Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- BYU Professor John Hilton III uses "The Chosen" to teach the New Testament.
- His video series, "Teaching with 'The Chosen,'" has millions of views worldwide.
- Hilton believes biblical media like "The Chosen" enhances scripture study and engagement.
PROVO — More than 2 million views are tallied on a single one of BYU religion Professor John Hilton III's "Teaching with 'The Chosen'" video clips.
Together, the few dozen videos in Hilton's "Teaching with 'The Chosen'" series have garnered millions more views. The video snippet series started as a simple teaching method to connect his students with the New Testament in an original way. But their reach has extended far beyond his classroom.
Since posting his first video in the series nearly three years ago, Hilton has interacted with religious educators, preachers, pastors and others who have used the clips in their own lessons, sermons and Bible studies.
"I made those clips to help me in my own classroom teaching, but then I realized there's a lot of people out there that are going to also be able to benefit from these clips," Hilton said.
"So I'm really happy that I created these clips," he continued. "I think they're useful for people to watch on their own, but also really useful to use in a variety of settings."
His video structure is simple: Hilton isolates a single scene from "The Chosen" and introduces the clip with a reference to the scriptural passages depicted in the scene.
It gives Hilton's students — and other viewers — the opportunity to see passages from the New Testament brought to life.
"There's a real value in reading a scriptural passage and then looking at cinematic depictions of that same passage, and then comparing them side by side," Hilton said. "I love all of 'The Chosen,' but I especially love the scripturally relevant clips."
Hilton has spent his entire career as a religious educator. He taught Latter-day Saint seminary and institute classes for 11 years, and joined the BYU religion faculty 14 years ago, where he teaches ancient scripture — which includes Old Testament, New Testament and Book of Mormon classes.
As someone with more than two decades of experience teaching, researching and studying ancient scripture, Hilton is aware that "The Chosen" and other cinematic depictions of Jesus Christ present only one interpretation of the New Testament.
But Hilton is OK with that, because he believes viewing biblical media encourages deeper scripture study.
"It can give you an idea or perspective that then drives you back into the scriptures. I think it's great to watch multiple different perspectives of a scriptural scene, to stretch my ideas and understanding," Hilton said.
"That doesn't mean that 'The Chosen' or any other cinematic depiction is the way it actually was, but it can help us think about different possibilities, and ultimately drive us back to the scriptures."
Hilton's introduction to 'The Chosen'
Hilton's first introduction to "The Chosen" came in the form of a DVD.
He was gifted the first season of the biblical drama, but with no DVD player, the gift went unused, temporarily postponing Hilton's soon-to-be unique connection to the series.
When Hilton finally streamed "The Chosen," he watched the first episode with both immediate and extended family members.
"Honestly, we didn't love it," he recalled the group feeling during the first episode, which contained some scenes of Mary Magdalene that were distressing for young children. But by the end of that episode, Hilton was hooked.
"The last 60 seconds when Jesus appears is so powerful," Hilton said, adding how it was in that moment he decided the biblical drama would be worth watching.
He continued, "The more I watched it, I just fell in love with Jonathan Roumie's portrayal of Jesus Christ."
Hilton's second introduction to "The Chosen" came in the form of happenstance.
While caroling with his family at a retirement community, one of the residents mentioned that her son worked for "The Chosen" — Brad Pelo, the executive producer of "The Chosen," and president of 5&2 Studios, which creates the series.
Pelo had arranged to visit his mother at the retirement community the following hour; his mother said if Hilton waited, she would provide an introduction. So Hilton stayed.
"He was really gracious," Hilton said of meeting Pelo. "I talked with him about the possibility of creating an academic conference where scholars from different universities came together to talk about 'The Chosen.'"
The plans came together, and they held the conference at BYU. That conference expanded into an essay collection — "Watching The Chosen: History, Faith and Interpretation," which Hilton contributed to — and his ongoing connection to the series.
While Hilton has no involvement in the making of "The Chosen," he has written extensively about the series, attracted millions of viewers with his "Teaching With 'The Chosen'" series, and been on set for filming, including the scenes of the Last Supper.
"It all started with this kind of random connection, caroling on Christmas Eve," Hilton said. "And one thing led to another from there."
Using religious media in the classroom
In connecting with the rising generation of religion students, Hilton has often found success using religious media like "The Chosen" and other biblical films such as "The Gospel of John."
Incorporating this content into his lessons simply provides "another way to help a scriptural text come to life," he explained.
"Religious media is a powerful way to engage the current generation," he said. "Probably gone are the days when I can count on students wanting to read a text and just stay engaged with the text for a 50-minute class. We need lots of different ways to provide variety and engagement, and religious media is one of those."
In his own experience, after presenting clips from his "Teaching With 'The Chosen'" series, Hilton has seen students make new connections to the New Testament after watching the biblical drama's portrayal of a scriptural passage.
