How to Watch Bible Shows Without Writing Them Off Over One Scene

Key takeaways

• Adaptations need creative license. Pastor Adam Mesa said no one can turn David's life into full episodes using only the dialogue Scripture records.
• Apparent contradictions can have simple answers. Mesa walked through how Saul could know David's family and still ask who his father was.
• Test the message, not every detail. His main question for any Bible show is whether the ending message stays true to what Scripture says.
• Pastors and scholars see differently. Mesa said scholars tend to think in black and white, while pastors work with people in the real world.
• Stories that last echo the gospel. The group argued that great stories tend to mirror God's story, whether or not the author meant to.
• Support what you ask for. If we want more faith-based film and television, Mesa said, our money and our words need to follow.

A conversation about the Bible on screen

This episode of Beyond the Letter opens with housekeeping. Pastor Adam Mesa and his co-host Jermaine tested a live AI fact-checker, asking it for figures as the conversation went along. It ran into a daily limit on voice use partway through, and the hosts joked about whose subscription was better.

The real subject came when Mesa described the faith-based projects headed to screen. He mentioned the second season of House of David on Amazon Prime and the next season of The Chosen, which the group said would cover the crucifixion around Easter. He also said he is working on bringing some of the actors who play biblical characters onto the show.

How far should a Bible series go?

One voice at the table said the world needs an R-rated Bible series at a Game of Thrones level. Mesa disagreed. The group checked House of David's rating live and found TV-14, which he called appropriate: his sons can still watch it, and an R rating turns a series into an adult one, while the Bible is not an adult book.

The talk then turned to why some stories last. One voice pointed to C.S. Lewis, where a younger brother sells himself out for Turkish delight and Aslan gives his life for him and lives again. Tolkien's ring, the group said, stands for the love of power and control. They described Game of Thrones as skilled world building that puts human sin on display without being drawn from truth.

Mesa's test for any story is what it leads to and what its moral is. A mobster movie can show what happens in the mob without glorifying it. Another voice went further and argued that the greatest stories mirror God's story, pointing to Superman and to the death and resurrection in Harry Potter, while granting that no creator has said on record that Superman was modeled on Jesus.

Why a Bible story needs creative license

Mesa said he recorded a voice note for executives at Prime explaining the difference between the Bible and a script. As he put it, the "scriptures are narrative to prove a point." The historical accounts in Kings and Chronicles tell the rise and fall of Israel, and they are not written like Narnia or Lord of the Rings. A line of dialogue is there to serve the larger story, not to record every scene.

That is why he believes every adaptation takes some license. Tolkien, Lewis and Martin can change a character when the plot needs it. A writer working from the Bible has boundaries and still has to fill in the moment so viewers understand it. Mesa said that if a show used only the dialogue written in Scripture, the episodes would run about five minutes each, and there would be only around twenty of them.

He was open that he does not agree with every choice. He said he would not have shown Mary Magdalene falling back into her old struggles in an episode of The Chosen, yet he still watches every episode and plans to book a theater for the Easter release and invite people.

Saul, David and a question about a father

Mesa gave one example of how a small decision can ripple. In the book of Samuel, Saul seems to know David and his family, and after David kills Goliath, Saul asks whose son he is. Executives wanted to get ahead of what looked like a contradiction, because the next scene depended on whether Saul was surprised or already familiar with David's family.

Mesa's answer was that both can be true. He used Jermaine as an example: you might know a friend, his wife and his son for a year, and then he does something remarkable and you say you have to meet his dad. Soldiers come home from war, the parents are invited to the ceremony, and someone tells them they raised a good man. People ask about the family when someone does something extraordinary, and they ask the same question about those who do terrible things.

He noted the other options. Making Saul forgetful because of a mental illness could have changed the whole storyline, and another voice added that one decision leads to a web of others. Theologians, Jewish readers, Protestants and Catholics may each weigh it differently.

The test: does it mess with the message?

Mesa said some viewers watched the first episode of House of David, saw David cut by a spear, and wrote off the whole series. He would not have made that choice either. As far as he understands, the creators did not grasp how much Jewish readers honor David. Scripture does not say David was cut, but it does not say he was spared either; it simply is not in that story.

His advice to the Amazon team was to keep the end message consistent with what Scripture is doing. He gave an example: if a guard in a coming Chosen season broke one of Jesus' bones, that would change the message, because Scripture is clear that none of his bones were broken. Clothing that is not period correct is another matter. As Mesa said of David and the spear, "it still doesn't mess with the message."

He also said no production will satisfy everyone, since Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses all read the Bible differently. His advice to creators was to keep the theology true and then bring integrity to what could have been possible.

Scholars, pastors and a hard job

Mesa said the people who know the Bible best are often not the most creative, and they can become a headache on set. A scholar may object that a text says two men fought but never says they fought with swords. In his view, "pastors tend to be the most nuanced because pastors operate in the real world."

He said productions use councils of diverse scholars and aim for consensus, though some people will walk away if their view is not chosen. He believes The Chosen has stayed balanced and good on theology, and said it has a podcast with its council, though he has only listened once and could not vouch for the council himself. He added that House of David has one too.

Mesa said that ten or fifteen years ago, mainstream studios tried films like Noah with far too much license. The projects now in the works are Christian-backed and Christian-owned, which gives him confidence to tell people to go watch them, knowing there will be moments they disagree with.

From The Passion of the Christ to Sarah's Oil

The group noted that The Passion of the Christ is the highest-grossing R-rated film, and that its rating came from the crucifixion scene. Mesa explained why a series is harder than a single film. A two-hour movie about Jesus' last week can lean on monologue and setup, while a series has to invent more dialogue, which is where The Chosen has had to clear hurdles. Another voice hopes for a fearless, independent backer to fund a resurrection film.

Mesa then pointed to Wonder Project, the producer behind House of David, which has a subscription app of family-friendly titles. He said he would screen its upcoming film Sarah's Oil that weekend. As he described it, the film tells the story of the first Black female millionaire, who was told in a dream that her land held oil. He compared it to Esther, where God is behind the scenes, and said he had not yet seen it.

His challenge was plain: "we can't keep saying we want and need more stuff and then not put our dollar behind it." He drew a comparison to churches, where people ask for more while not giving.

What this means for you

Next time a Bible show bothers you, ask the question Mesa asked: does this change the message, or only the details? A detail you would have written differently may give you something to talk about with a friend, and it need not end your viewing.

You might also ask what you want from the stories you watch. The group's measure was where a story leads and what moral it carries. And if you want more family-friendly, faith-based work, a ticket or a subscription is one way to support it.