The Chosen / Punishing children until their will is broken? / Did the early Christians baptize babies?

THE BULLETIN OF IBTM
with Douglas Jacoby

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15 October 2025

Good morning from Manchester, UK (the international airport)

Today you’ll find five new Q&As in the opening section—hopefully at least one that will be of practical interest to you. (I do like it when your questions make me stop and think.) I’m still working to clear the backlog.

The feature article today focuses on The Chosen. This is far and away my favorite series on the life of Jesus, and if you haven’t heard of The Chosen or watched the series yet, let me urge you to do so! The videos can be watched online (for example, on Amazon Prime), and also through The Chosen app. These are powerful, and well worth the investment of time.

This is followed by a short list—repeated from last week—of easy ways you can boost the impact of the International Bible Teaching Ministry. Finally, a request for your prayers. Thank you for receiving and reading our newsletter.

— Douglas Jacoby, IBTM

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'THE CHOSEN' FILMS THE CRUCIFIXION
How it’ll be different from Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion’
An interview with filmmaker Dallas Jenkins, who spoke at Oklahoma Christian University.
Oct 10, 2025

OKLAHOMA CITY — More than two decades ago, I covered the opening of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” movie for The Associated Press. I wrote that the people streaming out of a theater in Plano, Texas, north of Dallas, “looked as if they’d just attended a wake — and many said they felt as if they had.”

The brutal, bloody nature of Gibson’s 2004 portrayal of Jesus’ death on a cross drew both fans and critics — and mixed reviews.

In 2027, a new feature-length presentation of the Crucifixion will hit the big screen. It’ll mark the culmination of the much-anticipated Season 6 of the worldwide phenomenon “The Chosen.” What should viewers expect? Will it be similar to — or different from — “The Passion” version?

I welcomed the opportunity this week to ask such questions of Dallas Jenkins, the creator, executive director and director of the hit religious drama, which premiered in the spring of 2019 as a crowdfunded project. I talked to the evangelical filmmaker at Oklahoma Christian University, my alma mater, where he spoke Monday as part of the McBride Lecture for Faith and Literature.

“You, my friend, are lifting up the name of Jesus in such a powerful, powerful way,” Oklahoma Christian President Ken Jones said in welcoming Jenkins to campus.

Ariel Howarth, an 18-year-old freshman from Portland, Ore., was among hundreds of fans of “The Chosen” who came to hear Jenkins. “It’s a fun opportunity that we’re able to meet him and hear him speak,” said the Oklahoma Christian student, whose family attends the Vancouver Church of Christ in Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland.

“I really like how it brings all the characters to life,” she said of the first multi-season drama about the life of Jesus, “and it gives them personalities that I wouldn’t have thought about otherwise.”

These highlights from my interview with Jenkins — son of Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the “Left Behind” books — have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity:

On why filming Season 6 was so difficult

“Season 6 was by far the hardest season we’ve ever filmed, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It included filming in Utah, Texas and Italy. We were in Italy for a month. “I think Season 6 was meant to be hard. It was the longest season of filming, the hottest, the most physically challenging.

“Season 6 really captures around 24 hours of Jesus’ final hours — and I think God wanted us to get a little taste of some suffering and sacrifice for the purpose of capturing this.

“I think a lot of the strain and challenge and even at times desperation that we had while we were filming comes out on the screen.”

KEEP READING

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