Two online shows, both educational and entertaining in how they cover the scriptures, are generating substantial and devoted audiences.
The oldest show is “Drive Thru History” (DTH). Since we are in Eastertide, they have a program “Acts to Revelation”, basically the New Testament beyond the Gospels that is relevant to this season. It is in 18 episodes, each 25 minutes or so.
Dave Stotts is the host and is a seminary graduate. He writes “At Drive Thru History® (https://www.drivethruadventures.com/ ), we think history education should be culturally engaging, fact-filled, and super fun. That’s why for the last 15 years, I’ve traveled the world to share history on location. We call it ‘Adventure Learning’.” The photography is excellent and the scenery can be breathtaking. He also has a sense of humor.
In this series, using a Land Rover, he will take you to sites such as the Upper Room and Solomon’s Gate in Jerusalem as well as Paul’s birthplace of Tarsus, now in Turkey and the road to Damascus where Paul “saw the light” and moved from a persecutor of Christians to a leader that would undertake missionary trips in support of Christianity. Scripture leaps off the page in this series and you can hear it and see where it took place. Stott quotes scripture but links it together into a story. It flows together well.
You can see portion of all the 18 episodes here through amazon – amzn.to/3vJFuwu. DTH is only one series of many they have done.
The second show is “The Chosen”, about the life of Jesus. Several parishioners are following the series.
From Prime Video- “The focus does not center just on Jesus but also the Apostles such as Peter and Andrew and also who followed him at distance, including Nicodemus.” The reviews have been positive based on the acting and their approach to the Gospels.
From VOX – “Issues that plague the modern Christian church get their fair share of attention in the series. Poverty is a constant reality for the disciples and most people they meet. Multiple episodes focus on the racial tension between the Jews and Samaritans with Jesus roundly castigating his followers for their own prejudice.”
But is it accurate ? Here is “The Chosen’s” response – “The Chosen is based on the true stories of the Gospels of Jesus Christ. Some locations and timelines have been combined or condensed. Backstories and some characters or dialog have been added. However, all the bible and historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures. “
Most people who have seen one of these episodes get instantly hooked. The quality of the acting and dialogue are superb. Here is an interview with some of the actors and actresses
The entire story is in 7 seasons. 3 seasons have been completed and released and season 4 is on tap to be released. As of April 11, filming has begun on season 5, 68 days of filming in Utah dealing with Holy Week.
So where was Season 4 ? They had issues with Angel Studios, the original distributor of the series on the terms of their contract and they submitted the dispute to an arbitrator which voided the contract. The Chosen believed the contract had been breached.
The release for season 4 has been on hold since March, 2024 but will be released on Sundays, beginning June 2, 7pm and then the next episode on Thursdays at 8:30pm. This pattern will be repeated in future weeks.
There are four ways to watch the Chosen:
1. Livestream from the Chosen website
2. Social media pages
A. @TheChosenSeries – YouTube
B. InsideTheChosen – Facebook
C. @thechosentvseries – Instagram
D. @thechosentv – Twitter
E. @thechosentv – TikTok
3. Chosen app in the Appstores –Apple and Google Playstore They recommend updating your Chosen app on your device.
4. Buy the DVD in their gift store
It will eventually be available on Apple TV, Google TV, Fire TV and Roku.
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