Dallas Jenkins Defends 'The Chosen' Angel Teaser and Warns Against Making Certainty an Idol. Test the Show by Scripture.

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

A short teaser for Season 6 of "The Chosen" showing warrior-like angels in the Garden of Gethsemane has drawn praise, mockery and a sharp reply from director Dallas Jenkins, who says some critics are making certainty into an idol.

These accounts come from reports read Thursday evening, Nov. 5, Central time. The debate is about a short teaser, not a finished Season 6 release; the full season has not yet aired for general audiences.

"The Chosen" has a large Christian audience precisely because it dramatizes Gospel scenes many viewers already know. That is why a teaser lands so hard. People are not arguing about a random fantasy series. They are arguing about how to picture Jesus's arrest.

The clip and the verse

The Christian Post reported that the teaser shows blue-skinned, racially diverse angels in Gethsemane, including one resembling a Native American warrior with a bow, and that some critics called the look "forced diversity" or compared it to "Avatar." The Post said Jenkins suggested on Tuesday that critics of the teaser are guilty of idolatry.

Jenkins wrote, "Some people make 'certainty' an idol. Having certainty in your love and commitments to others, and in God's authority and Truth, is great. There are some supremely important things in my life I'm absolutely certain of. But for some folks, the need for certainty expands to everything. And they nearly always value certainty over curiosity," according to The Christian Post.

Deseret News reported that executive producer and writer Tyler Thompson pointed to Matthew 26:53 as the spark for the scene. In the King James wording Deseret quoted, Jesus asks, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" Thompson told Deseret News in September, "What if we showed them poised, and ready to intervene, and then they were in effect told not to?"

Crosswalk reported that fans who defended the scene also pointed to Matthew 26:53, and that some who had already seen the full episode said the moment made more sense in context, while others called the show unbiblical.

What Jenkins asks viewers to do

Deseret News said Jenkins argued that the clip was intentionally edited as a brief teaser without the full context, and that viewers should wait for the episode before forming hard conclusions. The Christian Post said he was responding to negative reactions to the short teaser for the sixth season of the Amazon Prime series.

For a different entertainment fight over how a studio releases a film, see Pitt's Cliff Booth Film: Short IMAX Run, Chains Say No.

Deseret News also described the creative choice as culturally diverse, shimmering and warriorlike. That visual language is what set off the fight. Supporters say it makes Matthew 26:53 concrete. Critics say it borrows too freely from modern fantasy.

Opinion:

Drama about Jesus will always be incomplete. No camera can hold the Son of God. Artists who adapt Scripture take risks. Viewers who care about Scripture are right to test those risks against the text, not against the loudest feed.

Jenkins is right that curiosity beats a rush to judgment on a 20-second clip. He is wrong if he treats every objection as idolatry. Asking whether an angel looks like a comic-book warrior is not the same as denying the resurrection. Believers can love a show and still say a choice was unwise.

The verse itself is the better center of gravity. Jesus could have called legions. He chose the cross. That is the point. Keep your eyes on Him. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Read Matthew. Then watch, or don't. But do not let a teaser disciple you.

Churches should use moments like this to open Bibles, not only comment threads. If a show sends people back to Matthew, it has done some good even when the makeup department goes too far.