Recently I got done watching the Christian film “God’s not Dead.” Prior to watching it, I felt as though I were going to be provided with something along the lines of powerful reasons for faith; after all, the movie wouldn’t have so much connotation as being a good Christian film if this weren’t the case, right? I was disappointed to find that many of the points made in the movie seemed simplistic and generally ignorant of many other points made against God. I also felt as though many of the other groups mentioned were portrayed in very odd or perhaps biased way. For example, the religious humanist reporter seemed to be portrayed as overly liberal and (especially when pitted against the “Godly” hunting business man in the church parking lot) seems to be clearly positioned as “this is where you don’t want to be.” However I say that the film did portray her story of facing certain death and finding hope very well.
I was wondering what everyone else who watched the film thought of fit. Regardless, if anyone has any good recommendations for movies that a young Evolutionary Creationist would enjoy, science or faith accepted!
The whole God is Not Dead franchise is silly, frankly.
I would recommend Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man for an intelligent and empathetic portrayal of the tension between a life of faith and a life of reason. The writer was an Evangelical youth group kid who deconverted, but clearly knows from experience how to write people of faith and people with doubts and the questions they wrestle with.
Disclaimer: I’ve not seen “God is not Dead.”
I’ve read a summary of it, read about it, and talked with some people about it.
It sounds like anti-university propaganda with a strong message that secular universities are anti-christian and intent on destroying students’ faith. And philosophy departments are the worst of the worst.
Our churches’ kids do not need this kind of garbage to terrify them into the “safe” classrooms of a Christian college.
My profs weren’t there to bolster or refute my faith. They were focused on their subject matter and teach it.
It’s ok to watch movies that are just good movies, that tell good stories. Those are a matter of taste.
I completely agree with you. I would argue that the atheist-turned-Christian professor was the only real genuine story line in the movie. He experienced loss that lead to his deconversion. He asked good questions on God in the philosophy class (which I felt were given very unsatisfactory answers). When faced with death, he takes a leap of faith in a very emotional scene (which of course is interrupted by that random hunting business man telling everyone to send out “God’s not dead” to everyone they know as though the movie just provided a checkmate against atheism). I feel like if they focused more on the emotional aspect of faith and perhaps presented the other viewpoints more fairly (and used ACTUAL EVIDENCE! Shocking, I now!) it would have been more of a positive movie. However, the whole movie seemed a bit “odd.” If you ever watched it (don’t recommend doing) you would see this too. The reason I get upset about this is because if someone who was like me, on the fence not knowing what to believe, watched this movie, they may find themselves relating more to the professor than the student because of how the student seems to twist reality to his basic arguments; in short, it serves as a bad witness (I also found it weird that he doesn’t try to invoke the resurrection as proof of there being a divine. Even if you proved a god existed, which god is it? To prove that God existed, you need to show that His Word, and perhaps more strongly His son Christ were true to their word). To be honest, it felt like the evidence provided was the surface level arguments I got into before I discovered Biologos and had my faith blossom in ways I never thought possible.
Very well said. I agree–the arguments were weak or emotional, and tend to turn me off.
Have you heard of Randal Rauser? He’s a very empathetic Canadian who has posted a lot on deep thinking. He criticizes superficial criticisms like those of Frank Turek.
Not many movies really fit and your choices are limited, but the enigmatic and divisive 2011 The Tree of Life asks exactly what is our personal spiritual significance in the sweep of evolutionary history. Starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain, this was a large budget feature with a reach that probably exceeded its grasp. I found it thought provoking, but the pacing is languid.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
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