Six Principles for Making a Life of Christ: The Chosen and its Forerunner

Andrew: Teacher, they are not covering this at all. He will lose his followers if he says such extraordinary things.

Thomas: I must say that it is difficult to understand. Can you leave, Judas?

JUDAS: I have seen a great danger come and go. But if the kingdom of God is preaching, or simply preach to himself –

Jesus: In any case, Judas does not seem to be a popular doctrine. The crowd is moving away. Comfort yourself with the reflection that they are not likely to be crowned by king today.

The previous dialogue is not an advance or season 5 or The chosen one. It is a BBC radio drama called The man born to be kingand was broadcast in England duration of World War II. A drama of twelve parts of Christ’s life, The man born to be king It was broadcast on Sunday nights around four -week intervals, starting in December or 1941 and ending in October 1942. The entire nation enjoyed the work; Around the following years, the BBC again described several of its episodes, even as recently as 2007, in BBC 4. CS Lewis called it “a complete success” and read its published version every year for Holy Week.

In many ways, The man born to be king It is a precursor to the representation of seven seasons of Dallas Jenkins of the life of Christ. The chosen one He has become popular at home and is developing a global audience. From the spring of 2024, he had folded or subtitled in a record of fifty language. In addition, Jonathan Rouumie, who plays Jesus, has with the Pope twice to discuss what is to portray Christ.

I have a long leg a fan of Dorothy L. Sayers, the author of The man born to be king. I have also enjoyed The chosen one. But it was not until a student of mine proposed a senior thesis on biblical stories in drama that I thought of connecting the two productions. Once I made the connection, their similarities were obvious, and even more surprising, since Jenkins does not seem to know about The man born to be king. Therefore, a study of what they have in common could give us some principles for what makes an effective representation of Jesus’ life. I have listed these principles below, not necessarily in order of priority.¹

Principle #1: Make a good art.

The chosen one He has received praise from Christians and non -Christians as a high quality production. I am not a film critic, but I can appreciate the virtues of wide angle, first planes and a detailed set. Seeing the program is entertaining. This is because Jenkins feels called to be a good narrator. “I was cutting my grass one day and praying and just thinking about my career, and I felt so strong and Powerully that God put it in my heart,” I want you to make movies and tell stories about me. “And I said:” Well, I really don’t want to do that. And he said: “Well, make good.”

The author of The man born to be king He was vociferantly committed to quality crafts. In his introduction to the published series, Sayers says: “It was assumed by many pious people who approved the project that my object in writing The man born to be king It was ‘doing good’ …[but] My goal was to tell that story the best I can, within the middle at my disposal, to the shorts, to do a work of art as good as I could. “She goes further to active conviction bathroom Craftsmanship: “A work of art that is not good and true in art is not good or true in any other aspect, and it is useless for any purpose, even for the building, because it is a lie, and the devil is the father of everything.”

God is not honored with bad crafts, however, noble is the goal.

PRINCIPLE #2: Write the characters as humans, not as windows of stained glass.

Both Sayers and Jenkins intentionally avoid stained glass Christianity: characters with clean clothes, lasting difficulties and even torture with placid and beautiful faces. Jesus and disciples must be real people who joke, lay and even use snake. As Sayers wrote to the director of religious transmission of the BBC: “No one, not even Jesus, must” talk about the Bible “… it seems to be terribly important that the thing seems as real as possible and, above all, that Jesus must present himself as a human being and not as a symbolic species or figure.”² Along the same lines, Jenkins believes that, “while we know what writing is and what it is, I think we are free to imagine and think of these people, human beings, as we are. Windows.”

Apart from an adhesion to writing, this can be the most important principle of all. If Christ does not act as a human, the producers get into a historical heresy called docetism, in which only Christ Seems Like a human. If people in Christ do not act human, then it is a bad art. Both Sayers and Jenkins choose Matthew, in particular, to leave the window window. Jenkins chose to portray him as someone with autism, reminding us so Jesus calls and uses all Types of humanity, even those diagnosed with a disorder. Sayers made Matthew a Cunning Business Man with, of all things, an accent from Cockney. In a press conference prior to liberation, Sayers read a section of the Matthew dialogue: “You should keep your eyes bruised, you really did. If I told you the elusive that these guys have the sleeves, you will be surprised.” As we will see below, this little excrement put it in trouble.

Principle #3: Be faithful to the Scriptures.

Jenkins’ capture word for this is “plausible.” It is a confessed evangelical that believes that the Bible is the Word of God, but that does not cover all Palestinian conditions under Roman domain. If Jenkins and his team, which includes theological advisors, can “complete the gaps” with something that is plausible, then it will exercise its creativity there. Sayers was an Anglo-Catholic who had no interest in revolutionary theology: his goal was to share the Christ of the Bible and creeds. To that end, his works underwent a central religious advisory committee, composed of a variety of Christian leaders who included evangelicals and Jesuits. She presented Christian theology with such precision that the Archbishop of Canterbury wanted to grant her a divinity doctorate: an honor that laments declined, on the argument that the Lababal could rather do without a technician.

Principle #4: Be hard.

Both Sayers and Jenkins seem to have skin and crocodiles. As Jenkins has said: “I used to be someone who fought with narcissism. I was worried about the statement. It was important for me, and now I really don’t care.”

Sayers had the reputation of being stubborn. In a letter to a producer, she states that “the writing of the English language is the matter of the playwright; I will give you my reasons for what I do, but if you do not accept them, I can only say:” Take it or leave it. “³ The rest of the letter is quite incoming: it begins with: “Oh no, no, my poppet” and ends with “I’m sorry to speak without surroundings …”

Thick skin is critical for this type of production. Millions of people care about the history of Jesus, and can be vowels in their disapproval. The chosen one He has received his quota of criticism: he is joining the Bible, playing Jesus in a non -biblical way, making idols and even defending mormonism. The man born to be king He alarmed many Christian groups, in particular the society of observance of the day of the Lord and the Protestant Society of the truth, who, after listening to the Matthew experiencing previously, tried to ban the work. Such protests are used to Parliament, who hit them. In addition, Sayers had the additional obstacle of an law in England that prohibited any representation on the stage of a person in the Trinity. While this did not affect the radio drama per se, he agreed for her, “encourage the notion that all these representations were intrinsically evil.”

Principle #5: It is fine to have a mixed cast.

The cast for both The chosen one and The man born to be king They were selected for their ability to act and their suitability for paper, not for their personal faith. Jenkins states that more than half of the cast are not traditional believers or believers. Since the last editorial cuts are going through it, and is committed to Christian history, it is not worried about a diversity of belief in the actors.

Sayers operated in similar lines. In his essay, “Why work?” She remembers a letter from a pious lady who enjoyed another work of her, The zeal of your house. The lady wanted to know if the men who interpret the archangels were selected for their moral character. Sayers replied that they were selected for several reasons: first, they had to be or the same height; Second, or good physicist to stand in the work; Third, capable of speaking well again; And fourth, good actors. “When all these technical conditions have been fulfilled, we could reach moral qualities, or what would be the ability to reach the stage punctually and in a sober condition.”

The goal of casting is to find adequate actors, and helps to extract from all humanity. This does not disagree with evangelism: asking a non -believer to climb to the shoes of an apostle would be a powerful way to bring them closer to Christ.

Principle #6: It’s okay to earn money.

To have a professional production, one must pay professionals. Both Sayers and Jenkins understood this. Already famous novelist, Sayers knew the value of his own work; Although he offered his voluntary time in several organizations, he rarely offered his writing. Writing was the professional, for which he must be paid. Because he valued his own ability, he valued the ability of the ethers and expected them to be paid for it. The chosen one It is a for -profit television series, and although it has a non -profit branch, it receives profitable income from crowdfunding and merchandise.

These six similarities are notable for two programs produced in different media, different periods of time and different countries. There is even more than port. The need for teamwork: I have referred to Jenkins and Sayers repeatedly, but openly accredit their teams. The value of allowing the characters to develop in several episodes, instead of a long -term production. Finally, the courage to do something unprecedented: The man born to be king I had no predecessor and The chosen one It is the first television program of several seasons about the life of Christ.

When I began to investigate this article, I thought the two productions spoke with a substantially different audience. And it is true that postmodern, pluralistic and soaked media spectators of Jenkins are a world of distance from the listeners tired of the Sayers War. However, what indicates the success of the two productions is that the public is ultimately, the same: people intrigued by a human, divine, holy and pleasant Christ. Or as Sayers once said, dogma still has a drama.

1. Note that although I have attributed Sayers’ quotes to its sources, all Jenkins statements are podcast interviews with Patheos” Stetzer Church Piliatorsand Jesus calling. Like Sayers’ comments, they represent ideas that he has expressed in a variety of places. ↩︎
2. Letter to James Welch, August 1, 1941, in Dorothy L. Sayers’ letters, Full. 2 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 282. ↩︎
3. Letter to Derek McCulloch, November 28, 1940, in Dorothy L. Sayers’ letters, Full. 2 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 201. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎