This was a powerful statement from an unlikely source, but I love this quote from the movie because, for me, it encapsulates a burden that I feel for the loved ones in my life who are perishing. When I went to see the movie, God’s Not Dead, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. As a Christian, I found a lot in the movie that I could identify with in terms of personal struggles, temptation, and a conviction to do more to be prepared to take a stand for Christ.

The movie got my attention right from the outset as it portrayed a very similar experience that I had in a philosophy class as a freshman at Arizona State University in which we discussed theories of justice while summarily dismisses the ultimate Judge. This one experience caused me to take seriously the command of 1Peter 3:15-17 to sanctify Christ in your heart and always be prepared to give every man an answer for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and reverence. As I watched the story unfold on the screen, you could feel the anxiety that Josh was feeling as he made the decision to stand for God. It is a step of faith that is required of every believer, to take a stand amidst the mockers and present truth for the benefit of seekers. There is a term for taking a stand for your faith. Apologetics in Christianity simply means to verbally defend the faith. Typically, apologetics can be very academic in nature and it is easy to get caught up in the minutia of knowledge and arguments, so it is important to be able to take that information and communicate it with love and respect to those who are truly seeking. God’s Not Dead does this very well as it shows the strength of the Christian position while presenting the gospel and challenging false beliefs in a loving and compassionate way.

The story is interwoven with great story lines and characters that I think most people of faith can relate to along with thought provoking arguments for the existence of God and the irrationality of the alternative.

When the main character, Josh, has his faith challenged in class, he is given an incredible opportunity to take a stand and defend his position to the class, an opportunity that every Christian should relish. Josh struggles with the decision as everyone in his life is advocating that he take the easy way out, but he then considers something that we all must consider. For those hearing his presentation, it may be the first or last time they get to hear the gospel message, which is a powerful conviction if God is speaking to you to stand.

Some of the other issues facing the characters include a student whose lack of faith is revealed, a gal who is in a relationship with a non-believer and struggling to get back to her faith, an anti-Christian liberal confronted with the harshness of life, a Muslim convert trying to hide her faith in Christ from her family, a Chinese exchange student with the freedom to have believe for the first time, and the atheist professor set out to destroy Christianity. As I watched these storylines unfold, I kept thinking of different scripture as well as different people I have known who have or are currently having a crisis of faith. The parable of the Sower, the prodigal son, the lost sheep and a boatload of Proverbs seemed to depict what was unfolding on the screen. One thing that I thought was very well done was to see the hand of Providence working in the lives of people as they go through life. This is something that would seem difficult to portray in a movie, but it was done very well as decisions and circumstances placed people on a path to return to God, meet God or grow their faith in God. It was a good reminder to see because sometimes it can be hard to see God working in a situation that when you are in the middle of it, but ideally, we pray, exercise faith and grow in trust.

When Josh is first confronted with the chance to defend his faith, he is confronted with a choice to literally choose between his girlfriend and God. This was very strong because I think many of us have faced choices or are facing choices today between God and a relationship, a job, a lifestyle, a compromise, etc and compelling cases can be made for doing what is easy or comfortable rather than doing what we are called to do. I think the lesson here is that we should always do what is right and trust God that He will be faithful in delivering His children. We see this several times in the movie as tough choices are faced. One thing that was quite clear was those making the right choices were based on scripture and those traveling down the wrong path were based largely on feelings. A good example of the need to read your bible or you will be like a leaf tossed by the wind.

The movie had a lot of powerful quotes that could be applied to a variety of circumstances, but one that really stuck with me was a harsh truth given to a non-believer. The quote is this: “I realize that you are very important and the world can’t go on without you, but it is preparing to do just that.” We tend to get so busy that we often forget to consider the things that really matter. Sometimes life happens and we are confronted with a situation that doesn’t mesh with our plans. For the non-believer, this can present a feeling of despair or hopelessness, but for the Christian, it is an opportunity to take a step of faith, confront fear, surrender and trust God.

At the end of the movie, you will see a list of court cases scrolling up the screen. These are all cases that inspired the movie God’s Not Dead, cases in which Christians, mostly college students, took a stand for God or were denied their first amendment rights in regards to faith. Many of these cases have been defended in court by the Alliance Defending Freedom (http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/). One topic that the movie addressed well was making a distinction between atheism and anti-theism. Silencing Christianity is probably the most important tenet of what is called the New Atheism. It is no longer enough to just not believe, but the anti-theism movement seeks to destroy Christianity and sensor it wherever possible. The antagonism of atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens is aggressively portrayed in their writings as they have transitioned from honest debate to censorship evangelism. This anti-theist attitude is demonstrated very well in the film by the philosophy professor Jeffrey who takes every opportunity to attack God with precision arrogance.

The movie provided arguments to defend God’s existence in a very strong and cogent, straight forward language. Some of the topics covered included big bang cosmology that demonstrates scientifically that time and space had a beginning, philosophically that every cause has an effect and empirically that something cannot come from nothing. The question of “who made God” was also addressed, sourced from Bertrand Russell’s book “Why I am not a Christian.” The questions were addressed very well on the screen identifying the fallacious nature of the question.

The question of absolute moral standards was also addressed, namely that the atheist has no authority to impose a universal moral or ethical code. For the atheist, all such judgments are merely opinions of individuals. Even on a cultural level, without a supreme being that transcends all cultures, everything becomes permissible and law and order cease to exist. Many have tried to side step this major requirement of all social fabric in works such as Moral Relativism by Joseph Fletcher or Ethics without God by Kai Neilson, but they always fail because they always make two fatal errors. First, they apply definitions of good and evil which cannot exist in the atheist world-view because they have no standard for defining what is good, even if a whole culture says it’s good. (Ultimately this is the weakness of utilitarian ethics). Second, they try and appeal to a biological, universal moral code adapted over time as a necessity for survival in mans’ “social” evolutionary development. Of course this contribution by social anthropologists flies right in the face of evolutionary biologist’s survival of the fittest mantra, not to mention that evil, by all definitions, is alive and well in the 21st Century. The truth is that we are created in God’s image, to live by God’s moral and rational character which the Bible describes as our conscience, the law of God written in our hearts (Romans 2).

There were many other strong arguments made as well as exposing the significant weakness of the atheist position. In the course of the story, the movie discussed the circular reasoning of the self-designing universe, which incidentally also applies to several of the arguments for evolution; the inability to affirm a universal negative; and one of the biggest problems for evolutionists, which is “what is the source of information by which all life arose?” The movie also included a brief synopsis of Charles Darwin’s concerns about the theory of evolution. If you are not familiar with this, read the chapter titled “Difficulties on Theory” in the Origin of Species. A book, that I contest, he would have never published if had known what we know today.

One area that was not covered was apologetics regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are the two best documented events of antiquity and without them Christianity would have never come into existence. I suspect that including this discussion would have extended the movie by an hour or two. For more information on the resurrection, see the recommended reading list below.

Conclusion:
Overall, I thought this movie was very good in that it had relatable characters whether you are a Christian or not. It had thought provoking dialogue on what I consider to be the ultimate question. One thing that I observed was the amount of chit chat going on in the theatre and outside the theatre afterwards in response to the case being made on the screen. The movie was not only thought provoking, but entertaining with likeable characters. I must warn you that if the gospel message makes you uncomfortable, so will this movie. I was very pleased that the message was not watered down, but presented in a straight forward, Biblical manner. One important take away was the truth that becoming a Christian does not make life easier, does not make you perfect (yet), does not remove temptation, and does not make you less fun, but through faith God gives you the strength to face adversity and the resolve to walk with Him regardless of the cost. As I think about the circumstances that the story deals with that are not uncommon to us, the first eight verses of Romans 5 come to mind:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Recommended Readings (Alphabetically):

• Between Heaven and Hell, A Dialogue Somewhere Beyond Death by Peter Kreeft
• Darwin on Trial by Phillip Johnson
• Does God Exist? by J.P. Moreland
• I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler
• In the beginning was Information by Werner Gitt
• Many Infallible Proofs: Evidence for the Christian Faith by Henry M. Morris
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell
• Socrates Meets Jesus by Peter Kreeft
• The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
• The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski
• Who Moved the Stone? A Skeptic Looks at the Death and Resurrection of Christ by Frank Morrison
• World Apart: A handbook of Worldviews by Norman Geisler