Dallas Jenkins on the set during filming of The Chosen.
LOGAN — Utah State University will be hosting Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of “The Chosen.” The free event will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall.
Patrick Mason, the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, will moderate a discussion with Jenkins about how the free-to-stream show that portrays the life of Jesus Christ has become so popular. He said the event is a collaboration between the Arrington Lecture Series, the religious studies program and the Logan LDS Institute of Religion.
“It’s because of the impact of The Chosen,” said Mason. “The popularity it has had with all kinds of populations in the state of Utah, Latter-day Saints and people of other faiths. We actually had some of the supporters of our religious studies program reach out and ask about bringing Dallas Jenkins to campus, as someone who reaches across and bridges those traditional divides. We reached out to him and his people, and it worked out. We are really excited.”
“The Chosen” started airing in 2017 and has released two seasons out of a planned seven. It depicts stories from the New Testament through the lives of the characters involved. The show is highly popular among evangelical, Latter-day Saint, and Catholic audiences, among others.
Mason said the series has been a pretty brave endeavor, trying to put words in the mouth of Jesus, let alone the apostles, Mary Magdalene and everybody who was around him. However, providing an interpretation of some of the human interest stories has been what appealed to viewers the most.
“The gospels in the New Testament as they were originally written, are meant to be human stories, especially the gospels of Mark and Luke. These are full great human stories that I think sometimes we lose sight of, especially in translation and things like that. In a lot of ways, I think with this series, Jenkins has captured the spirit or the ethos of those early gospels the way they were written.”
Jenkins is expected to talk about how “The Chosen” came to be and how it is one of the largest crowd funded media projects ever. There will also be a Q&A portion where audience members can submit questions.
Mason said many religions have often been at odds with each other over their respective beliefs and understandings of Jesus Christ. However, Jenkins, who describes himself as a Baptist-raised evangelical Christian, has partnered with a production company operated by Latter-day Saints, to distribute “The Chosen” and has bridged some of those religious divides.
“That is one of the things we are going to talk about, some of Jenkins own misconceptions about Latter-day Saints that have been cleared up as he has worked alongside them in producing this series. He has actually taken some heat from some of his own community because of this close partnership with Latter-day Saints. That relationship hasn’t always been warm between the two communities.”
A large and diverse audience is expected for Wednesday night’s event. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. It will also be live-streamed on the event’s web page.
will@cvradio.com