Museum of the Bible honors 'The Chosen' with Pillar Award for series' global impact
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Wycliffe Bible Translators receive awards for increasing Bible engagement
The global hit Christian series “The Chosen” has been honored with an award from the Washington, D.C.-based Museum of the Bible for the program’s cultural impact.
Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of “The Chosen” series, was given a Pillar Award at the Museum’s fifth anniversary gala held last Saturday.
In addition to Jenkins winning in the “Impact” category, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association won the Pillar Award for the “Narrative” category, and Wycliffe Bible Translators President John Chesnut won the award for the “History” category.
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The criteria for the Impact Award centers on weighing the level of impact among people who promote the Bible via their “public platform.”
“Our 2022 Pillar Award recipients have achieved exceptional impact on Bible engagement in their fields,” said Museum of the Bible CEO Harry Hargrave in a statement shared with The Christian Post. “Our awards recognize how each has done so creatively and in a way that shows the Bible’s relevance to culture and society today.”
In September, the Museum of the Bible hosted an event featuring a documentary that showed young people’s reactions to “The Chosen” and included a panel of members of the production.
Produced by Angel Studios and available to watch via their streaming platform, “The Chosen” debuted in December 2019. By the end of its second season, it had garnered critical acclaim and around 350 million views worldwide.
Jerry B. Jenkins, bestselling author and the father of Dallas Jenkins, told The Christian Post in an interview earlier this year that he hoped “The Chosen” series would draw people who are not religious to Christ.
“One of the things we really wanted is for people not to see this as a substitute for Scripture or for going to church and listening to sermons and studying,” said Jenkins. “We really want it to drive them back to the Bible and back to church, and we're hearing from a lot of people who say that's happening for them.”
The series garnered some controversy back in April over a satirical ad campaign that featured fake vandalism on several of their billboards across the U.S., which included a link to a lighthearted video depicting demons being angry over the success of the series.
Backlash from some who considered the faux defacing in poor taste led Dallas Jenkins to issue an apology via a Facebook livestream back in April.
“I genuinely ask for your forgiveness,” said the director. “We should have told you from the beginning of what we were planning to do and that the billboards being defaced were ours.”
