"Christian movies" have a reputation, but God's Not Dead still managed to be the most painful movie to watch I have ever seen. As a Christian, it hurt spiritually. As a ravenous consumer of fiction, it hurt aesthetically. As a desperate searcher for truth and comprehension in an increasingly confusing world, it made me more cynical. I would list the other relevant categories for pain, but there's a character limit.
While the story is advertised as a debate between an atheist philosophy professor and his Christian student who will demonstrate God's existence, that isn't really what it's about. If it were, it wouldn't be sporadically interrupted by half a dozen other unnecessary subplots that eat up over half the screen time. One of them involves an abusive Muslim father (who obviously wouldn't say God is dead) and his Christian daughter. Another follows two pastors who pray for their car to start so that they can go to Disney World. And another is about a businessman too callous to even pretend to care about his girlfriend's cancer. The common pattern of these stories reveals the true effective message of the film: "Christians" are (ostensibly) good people, everyone else is idiotically evil.
The debates between professor Jeffrey Radisson and his student Josh Wheaton could be called bare-bones, if the bones in question had severe osteoporosis. Radisson, despite being presented as a philosophy professor who's dating a Christian, acts like he's never debated a theist in his life. He and Josh mostly recite quotes from famous people to appeal to authority, and they hardly even elaborate on what was said. Eventually, Josh publicly browbeats Radisson into admitting that a personal tragedy, the death of his mother, made him hate God. Then everyone cheers on Josh. While Josh gets to enjoy a fun concert with Christian Celebrities™, Radisson gets hit by a car. The Disney World pastors convert him before he dies. Then the Christian Celebrities™ tell the viewers to tweet #godsnotdead to their friends so that they too can accept movie tickets into their hearts.
I'd say God's Not Dead was made to preach to the choir, but that would insult most preachers and choirs I've known. It is vindictive, judgmental, lazy, vainglorious, and would probably be most enticing to parents who fear that their children who go to college may turn out to not share their faith and hope. A tale of a Christian student lambasting his atheist professor would naturally appeal to such people, but that deceitful allure makes the movie all the more reprehensible.
This film is artistically, logically, and morally damnable. God's not dead, but Jesus died for this movie's existence.
God is angry. God remains angry. And we have incensed Him.
"Christian movies" have a reputation, but God's Not Dead still managed to be the most painful movie to watch I have ever seen. As a Christian, it hurt spiritually. As a ravenous consumer of fiction, it hurt aesthetically. As a desperate searcher for truth and comprehension in an increasingly confusing world, it made me more cynical. I would list the other relevant categories for pain, but there's a character limit.
While the story is advertised as a debate between an atheist philosophy professor and his Christian student who will demonstrate God's existence, that isn't really what it's about. If it were, it wouldn't be sporadically interrupted by half a dozen other unnecessary subplots that eat up over half the screen time. One of them involves an abusive Muslim father (who obviously wouldn't say God is dead) and his Christian daughter. Another follows two pastors who pray for their car to start so that they can go to Disney World. And another is about a businessman too callous to even pretend to care about his girlfriend's cancer. The common pattern of these stories reveals the true effective message of the film: "Christians" are (ostensibly) good people, everyone else is idiotically evil.
The debates between professor Jeffrey Radisson and his student Josh Wheaton could be called bare-bones, if the bones in question had severe osteoporosis. Radisson, despite being presented as a philosophy professor who's dating a Christian, acts like he's never debated a theist in his life. He and Josh mostly recite quotes from famous people to appeal to authority, and they hardly even elaborate on what was said. Eventually, Josh publicly browbeats Radisson into admitting that a personal tragedy, the death of his mother, made him hate God. Then everyone cheers on Josh. While Josh gets to enjoy a fun concert with Christian Celebrities™, Radisson gets hit by a car. The Disney World pastors convert him before he dies. Then the Christian Celebrities™ tell the viewers to tweet #godsnotdead to their friends so that they too can accept movie tickets into their hearts.
I'd say God's Not Dead was made to preach to the choir, but that would insult most preachers and choirs I've known. It is vindictive, judgmental, lazy, vainglorious, and would probably be most enticing to parents who fear that their children who go to college may turn out to not share their faith and hope. A tale of a Christian student lambasting his atheist professor would naturally appeal to such people, but that deceitful allure makes the movie all the more reprehensible.
This film is artistically, logically, and morally damnable. God's not dead, but Jesus died for this movie's existence.