“God’s Not Dead” is an evangelical film directed in 2014 by Harold Cronk. The plot begins with Professor Radisson passing a petition to his class that states “God is dead, demanding that everyone sign the document.” Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) an evangelical Christian student however refuses to sign this form, leading to Professor Radisson asking Josh to prove the existence of God by presenting evidence and debating him in front of his philosophy class.

Wheaton as a result of his decision faces the possibility of looking silly and sounding foolish in front of his classmates by debating a doctorate professor, flunking the class and ultimately not getting into law school and losing his girlfriend as she is concerned that by debating professor Radisson his chances of passing the class greatly diminish which may lead to him not graduating college thus ruining their future plans. 

Josh Wheaton is a great example of a courageous student who took on a seemingly close to impossible challenge without ever looking back or regretting it, even if it meant losing everything. Unfortunately, many Christian students around the world may be shy or timid to stand up for their faith in God, especially when there is a lot to lose.

While Josh knew that he ran the risk of failing that philosophy class by standing up for his faith, he was still willing to take on that challenge by putting his faith in God that he would give him the right words, strength and wisdom to compete against his professor and ultimately draw professor Radisson to God.

It is completely understandable if audiences view this movie as a classic case of intellectualism vs spiritualism, bible vs science and the Christian vs the atheist. But really Cronk does a great job of showcasing these different points of view and at the same time making the case that one doesn’t have to necessarily oppose the other. Science isn’t there to disprove the bible and the bible isn’t there to disprove science and Cronk does a great job of illustrating that crucial point through the character of Shane Harper Josh. A great example of that comes in at the 35 minute mark of the film were Wheaton refers to the big bang theory and aligns it with a quote from a famous atheist theoretical physicist that states “the entire universe jumping into existence in a trillionth of a trillionth of a second out of nothingness in an unimaginably intense flash of light is how he would expect the universe to respond if God were to actually utter the command found in genesis chapter 1 verse 3 Let there be light.”

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Cronk makes the strong case that Christians can be just as intelligent as somebody who is not Christian. That they can gather facts, formulate a well thought out thesis and execute it through hard factual evidence. He destroyed the myth that Christians are intellectually dead. 

The film does a great job of depicting romantic relationships and the importance of God in them. While it is popular believe amongst the Christian community that a Christian should only marry another Christian in order for a successful marriage to take place, Josh’s girlfriend Kara (Cassidy Gifford) became the expectation to that theory. Key point in the movie, just because your girlfriend is a Christian, doesn’t mean she is the girl God wants you to be with. The fact is Kara was standing in the way of Gods mission for Josh. It is because Josh decided to take on this challenge that many in his class came to faith in Jesus Christ including Professor Radisson during the later stages of the movie. Kara ultimately didn’t care about the relationship between Josh and God and only valued her romantic relationship with Josh, wanting him only for herself.

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There are three couples whose lives are displayed with a strong emphasis on the hardships of their relationships. All these couples have one thing in common, they all have issues. There’s one couple were both partners don’t believe in God, another couple were only one partner believes, and the other were both partners believe.

The point of these couple’s relationships being intertwined with one another is to emphasize a key point that without the presence of God in those relationships, those relationships are bound to fail. However there is the couple were both partners believe in God making this point somewhat complex. But as I mentioned earlier, when a girl puts her plans in front of Gods, that girl despite being a believer, is someone whom might actually stand in the way of God and that individual, thus making her the wrong girl for that individual. A girl has to truly have God in her heart and the fact that her plans are more important than Gods, shows that maybe she is not as devoted to God as her partner.

Towards the very end of the movie, there are two storylines that are taking place. The first storyline showcases a Christian concert while the other, consists of Dr. Radisson’s transformation and belief in God. I have to acknowledge that as much as I enjoyed seeing the concert at the very end of the film (as these are events that I attend in my personal life) it was Dr. Radissons storyline that I was more interested in following. Dr. Radisson is desperately looking for Mina (Cory Oliver) his ex-girlfriend hoping to tell her that he has come to faith in God (as she is a believer in God), when he all of the sudden gets hit violently with an incoming car.

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Now as he is lying on the street taking his last breaths, reverent Dave (David A. R White) meets with him and reminds Dr. Radisson of the love and mercy that God has for him. Dr. Radisson accepts Jesus Christ as lord and savior and utters the words “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts says the Lord.” This was the most significant and most important part of the film. It was never about winning a debate, or Dr. Radisson convincing students that God is dead, or even getting back with his ex-girlfriend Mina, but about this man reconciling himself with God.

Kevin Sorbo’s performance was intellectually great and emotionally touching. I have to be honest and say that the ending of the movie got me really teary. Earlier in my review I mentioned how some people may view a film like this as a classic case of the Christian vs the atheist. But really this film couldn’t be further from this perceived notion. In reality it is more of a case of God looking to establish a relationship with the atheist through the Christian, which is a key dot that shined in this film.  

 

Retro Movie Reviews is a weekly column by Kent Martinez, published every Friday. Read other Retro Movie Reviews here.

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