Bear Grylls Calls Refused to ‘Change a Single Word Jesus Said’

Published: November 18, 2025

By Michaela Gordoni

Tough-as-nails Bear Grylls has fought off wolf packs, survived on next-to-nothing and slept in jungles and deserts, but he says writing a book about Jesus was harder.

“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he told Relevant last week. “But also the best thing.”

He started the book The Greatest Story Ever Told while he was filming a survival series with his son in the jungle.

When he wasn’t filming, he was passionately writing. He partnered with theologians from THE CHOSEN to make sure everything he wrote aligned with the Bible.

“I didn’t want to change a single word Jesus said,” he explained. “Not even a comma from the Bible of the words Jesus said.”

It took months to carefully refine the work. But his hard work paid off. The book went to No. 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list.

Though he has a lot of faith, he said, “I have many doubts as well. I really do. Faith and doubt are just two sides of the same coin.”

Grylls read the New Testament three times before he started the book. He was surprised by Jesus’ and the disciples’ ordinariness and the disciples’ doubts.

“99 percent of their journey with Jesus, they were scared and full of doubts,” he said. “And that gives us all hope.”

He explores questions that he’s asked himself.

“Why did just regular people flock to Him? Why did the religious elite fear Him?” Grylls asked. “Spend time with Him because it’s not the story you expect.”

Grylls’s faith has always been present in his series and specials, but networks often cut his verbal prayers or thanks to God.

His faith was shown for the first time when he did RUNNING WILD with Barack Obama. At the end of their trek, Grylls prayed for him, which led to him being filmed praying for many others. He takes his role as a light for Christ seriously.

“I’m a soldier,” he said. “I try and take that to heart.”

“You’re being asked to stand up and be a character witness and an ambassador in your life for the Prince of Peace,” he explained. “What an honor.”

Grylls is on fire for Christ and knows he’ll continue to shine for Him.

“It’s only just beginning,” he said.

Part of his book’s description reads, “How we each respond to this story dictates the course of our lives. And it all rests on the great mystery that occurred at the end of [Jesus] life-a supernatural event that he had predicted with utter clarity.”

Grylls says everyone will have to climb the hill of faith in their lives.

“It is the universal truth that we will all face our time of testing — our Everest, if you like,” he told an audience at a Liberty University. “Whether it’s an actual mountain, maybe a tough home life, maybe a tough time at work, maybe we lose someone close to us…life tests us at some point and our Everests always come.”

“People often ask me, ‘What has helped you in so many deserts and jungles and tough places?’ The truth for me is found in that one word: faith,” he shared. “I’ve learned that on our own we’re pretty weak, but connected to something bigger than us, (we) become stronger.”

Well said, Grylls.

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