One of the executive producers of "The Chosen" recently spoke about how spiritual warfare was a factor in filming the hit Christian series. In a recent interview, Derral Eves, the director of strategy of "The Chosen" and one of the series' executive producers, told Tré Goins-Phillips of CBN News about the criticism directed at the show during its inception.
Eves explained that a 2-hour documentary was made against "The Chosen" director Dallas Jenkins as the anti-Christ and "how evil that content really is" after they first previewed the show in a short film titled "The Shepherd."
"I just smiled, and I called Dallas up. I said, 'We won, we got it,' and he goes, 'What are you talking about'? I said, 'We got our first hater; we got to have our first hater to do this,'" Eves recalled.
"And to do it right because there has to be that struggle for any brand to really go, you have to have someone that doesn't like it, and then it brings in the people that love it," he added.
Eves admitted that despite keeping Dallas, his wife, Amada, and writers of "The Chosen" in prayer, he has had moments of frustration amid the attacks on the series. At the same time, however, those same moments have been times of endurance and strengthening one another in the Lord.
"I'm not going to deny there's been breaking points on my part. I get frustrated, and it's hard for me and my family, and there's been breaking points on Dallas's part, too," Eves said.
"And it's just it's been beautiful to watch where he might be breaking one time is probably the strongest that I've been, and I can strengthen him, and then when I'm about ready to break, he and Amanda and the team strengthens me, and so God's always provided what we needed, and ultimately the attacks are real, the fiery darts are real." he continued.
The interview also touched on the recent success of season 4, and Eves spoke about the season 5, which finished wrapping up filming.
"When Dallas and I first started the show, we had a huge passion to really showcase an authentic Jesus, like a Jesus that wasn't just stoic and just kind of a stained glass window Jesus but someone that had real friends and family and you could see Him in relationships, and you could see the full side of who He is and how to bring in humor and also important messages," Eves said.
"And so for us, just seeing that played out and seeing how the writing's improved, how the production Design's improved, how the acting's improved, I think we've really settled into excellence, I really do," he continued.
WATCH: 'The Chosen' Exec Producer Talks Spiritual Warfare in Making Series | CBN News
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.