Andrew: Master, they’re not taking this well. If you say such extraordinary things, you will lose your followers.
Thomas: I have to say it’s difficult to understand. Judas, can you make it?
Judas: I saw great dangers coming and going. But whether he is preaching the kingdom of God or simply preaching himself –
Jesus: Anyway, Judas, it doesn’t look like a popular doctrine. The crowd is drifting away. Comfort the reflection that they are unlikely to make me king today.
The above dialogue is not a sneak peak for season 5 I was chosen. It’s a BBC radio drama called A man born to become a kingand it aired in England during World War II. The 12-part drama of Christ’s Life, A man born to become a king It aired on Sunday evenings at four-week intervals, ending between December 1941 and October 1942. Over the next year, the BBC was BBC4 in 2007. I rebroadcast some of that episodes on CS Lewis. Published version Every Holy Week.
In many respects, A man born to become a king He is a pioneer in the portrayal of Dallas Jenkins’ seven seasons of Christ’s Life. I was chosen It is extremely popular in your home and cultivates a global audience. As of Spring 2024, the languages in Record Settings 50 had dubbed or subtitles. Furthermore, Jonathan Lemie, who plays Jesus, met with the Pope twice to discuss what it is like to portray Christ.
I have been a Dorothy L. Sayers fan for a long time. A man born to become a king. I’m enjoying it thoroughly too I was chosen. However, until my students proposed an advanced paper on drama biblical stories, I thought I would connect the two productions. Once I made the connection, their similarities were clear – and even more prominent as Jenkins doesn’t seem to know A man born to become a king. Therefore, a study of what they have in common may give us some principles about what effectively portrays Jesus’ life. I have listed these principles below, but not necessarily for prioritization.1
Principle #1: Make good art.
I was chosen It has received praise from both Christians and non-Christians as its high quality production. I’m not a film critic, but I can appreciate the virtues of wide-angle shots, close-ups and detailed sets. Watching the show is enjoyable. This is because I feel that Jenkins is called a good storyteller. “One day I was mowing the lawn, praying, thinking throughout my career. And I felt so strong and powerful to put it in my heart. And I said, ‘Well, I really don’t want to do it,’ and he said, ‘Well, make something good.’
God does not respect bad craftsmanship, but his purpose is noble.
Author of A man born to become a king We made a loud commitment to quality craftsmanship. Introduction to the published series, Sayers stated: A man born to become a king “Doing good things”…[but] My purpose was to put that story to the best of my ability. In other words, it’s about creating the best work of art possible. ” she even more aggressively condemns bad Craftsmanship: “A work of art that is not good or true in art is not otherwise good or true or true. Even for enlightenment, it is a lie, and the devil is such a father.”
God does not respect bad craftsmanship, but his purpose is noble.
Principle #2: Write your character as a human, not as a stained glass window.
Both Sayers and Jenkins deliberately avoid the Christianity of dirty glass. Beautifully dressed characters, enduring difficulties, and even tortured with a gentle, handsome face. Jesus and his disciples must be real people who make jokes, frowns, and use slaves. As Sayers wrote to the BBC’s Director of Religious Broadcasting, “No one, even Jesus, must be allowed to “speak the Bible”…it is terribly important to make it look as realistic as possible, and most importantly, Jesus should be presented as a human being, not like a kind of symbolic figure.”2 Similarly, Jenkins said, “As long as we know what the Bible is and what is there, we are human, just like people, humans, we are, so we can freely imagine and think.
“Even Jesus must be allowed to “speak the Bible”…no one exists…
Apart from observing the Bible, this may be the most important principle of all. If Christ does not act like a human, the producers slip into what is called historical heresy DocetismChrist alone I think Like a human. If the people around Christ do not act on humans, it is bad art. Both Sayers and Jenkins choose Matthew in particular and go out the stained glass window. Jenkins chose to portray him as someone with autism, so Jesus called out and reminded him to use it. all The type of humanity, even those diagnosed with disabilities. Sayers made Matthew a wise businessman in everything, with Cockney accents. At a pre-release press conference, Sayers read Matthew’s dialogue section. “You should skin your eyes. You really did. You’d be surprised if you tell you that these mates are up your sleeves.” As shown below, this little excerpt has got her into trouble.
Principle #3: Be faithful to the Bible.
Jenkins’ catchword for this is “plausible.” He is a confessed evangelical who believes that the Bible is God’s Word, but that means that it does not cover all the states of Palestine under Roman rule. If Jenkins and his team, including theological advisors, can “fill in the gaps” with something plausible, they will exercise their creativity there. Sayers were Anglo-Catholics who had no interest in revolutionary theology. Her goal was to share Christ of Scripture and Creed. To that end, her play was submitted to the Central Religious Advisory Committee, consisting of a variety of Christian leaders, including evangelicals and the Jesuits. She presented Christian theology so accurately that Archbishop Canterbury wanted to award her a PhD in Divinity. She unfortunately refused because she could do better without a church label.
Principle #4: Be tough.
It appears that both Sayers and Jenkins have crocodile-like skin. As Jenkins said, “I was someone who was suffering from narcissism. I cared about the affirmation. It was important to me and now I really don’t care anymore.”
The Sayers had a reputation for being stubborn. In one letter to the producer, she said, “Writing English is a playwright’s problem. I’ll give you the reason for what I do, but if you don’t accept them, you can say, “Take it or leave it.” ”3 The rest of the letters are very interesting: start with “Oh, you don’t, my poppet” and end with “I’m sorry to speak so dull…”.
Thick skin is important for this type of production. Millions of people care about Jesus’ story and can speak up with their disapproval. I was chosen It has been distributed with criticism. It joins the Bible, interpreting Jesus in an unbiblical way, idolizing him, and even defending Mormonism. A man born to become a king Many Christian groups, particularly the Lord’s Day Society and the Protestant Truth Society, after hearing the excerpt from Matthew above, tried to ban the play. Such protests went all the way to Parliament. Furthermore, Sayers had an additional obstacle to British law that prohibits expression at the Trinity’s man stage. This had no effect on the radio drama itself, but according to her, “fostered the notion that all such expressions were inherently evil.”
Principle #5: It’s okay to have a mixed cast.
Cast for both I was chosen and A man born to become a king They were chosen not because of their personal faith, but because of their ability to act and their suitability to their role. Jenkins says that more than half of the cast are not followers or traditional followers. As the final editor passes through him and he is committed to a Christian story, he is not troubled by his diverse beliefs in the actor.
Asking the incredible to step into the shoes of the apostle is a powerful way to bring them closer to Christ.
Sayers operated along a similar line. In her essay, “Why do you work?” she recalls a letter from a respectable woman who enjoyed her another play, Enthusiasm for your home. Women wanted to know if the men who played the archangels were chosen for their moral character. Sayers responded that they were chosen for several reasons. First, they had to be the same height. Secondly, he is well-built to stand all the way throughout the movie. Third, you can speak poetry well. And the fourth is a good actor. “When all these technical conditions are met, we may come to moral qualities. The first is the ability to arrive on stage in punctuality and calmness.”
The goal of casting is to find the right actor and help you to be able to pull out from all humanity. This is not in conflict with evangelism. Asking non-believers to step into the shoes of their apostles is a powerful way to bring them closer to Christ.
Principle #6: It’s okay to make money.
To produce professionals, you have to pay the experts. Both Sayers and Jenkins understood this. Already a well-known novelist, Sayers knew the value of her own work. She volunteered for time in various organizations, but she rarely applied to write. Writing is her profession and she has to pay. She values her skills, so she values others’ skills and predicted that they would be paid for it. I was chosen It is a for-profit television series and has a non-profit organization, but earns profitable income from crowdfunding and products.
As Sayers once said, Dogma still has drama.
These six similarities are notable in two shows created in different media, different periods, and in different countries. There are more I haven’t dealt with. The Need for Teamwork: We’ve repeatedly mentioned Jenkins and Sayer, but they’re openly praising the team. The value of having the characters develop in several episodes rather than in one-length production. Finally, the courage to do unprecedented things: A man born to become a king There was no predecessor I was chosen It is the first multiseason television show about the life of Christ.
When I began researching this article, I thought the two productions spoke to virtually different audiences. And it is true that Jenkins’ postmodern, pluralistic, media-immersed viewers are a world away from Sayers’ war-tired listeners. But what the success of the two productions shows is that the audience is ultimately the same. People intrigued by humans, God, holy, likable Christ. Or, like Sayers once said, Dogma still has drama.
- It should be noted that while Sayers’ quotes stem from their sources, all Jenkins statements come from podcast interviews. Patheos, Stetzer’s Church Leaderand Jesus calls. Like Sayers’ comments, they represent ideas he expressed in various venues. ↩︎
- A letter to James Welch, August 1, 1941 Dorothy L. Sayers’ letter, Vol. 2 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 282. ↩︎
- Letter to Derek McCulloch November 28, 1940 Dorothy L. Sayers’ letter, Vol. 2 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 201. ↩︎
Source: Christ and Pop Culture – christandpopculture.com
