question, and I think it's is it

44:05

I love your answer. It's the best transfer I've ever

44:07

heard to that. So thank you.

44:09

Well, I think it's one of the things I say. It's a valid

44:11

question. It's not a it's not a casual dismissal

44:13

question. I think sometimes people are like, well this is

44:15

big, successful, but I don't like it for this or that.

44:18

But there are people who just have consistently

44:20

Christians for particularly on the reform side, who

44:22

consistently said no images of Jesus. I

44:24

get it, I get it. I wouldn't want to push

44:26

against that. I don't hold that

44:28

view. And I think ultimately now,

44:30

now what I would say is with that, I would also say there's a

44:33

caution. Uh, I, you know, I want to read the Bible

44:35

far more than I watched The Chosen. And and

44:37

I think, you know, I've heard Dallas say this many, many times,

44:39

and I don't want like like in the Bible,

44:41

Matthew is not there's not

44:43

a clear indication Matthew's on the spectrum.

44:46

Uh, not. You know, Jesus didn't necessarily do it this way.

44:48

And the Bible should be we believe

44:50

the Bible is inerrant, inspired.

44:53

The clarity that's there is a clarity we want.

44:55

But this also can help us to see some

44:57

of those passages, uh, come to life

44:59

or be thought of in new ways as well.

45:01

Okay. Let's keep going. Uh, we're going to remember

45:03

we're in a lightning round. I guess we're almost out of time, but

45:06

I think we can squeeze in just a couple more

45:08

calls as well. Let's go to, uh,

45:10

Timothy in Dayton. I was

45:12

I'm not sure where it is, but Dayton somewhere. Timothy,

45:14

you're on the air.

45:16

Great. Thank you. Dayton, Iowa. Hey.

45:18

Uh oh. Great. My big question is,

45:21

how biblically accurate

45:23

is the chosen? I think you've

45:25

probably explained it, uh, you know,

45:27

but if you think back to

45:30

the Left Behind series, those

45:34

say, touched on biblical

45:36

things, but obviously

45:38

that, you know, that is fiction.

45:42

So that's my question. How biblically

45:44

accurate? Are

45:46

the episodes.

45:47

Not super, super question to me. Let me also say to

45:49

the Dallas Jenkins dad, is that as

45:51

a left behind series as well? So he said, but

45:53

a very different approach. But just and talk

45:55

to us about how biblically accurate is and we got just

45:57

a couple of minutes left to say.

45:59

Yes, you'll find.

46:00

And again, as the seasons move on, that there

46:02

is a lot of Scripture quoted

46:05

in the Chosen. So I think the biblical

46:07

accuracy is related to the fact that

46:09

the Bible is the source book for

46:11

the scripting, and so they're going to

46:13

be very faithful to that. Some of the characterization,

46:15

this ad said they are plausible,

46:19

but that doesn't necessarily mean but it doesn't mean it

46:21

didn't happen that way. So but

46:23

the accuracy is very much based on Scripture.

46:27

It's awesome.

46:27

Hey, Stan, thank you so much for taking the time.

46:29

This is a super conversation. Let me make sure that

46:31

you that you follow along. You go to the website.

46:34

Website. Com find all the links

46:36

there as well. Tune in. Next week I'm gonna talk

46:38

to Kara Powell about how to form character

46:40

and lifelong discipleship in today's

46:42

youth. Remember Ed Stetson Live is a production

46:44

of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody

46:47

Bible Institute. Make sure you download the app at search

46:49

live.com and follow along each episode.

46:51

Thanks for listening.