TV’s ‘Chosen’ Director Dallas Jenkins Dodges Questions on Mormon Gospel
Dallas Jenkins, son of “Left Behind” author Jerry Jenkins, and Director of the smash-hit TV show The Chosen has his feet put to the fire by apologist Melissa Dougherty, grilling him on his continued insistence that Mormons are believers who love the same Jesus as he does.
Jenkins has been flagged multiple times by the discerment community on account of claiming that mormons are saved that that he would “die on that hill” while making it clear that the production is a ministry, with wife Jennifer on record explaining that the phrase ‘Bible preach;’ is the heart of the show, and that their goal is to use the show “to reach one billion people with the authentic Jesus.” Claiming to be ‘obsessed with clarity’ he remarks:
‘I’m a fundamentalist. But I’m not angry about it….I am a strong evangelical Christian. I would say if you want to use the word conservative, that’s true. In terms of my my spiritual approach, my theology, I was a, I mean, I was a Bible major in college, I went to Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is pretty hardcore, conservative Bible college…”
Pressed about his continued statements that he and his LDS friends love the same Jesus:
..”Yeah, we love the same Jesus. Yeah…I believe that about at least the friends that I’ve gotten to know, those who I have gotten to know well. And what I mean by that is we don’t share the same religion. I mean, I’m not- I don’t consider myself religious. I don’t like that word. I have a relationship with Christ, not a religion. And so I believe we have a different ‘quote unquote’ religion.
…I have asked every conceivable question of my LDS friends about Jesus based on everything that I’ve heard read, things that you’ve said things that, I mean, I have, I’ve done a deep dive into all into all of this. And I would say that, number one, there are things that I have read or heard from ex-LDS, or from articles or videos or whatever, that simply don’t reflect the beliefs of at least the LDS folks that I know or at least most of them.
She asks him what the Mormon gospel is, and he defers the question. He claims he has a high degree of exposure and study on Mormonism, but is either unable to or unwilling to answer a foundation question of their belief.
Well, I’m going to, I’m going here, here’s why I’m going to defer that question and maybe hope to maybe get a little bit more specific, because I’m not trying to shirk the question, its.. I am going to say, I don’t know. I don’t know enough to, to intelligently say, to answer a question like, What is their gospel?
So I’m not going to claim that I know enough to know. I know quite a bit, I think, because I’ve done a lot of study. And I’ve spoken to a lot of LDS folks over the last three years, including some of the highest ranking members of the church. And I’ve asked a lot of questions. But I’m still not comfortable in a public forum saying ‘this is their gospel.’ Because that’s such a huge question. So I’m not going to, for both their sake, and for mine, and for yours, and for the shows, claim that I know enough to say ‘this is their gospel’
That is pathetic.
She points out that all the Mormon missionaries are out there trying to convert people because they clearly believe they either don’t have the gospel, or have one different than theirs. She gives him commonly agreed to, basic Mormon beliefs, explaining in simple terms the LDS gospel of ‘progression’, how they believe everyone can become a god of their own world, and that God the Father was once a man who became God, based on his work and merit, and asks him if he’s famlar with that, and his answer is a trainwreck, trying to turn it back on her and make excuses.
“Well, here’s where I’m gonna continue to be obsessed with clarity, which is I don’t, I’m not comfortable speaking out more. So, because I all I know, is it because here’s, here’s a question that I think is relevant to do you believe that the LDS missionary who comes to your door and shares certain things? Do you believe that every single LDS person believes the exact same thing?”
She presses him that these things are Mormonism 101, similar to Christians saying that Jesus was born of a virgin and that he died and rose again. She asks if the notion of celestial marriages, becoming a god of their own planet, works-based salvation, the existence of millions of gods, new information to him:
No, this isn’t new information. And when I say I’m not comfortable speaking for them, it’s just solely because- it’s not because I haven’t heard any of this stuff or haven’t talked in depth about this stuff- I would say that on the list of things you just mentioned, I would say probably 40% of them are things that when I’ve asked specifically about that particular belief, they’ve said, ‘no, no, it’s not that, it’s this’ or ‘that’s nuanced, And here’s why’ or whatever it is. So, because it’s that specific, that’s why I’m like ‘I’m not LDS I’m not going to speak for LDS…”
…I’ll just, again, I’m going to be very, very careful about which specific (part?) of LDS faith that that that are being discussed. There’s multiple reasons for that one, I’m not going to speak for the LDS church, I’m not going to speak for my friends..”
Jenkins is completely and thoroughly comprised. If you say you understand the gospel, but then defend Mormons as saved Christians who love Jesus, you don’t understand the gospel, and we ought not to presume that he is a believer.
You can see the whole conversation below:
About Author
Mormons are as Christian as at least 75% of evangelicals (That is, if you define “Christian” as unquestioning support of bombing other countries on behalf of Israel, slavish devotion to corporate interests and Wall Street, being a “good person” non-racist aka anti-white, etc.) Mitt Romney is the same level of Christian as George W. Bush. Let’s bomb Iran and Russia and force more poor whites to die from fentanyl in West Virginia- we evangelicals get all this without having to wear magical underwear.
Will Mormons who believe in the basic (truthful) tenents of Christianity be cast into darkness for also being schooled by deceived men in the lies of Smith’s invented religion – having their own planet, etc.? That’s a question only God can answer.
They don’t believe in the same “Jesus.” Mormons believe Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer, but the Bible says in John 1 that “All things came into being through Him [Jesus], and apart from Him nothing came into being which has come into being.” Also in Colossians 1:16 “For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
So, the “Jesus” of Mormonism is very different from the true Jesus as described by the Bible. Since it is a different Jesus, it is a false Jesus. This is just one of many vital differences between Mormonism and biblical Christianity.
I understand that, but not every Mormon embraces the non-Biblical Book of Mormon modifications to the Bible. In some cases these are people who, upon learning the intricacies of the Mormon faith, silently reject the non-Biblical falsehoods while continuing to embrace the fellowship and wholesome community offered in this church.
I live in Arizona among a very large number of Mormons, and not all of them are Biblically ignorant nor unaware of the fact that Joseph Smith was a lying opportunist. Unfortunately, they are few.
It’s good you understand these things, and that some within the LDS understand them. I don’t see remaining in the LDS body as a choice for true Christians, although I understand it may take some time for them to come to this realization. We’re to be salt and light, to make disciples of all nations by proclaiming the true Jesus. It may cost friends and family as Jesus told us but the reward is worth it. I don’t live in Mormon country but I hear through several ministries that many are leaving the LDS as a result of others being born again and are now witnessing to their friends and family. I pray that God greatly increases this number.
It’s all a pile of poop. Even though I would love to have my own planet. That’s science fiction though.
Scooter, If a person remained completely isolated from everything outside of Mormonism, it would seemingly be difficult to ascertain Truth. However, they have always had the KJV Bible widely available to them… even within their religious structure, and for the past over 100 years, they have had external biblical resources available to explain Truth… if they sought them out. Now that the internet is available, numerous resources are available to all of them… all the time.
God obviously saves some of them, but biblically that is through the proclamation of the True Gospel. If they possess the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them, they will move away from the false belief and toward biblical Truth… which would lead to leaving that religious system.
The same can be said for people who attend “Christian” churches. Many people attend for social and personal reasons, but they don’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit. If they do, they should become increasingly uncomfortable with non-biblical teaching and seek to be shepherded and instructed by those who align appropriately with God’s Word.
I live in Utah.
I spent many years of my life studying the LDS, anyone can pick up a copy of Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R McConkie and understand basic Mormon doctrine. I’m sick of these morons who claim to be Christians but can’t defend the basics of the faith. This isn’t a buffet where we can pick and choose what doctrines we like and which we don’t. The real Jesus is the second member of the Godhead, eternal, not created, God manifested in the flesh, the only Jesus that saves.
“Compromised” is the reason that at the end of the last season they intentionally had Nicodemus make some statements that were accommodating to Mormon beliefs. Those weren’t biblical statements from Nicodemus. They were deceptively accommodating statements that could open the door to Mormonism. Perhaps his “friends” suggested the accommodating wording.
Even the title is bad. Jesus was not CHOSEN. He was SENT.
The Chosen refers to the 12 Deciples.
The short version of definition of the God Christians worship is found in the ancient Nicene creed. It contains the statement:
“And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.”
Mormons do not believe this. Mormons do not believe that Jesus was “begotten from the Father before all ages.” They deny the Trinity. They believe that he is a created being, the spirit brother of lucifer who happens to be another spirit child of Elohim instead of a fallen angel. They believe that if you’re a good Mormon, you too can have your own planet to be God over with your spirit wife and have spirit kids of your own. It’s religious multi-level marketing.
…but you wouldn’t want to offend future customers for your TV series.
Dallas is uncomfortable with answering questions about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because he is not a member. People who belong to that church are just as important as others and should be treated as such. They are free to believe what they do, and anyone else can believe what they can. You can’t stop them, and you shouldn’t try to break them down. You have better things to do with your time. If they are wrong, let them deal with the consequences, but leave them be.
So I came across this article by accident as I’m trying to find Melissa’s video. So I’m a year late, but let’s clear some things up.
1st off, Melissa Dougherty only really pushed Dallas two times in her almost 2 hour video. Once was in the begining when Dallas did some word salad concerning how he references the Trinity and the other was here where she couldn’t get him to budge and say anything about what the LDS belive in. But even in her “pushing back”, she was still soft on him and spent the entire interview coaching him through his various and conflicting responses, reflected his replies and even helped him raise up strawmen arguments, and let him get away with quite a few damaging admissions from him.
As an example, Dallas happily stated that 95% of the Bible isn’t in The Chosen. He also said that members of the LDS church have told him how they don’t have a problem with his depiction of Jesus as they don’t see a difference between their Jesus and the version by Dallas. On both statements, there was no objections or concerns about this that was ever voiced by Melissa nor did she ask further questions about these responses by Dallas.
Unfortonately, it seems you can no longer see and hear those segments for yourself as Melissa has just now set the video to Private. I find it curious that she did so considering the latest Pride flag drama that The Chosen Inc has doubled down and Dallas coming out last night with his response. I could be wrong, but it almost looks like an attempt to hide statements of what Dallas has said from two years ago as it might be damaging to him presently.
However, my video also from 2 years ago is still available to view, which I published in response to that interview and it breaks down what Melissa and Dallas discussed. Please use at as a secondary reference until Melissa’s video hopefully resurfaces.
https://youtu.be/kkJjzEOhax4
It looks like Melissa’s video is back up now. I’m sure it was just an accident when she physically went in to adjust her video settings…