Jonathan Roumie

Jonathan Roumie plays the part of Jesus in The Chosen. He is best described as a devout Catholic, with a strong affinity for the mystical and the New Age. Prior to this role he was an unknown and obscure actor. The success of The Chosen has granted Roumie celebrity status and he has gained a significant following and a global platform of influence. He actively uses this influence to draw people into Catholic beliefs and practices.

Similar to Dallas Jenkins’ personal account – Jenkins is the creator, director and principal writer of The Chosen  (see  Dallas Jenkins ) – Roumie had reached a low point in his life, his career plans had not eventuated and he was on the verge of becoming destitute. At that moment he says he had a spiritual experience which dramatically altered his life, putting it on a new trajectory as within a few months he was selected by Jenkins to play the part of Jesus in The Chosen. In an interview with Nicky Gumbel at the 2022 Alpha Conference, Roumie explained:

“I hit probably the lowest point in my life eight years in where I was broke. I was out of food. Basically I had enough food to last a day. I had bills as far as the eye could see…

I got on my knees stared up at my crucifix and poured out my heart to God and essentially asked him to step in. I surrendered my will and my insistence on how things were going to be done my way….And asked him to intervene and do it his way and whatever he decided I would be okay with.

And that very day he provided me with essentially a financial miracle. I came back to my apartment that afternoon there were four cheques in the mail from all of these disparate and somewhat mystical sources that allowed me to move forward. But now I was moving forward with him driving my career … as opposed to me trying to manage it and wrangle it all myself and then three months later I got called to do The Chosen.”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxpA8-lIdc)

Consequently, he ardently believes that God has chosen him and set him apart for this special role. Moreover, he is convinced that God is using him to spiritually connect people to Jesus:

“My prayer is to be a channel for the spirit to be able to encounter people. You know, to be able to engage people that people can encounter Jesus, through these lines and these words, and find him in ways that have nothing to do with what I’m doing but what I’m not doing and what he’s doing through me.”

Interview with Nicky Gumbel, Alpha Conference, 2022

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxpA8-lIdc)

However, when we test “the spirit” which Roumie seeks “to be a channel” (a New Age concept and totally unbiblical) in order for people to “encounter Jesus”, what spirit do we find, what ‘Jesus’ are they encountering and who did he “surrender [his] will” to while staring at the crucifix?

Roumie Consults with the Dead

• Padre Pio

On Instagram Roumie has a photo of himself next to the glass case in which is housed the body remains of Padre Pio, a Roman Catholic saint, priest and mystic who died in 1968. (Roumie’s head is bowed and his hand is touching the case – he is doing much more than just viewing.) Roumie writes in the caption:

“Visiting Saint Padre Pio, one of the most powerful saints and witnesses to the suffering and the miracles of Christ in the 20th century, as well as one with whom I’ve had personal interactions. The first priest on record to have had the stigmata* (physically documented multiple times). Check him out if you feel compelled to know more…or to ask for his help if you need an additional, divine ‘witness in the clouds’ praying on your behalf to Christ.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSUDCmFDkRv/?img_index=1

* The stigmata are wounds that mimic those of Jesus Christ. There is strong evidence from the Vatican’s own successive enquiries to believe Padre Pio faked the stigmata – he was regarded by two Popes as a fraud.  The controversies were all swept away when he was canonised, however, and now he is one of the  favourite saints of Catholics.

In a YouTube post Roumie says:

“Padre Pio was a saint in the Catholic Church who was a stigmatist…

In result for the grace, because it was a grace to have that kind of suffering, Jesus gave him the ability to do many many many miraculous things.

And so for those of you who are wondering about Saints and the Catholic Devotion to Saints let me repeat that last line. Jesus – Jesus you know him, and if you don’t you should he’s an awesome dude – Jesus gave him the ability through grace to perform many many many untold numbers of miracles in his lifetime and after his lifetime through death because he’s still living as a witness in the cloud and performing miracles to this day to those who have called upon him.”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g–PFcmtfjM)

The Bible condemns talking and interacting with the dead:

Let no one be found among you who … practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD…

(Deuteronomy 18:10-12, see also Leviticus 19:31, 20:27)

Our spiritual guidance is to come from God alone. The Holy Spirit is the Counsellor and the sole source and supplier of spiritual gifts.

The Catholic Church’s promotion of saints is a very great evil. Catholics are taught to pray to the saints and, as Roumie himself acknowledges, encounters with saints are to be sought as they remain active in the world! They act as (false) mediators between people and God, and dispensers of ‘grace’ but the Bible declares:

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

1 Timothy 2:5

The spiritual entities Catholics call saints and claim to experience are deceiving spirits; demons that counterfeit the true works of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not give Padre Pio the ability “to perform many many many untold numbers of miracles in his lifetime and after his lifetime through death” as Roumie believes. He is deceived and in so doing he is drawn in and seduced by the kingdom of darkness.

• Lonnie Frisbee

Roumie was selected to play the major role of Lonnie Frisbee in the recently released movie The Jesus Revolution. Before filming started Roumie visited Frisbee’s grave to consult with ‘him’:

“So before I started work, I went over to Christ Cathedral, and I sat by his grave, and I prayed a Rosary with him. I sat down and I prayed with him. The space just to his right is empty, so I got to sit down or lie. At one point, I even lied down because I just thought it would be kind of interesting to try to connect in some way. That’s probably more information than you need, or may even want to publish. But that said, it’s the truth.

And so I finished praying with him and I said, “Lonnie, I want to honour you with this film, and I really want to bring justice and the testament to the gifts of God’s grace and powers that you displayed while you were on this earth.

“And so, if this is a good idea that I do this film, have somebody give me a sign. Give me a sign, and have God give me a sign.”

And the minute the words left my mouth, behind me, there was a door open to the cathedral, and this giant chord rang out for about five seconds and then stopped.

So I heard that, and I was like, “OK, thanks for that.”

Jonathan Roumie Talks ‘Jesus Revolution’ With Kate O’Hare

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_YkOz37Ng&t=7s)

Roumie is naively connecting himself with spiritual entities that are not the spirits of the dead, but are demonic spirits. He is thereby opening himself up to be used by them. 

His Devotion to Catholicism

• The Eucharist

Roumie explains the mystical importance of the Catholic Eucharist to him, and the central part it plays in his own personal experience of ‘Jesus’:

“For me where I meet him [Jesus] physically is in the sacraments through the Eucharist. Through, you know confession, but specifically in the Eucharist.

When I’m preparing to play him, how I sort of clean myself out spiritually is, I go to mass, I go to confession wherever and whatever city I’m filming in I kind of wipe the slate clean and then receive him in in the presence of  the sacrament of the Eucharist.

And that gives me this energy,  it fills me up in a way that I nothing else does, nothing. I can’t describe what it does but it just it’s it I mean it is literal communion spiritual, physical otherwise for me that’s the closest I can get to him physically and that’s yeah it’s hugely important for me how you portray Jesus.”

Interview with Nicky Gumbel, Alpha Conference, 2022

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxpA8-lIdc)

The Eucharist is of itself a false Christ, and is a gateway to connect with the spirit realm (in exactly the same way pagan sacrifices to idols achieve – every Eucharist is a ‘sacrifice’ of ‘Christ’). Catholicism claims that the bread and the wine undergo a miraculous transformation (called “transubstantiation”)  into the very real Jesus Christ (it is not a mere representation or symbol). From the Catholic Church’s own official website:

“The whole Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine–the glorified Christ who rose from the dead…

This is what the Church means when she speaks of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.

… in the act of consecration during the Eucharist the “substance” of the bread and wine is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the “substance” of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ…

The presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist is an inexhaustible mystery…”

https://www.catholic.org/clife/jesus/eucharist.php

The “energy” Roumie describes (again a New Age concept) is a spiritual encounter with demonic forces – this spiritual phenomenon is well known amongst Catholics when they participate in the Eucharist.

Roumie therefore is purposefully connecting with the spirit realm before each and every episode of filming, with the expectation that ‘Jesus’ would be “physically” present with him. But, who is he really “channel(ling)” when he is acting? It is not the true Jesus, but a lying deceiving spirit.

In this regard, Dallas Jenkins describes how actors encounter a “spirit” through the presence of Roumie on the set The Chosen:

(Note: In the 16^th century, the Protestant Reformers condemned the Catholic Church and broke away from its control pointing to first and foremost the falsehood of the Eucharist – that it was a false ‘Christ’; secondly, they identified that the Pope was the antichrist, “the man of sin” (2Thessalonians 2:3); and thirdly, that the Roman Catholic Church was the “whore” of Babylon described in Revelation 17:

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication…[and herself was] drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (v2&6 KJV))

• A Templar Knight and a Papal Knight

Roumie is a Knight of the the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. It is a derivative of the Knights Templar which is renowned historically for its occultism and bizarre rituals. (See for example https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/why-the-templar-secret-rituals-were-so-controv/ )

Roumie has also been nominated to be inducted as a Papal Knight – the highest honour a lay Catholic can be awarded:

“I was knighted by the order of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem … essentially the Knights Templar which is what that is and they asked me to to join their ranks a few years ago.

[You] may have heard that I also had been honoured to begin the process of being inducted as a Papal Knight which is basically an order of knighthood recognised by the Pope.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LI484mywHU at 1:53:16

This demonstrates that Roumie is recognised as a great asset to the Roman Catholic Church, and that he is a major player in advancing its cause (which is not the cause of Christ!).

• Catholic Prayers

Roumie has numerous Instagram/YouTube postings where he recites Catholic prayers and encourages those viewing to join him. He claims that the majority who do so  are not even Catholic but “multi-denominational”. (Catholics recite rote prayers expecting to receive “grace” or favour by doing so – this practice is totally unbiblical.)

In particular, he utilizes

1. The Rosary – a Catholic devotion which asks for the intercession of Mary, the “Mother of God”, in drawing closer to her son Jesus. When praying the rosary, a string of beads is used to keep track of the progress through the prayers.
2. The Novena – an ancient nine-day prayer ritual making petitions, imploring favours, and obtaining graces by honouring Jesus Christ, Mary and the saints.
3. The Divine Mercy Chaplet – a meditative Catholic prayer ritual initiated in 1935 by a Saint Faustina who received the prayer through visions and conversations with ‘Jesus’, who made specific promises regarding the recitation of the prayers.

In an interview with a Catholic priest Roumie says:

“Roumie: A whole other chain of multi-denominational Christians praying Divine Mercy together now regularly on – I have a fan page and every hour of the day they’re either praying a Rosary or they’re praying a Divine Mercy Chaplet or Novena and I’d say 50 to 70 percent as far as I know are led by non-Catholics…

Priest: That’s awesome. You know for you to being able to lead people to Christ through the beauty of Divine Mercy.

In fact, even if you don’t say it to them by word Jonathan or … when you don’t have a chance to meet them personally I think it comes across in your character. The way that you embraced Mary and looked into her.

And this is why I love what Dallas* did because he was open to that, and that being you know the Catholic role of our blessed mother is so strong.

But yet the non-Catholics got to experience your love or Christ’s love for the Blessed Mother … The Catholics have been given special graces. Now we know that. But we want to share that and this is an opportunity to share God’s mercy with everyone.

Roumie: Pray it if for no other reason for peace within yourself …. it’s brought me peace and if you’re looking for peace a more peace, inner peace, spiritual peace, start praying the chaplet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LI484mywHU at 1:55:27

*The priest is referring to Dallas Jenkins

Note that Roumie emphasises and directs people to another  New Age concept – ‘inner spiritual peace’.

• Catholic Idols/Icons

In his Instagram/YouTube postings, behind him on the wall can be seen various Catholic idols/icons including the image of Divine Mercy. This image is a depiction of Jesus Christ that is based on the Divine Mercy devotion initiated by Saint Faustina. ‘Jesus’ is shown in the image as raising his right hand in blessing and pointing with his left hand on the ‘Sacred Heart’ from which emanates two rays of light. According to her diary, ‘Jesus’ told Faustina:

 “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory.”

Roumie states:

“A Divine Mercy icon … (has) been with me for 17 years and so this image has become the centre of my Divine Mercy prayer time. Those of you who have prayed on Instagram with me will recognize it.”

And:

“I decided to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with the image and I don’t know about you but there’s something about praying with an image or an icon or a statue I was never sure if it was just because it was comforting maybe it felt like it was you know additional access to God’s presence.”

Jonathan Roumie – Testimony on Divine Mercy – Mercy Night

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVGEHr_lzbw)

Veneration or worship of images is condemned in the Bible as idolatry. The Catholic Church is renown for its idolatry (the Catholic Bible has a modified version of the Ten Commandments removing the second that forbids idolatry and splitting the last to keep the number of commandments as ten!)

Roumie’s idolatry opens him up yet again to the spirit realm. Idolatry is a participation with demons:

Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

1 Corinthians 10:18-20

Roumie also wears a scapular – a small cloth necklace worn by Catholics as a sign of their devotion to the “Blessed Mother”. Roumie notes it also:

“… comes with something called a Sabbatine Privilege which meant that after you died – the first Saturday after a person died – that wore this scapular they would be released from purgatory which is not a theology but it’s something that was revealed through personal revelation to Saint Simon Stock. So it’s not something that is necessary for salvation or anything like that but I guess it’s a bonus … extra grace.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LI484mywHU at 2:14:24

Roumie is fully committed to Catholic dogma. He is not trusting in Christ for his salvation, but in his devotion to keeping the sacraments – the rites and the rituals defined by the Catholic Church that it deems necessary for salvation. Even then, he understands he is destined to spend time in purgatory to pay any debt that remains outstanding for his sins, that he hasn’t been able to fully compensate for (again, a wholly unbiblical concept). So wearing a scapular is his hope that his time in purgatory will be short!

• Roumie’s Favourite Author

Roumie lists as his top two favourite books The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life  and  Jesus: A Pilgrimage both authored by Jesuit priest James Martin. Martin was inspired to join the Jesuits through a documentary on Thomas Merton. Thomas Merton is the most important figure in modern times in forging a unity between Eastern Thought and (Catholic) Christianity, through mysticism. He is a modern progeny of the ancient Catholic mystics. Martin is following directly in the footsteps of Merton. (Martin is also a leading advocate for the LGBT community to be officially accepted into the Roman Catholic Church.)

“The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life”  teaches the panentheistic, New Spirituality* and New Age doctrine of God:

“God can be found in everything. And everyone too” (p6), and 

“. . . finding God in all things . . . encountering God . . . In all things. And in all people.” (p391)

(*The “New Spirituality” comprises the three elements of mysticism, ecumenism and universalism.  Its principal tenets are that we can experience the ‘God within’ through contemplative prayer and that we can  grow spirituality through engaging in the spiritual disciplines/exercises.  It has grown out of a renewed interest and acceptance of the ancient Catholic mystics. It has become a significant force in the present-day Catholic Church. And now also many evangelical leaders are either directly or indirectly embracing the beliefs and practices of the New Spirituality. Moreover, Bible Colleges teach it through Spiritual Formation courses. It’s influence over the church worldwide is truly astonishing and marks a watershed moment in the church era.)

Martin’s book explains that a panentheistic state of spiritual awareness can be achieved through meditative exercises including Lectio Divina, contemplative prayer, imaginative prayer and centering prayer, and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola (who founded the Jesuits). These are all totally unbiblical and are based upon Eastern-style meditation practices which seek to empty the mind and disengage the will. The end result is to establish a connection into the spirit realm. Martin of course would claim that it is ‘Jesus’ and ‘God’ who are experienced in this state – as every ‘Christian’ teacher of these practices does. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is a direct bridge to engage with demonic spirits (who, of course, masquerade as ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’). Martin also positively references Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who is regarded as the “father” of the New Age movement. For Roumie to list this book at the top of his favourite reading list demonstrates his acceptance and promotion of New Spirituality and New Age beliefs and practices.

• Hallow App

Roumie has also become a popular voice on Hallow, the number one Catholic contemplative meditation, prayer, and sleep App. Mark Wahlburg and Roumie were featured in a commercial that aired during the 2024 US Super Bowl promoting the App – it cost $70 million and immediately following the airing of the ad Hallow saw the biggest spike in downloads in its history. Subsequently. they both appeared on Fox News (with ash-blackened crosses on their foreheads) to talk about their faith and the Hallow App. 

Conclusion

So…who is “the spirit” Roumie “seeks to be a  channel”? Do people “encounter Jesus” through Roumie or another ‘Jesus’? And who has he “surrendered [his] will” to? The weight of evidence is overwhelming.

Dallas Jenkins says of his relationship with Jonathan Roumie:

“We’ve developed a trust in each other that I feel like we’re on the same … it’s not a marriage but it’s like … we both know that God is telling this story and we’re just trying to find it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LI484mywHU at 1:35:28

See Dallas Jenkins

Roumie is a most suitable candidate, the perfect choice, to portray Jenkins’ false ‘Jesus’ that Jenkins has crafted in his script of The Chosen. There is every reason to believe both Jenkins and Roumie are being used as instruments of Satan to beguile a multitude of people to accept a false ‘Christ’, to trust in a false salvation, and to embrace a false unity of people from all ‘faiths’ (which ultimately leads them to accept Papal supremacy and delivers them into the arms of antichrist).

The “God” Jenkins refers to who is “telling this story and we’re just trying to find it” is not the God of the Bible but the very real “god of this age” (2Corinthians 4:4). Their personal testimonies in which they both claim reveal the hand of God in their lives, rather reveal the work of the Devil which is manifest in the seductive fruit of The Chosen with its marred image of Jesus Christ:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Corinthians 4:4

See also    Catholic Mystics            Spiritual Disciplines                Contemplative Prayer                Lectio Divina                Thomas Merton              Who is the Antichrist