God’s Not Dead is a brand new film that arrived in theaters this year. I have to say that I had not heard of it until I went and checked it out a few days ago. It’s too bad that this film did not get more publicity as it does a good job of bringing Christianity back into the limelight.
The plot is what made the film very interesting for me. The main character is Josh and he arrived in a philosophy class only to find out that his Professor does not believe in God and he wants them all to write that “God is Dead.” Josh wouldn’t stand for this and he let the Professor know that he would not sign. The Professor then issues a challenge to Josh. He would have to debate the Professor in three different sessions to prove that God is Not Dead. Josh accepts and then sets out to win!
That’s the main plot, but we’ve also got a few other plots going. There is a reporter who is diagnosed with a serious medical condition and she doesn’t take it very well. One woman is a Christian, but her companion is not and he starts to get more vocal about it. There is a girl whose family has a different religion and there is tension when she starts to convert to being a Christian. Finally, we’ve also got a Pastor and a Missionary who are stuck as they can’t get their car to work. There are even more subplots that I could bring up, but you get the idea. There are a lot of things happening in the film!
I think that the film maybe overdid it with the subplots, but they were all pretty good for the most part. If I had to choose which plots to cut, it would be the reporter and the Muslim subplots. The film can only cover so much and eliminating those two would allow more screen time onto the main plot. Josh’s debate is definitely the most interesting part of the film, so any extensions would be cool.
As mentioned earlier, I love debates, so seeing a debate between a Theist and an Atheist was certainly interesting. After watching the film, I checked out a few real life debates and they can be pretty similar. Of course, in the professional debates there are a lot of rules to be followed and not all debates are very intense. In the film, we really root for Josh since the Professor is openly antagonistic. He gets so worried that he immediately resorts to threats after Josh’s opening speech. Josh definitely gained the upper hand quickly eh?
Now, while it is fun to see a Theist openly win a debate and prove God’s existence to the audience, it’s not mandatory for us. Whether or not the skeptics in the audience agree with Josh is besides the point. The really important part is that Josh had the courage to stand up to the class and honor God. I’m sure that many people would have found it difficult to go up against the Professor like that and it would definitely be stressful. Josh risked his academic future and also lost his “friend.” That being said, Josh’s “friend” wasn’t a true friend and he likely won’t be missing her in the long run. One should never let peer pressure stop one from doing the right thing.
Even if Josh had not openly won the debate, it should not affect our faith. The whole point of having faith in God is knowing that he will provide for us. We do not need to know everything about Christianity and even if we cannot prove some things to the non believers, it shouldn’t weaken our faith. As long as we believe the Bible to be the utmost authority on the events that have transpired and what God wants us to do, then that’s enough for us. Christianity can be made to seem complicated with many rules to follow, but it’s ultimately simple. Accepting God as your lord and savior is the first step and by reading the Bible, you can quickly learn to live in a way that pleases him. Being a Christian means having a personal relationship with the Lord and as long as you truly know him, that’s what counts.
There have been a lot of bad reviews for this film, but to be honest, could we expect anything else? If anything, that serves as a good sign to let us know that the film was well done. It’s the best Christian film that I’ve seen and now I can add it to the list of others like Fireproof and Left Behind. I also recommend the latter two movies that were mentioned. I also want to give a quick mention to the music at the end of the film. It’s a pretty good song and it’s very active. It’s the kind of song that helps a film end on a high note and you walk out of the theater feeling pretty good.
One of the only parts of the film that I had a little issue with was the part where this Christian made a living from duck (I’m pretty sure it was duck) hunting. It can be a little tougher for me to swallow that a Christian would make a living that way unless there was no other choice. The guy seemed proud of it, but he did make sure to say that he destroys them quickly so that they do not feel any pain. Still, I may not be able to wrap my head around it since I’m a huge animal person, but as mentioned earlier, it doesn’t really matter what I think about him being a Christian. I may not understand, but I won’t judge him on the matter. If he truly is a Christian, then that would be wonderful and he’ll be going to Heaven in the end. God is the only one who truly knows if a person is Christian so you must never let someone tell you that you’re not a Christian or that you need to be a better Christian if you are giving it your 100%. The notion of someone being a “better” Christian than someone else because of their actions is definitely not something to listen too. We all make mistakes and fall short of the glory of God after all. In the end, it’s about doing the best that we can and always trying to make him proud of us.
The film had a pretty small budget, but it’s managed to earn a pretty large amount so far. I believe that it’s made around 10x the original budget at this point, which is definitely remarkable. It’s an excellent Christian film and I highly recommend checking it out. It’s consistently earning more money each week so there’s a decent chance that you can still find it in theaters. If not, it’s still a very good opportunity to grab the DVD. It’s not every day that God gets the recognition that he deserves on the big screen and this film managed to pull off its messages quite well. It’s a good year to be a Christian!
Verdict: Excellent Film!
I highly recommend checking this film out!!!
DReager1.com 
A lot of people from my church have seen this movie. I have yet to see it, but I really want to. Great review! I agree with all of the points that you mentioned. I don’t really have any problems with duck hunting, though. Or any type of hunting for that matter. Unless someone’s just shooting it and leaving it, then I don’t approve. But if they’re actually eating it, or using what they kill, I don’t have any problems with it. I guess it’s just another instance of “To each his own”. Have you ever watched Uncommon? It’s another really great Christian movie.
I hadn’t heard of that film before now. I’ll make sure to check it out, I’m always glad to hear of a good Christian film to watch. I hadn’t heard of God’s Not Dead either until a few of my family members saw it and recommended it to me. I’m probably not as in the loop for the films as I should be. Hopefully these films continue to do well and help to spread the word!
i thought the same thing but im not a huge fan for christian bands like Skillet or Newsboys
I wouldn’t even recognize the names for any bands. I’m out of the loop in such things. Still, the band that played in the film was really good. Still, it probably varies from song to song. For the most part I’m more of an instrumental person when it comes to music
Yeah, my religion teacher showed me a trailer to this one in class. I watched it and liked the verdict of the film, even though I am athiest. I don’t have any problem with Christians or Catholics, and I respect their beliefs, though. I respect all religions, but don’t really believe any one in particular. I have a hard time believing that all the thousands of other religions there are, just THIS one is right or THIS one is and all the others are wrong. Just my opinion though 😄, don’t feel like i’m trying to convert you or anything. Anyway, good reveiw! I liked how you summarized it without many spoilers but still gave me the idea of what I was watching.
Yes, I typically try to avoid spoilers when possible, but sometimes it can be tough! It was definitely a fun film and I’m glad that you enjoyed it. For me, I prefer to think of it as Christianity originated religion and then other groups formed their own spinoffs from it or made completely new types. It’s why I don’t even get into the “Which Christian group are you from” debate. I’m a Christian, I’ve never believed in subtypes. Still, it’s just a theory. Still, it’s always good to see someone respect the other beliefs even if you do not believe in them. If only the rest of the world could be so agreeable…
I agree to agree!!
Really good review, without giving away too much away in terms of the plots and sub plots. I saw the movie and really enjoyed it. I appreciated the acting, as the realism came across. The soundtrack was quite lively, too. Keep up the great work, as your reviews have been spot on,
Thank you and I’m glad to hear it! The song at the end was definitely pretty fun and I’m glad to say that the film has successfully earned over 10X its original budget
12% on Rotten Tomatoes, average 2.6/10 review. Some of them Christian reviews. Sorry, you’re wrong. If you don’t approve this post, I suggest still reading the reviews. No amount of bias can make you stomach this poorly written film.
I will admit that 85% of viewers enjoyed the film though since critics are the more unbiased of the groups, I’d suggest sticking with them on this matter.
If you want an actual decent debate, go check out an unscripted one like Nye .VS. Ham. Until we get an unbiased scripted debate that highlights the good points of BOTH theists and atheists, you can’t really consider this sort of thing acceptable.
I’ve never been wrong in an opinion before…and I don’t intend to start now. I expected many critics to dislike the film and they are just as biased as normal viewers. Everyone has an agenda and it’s virtually impossible to be completely unbiased for a review. I greatly enjoyed the film and I thought that they did a splendid job.
I like unscripted debates as well, but it doesn’t take away from this one. You couldn’t expect anything extremely complex because that would just confuse the audience. They still came up with the right answer since God is real. 85% of viewers liking this film is a good thing and I’m happy to hear that the numbers are so high. I’ve actually read a lot of the reviews and I get the points that they made, but a lot of it also sounded picky. Every film has its flaws, but you can’t let little things destroy the whole film for you. Plus, I’m a critic so my review is also valid 🙂
I was just pointing out that your review was atypical when compared to others, and I was wondering whether or not you looked at the points other critics centered around. Sorry if I offended you in my post.
Since the entire point of the movie was a debate on religion, it should actually be very complex. Presumably, most viewers knew the movie centered around the debate going into it, so the complexity shouldn’t really be an issue. In a debate, it’s imperative that both parties fully explore the topic at hand as leaving anything out can be disastrous to whomever does so. Leaving out many key theist and atheist arguments from the movie made the characters seem foolish at times.
Nonetheless, subjective topics like debates, reviews, religions, and opinions don’t deal in absolutes since no one person is right or wrong in their beliefs. I’ll respect your say on the matter and take your review as is; thank you for responding.
I don’t read other reviews until I’ve completed mine so that I don’t get influenced by them in the slightest.
I’d say that the film was complex enough. Any further and many people would be confused…whether they were prepared for the plot or not. The Atheist in the film still tried to put up a decent defense, but the main character was just better prepared for their battle.
I don’t really see how they could be confused. It’s a debate, what’s not to understand?
Josh made some decent points, yes, but the film purposely left out counterarguments for the professor to use and many of the arguments were somewhat flawed.
For example, remember when Josh talked about moral absolutes? He claimed that if he cheated and got an A on the exam, the professor would tell him it was wrong to cheat. He also claimed that such anti-cheating values would be derived from Christianity. And yet, if free will exists, morality for non-Christians is not derived from God alone. There are plenty of perfectly moral and good non-Christians out there, and this is just disrespectful to them.
Theological debates should be fair to both sides, as I’ve pointed out. A debate can’t be complex if it’s just one side doing all the talking while the other twiddles their thumbs.
Once you get into very specific and advanced parts of the debate, then it can get tricky. For example, many of William Craig’s debates on Christian history and whether God is real or not can get extremely complex. It’s good to be complex for sure, but in a film that would be tough. Especially since it had to juggle many other sub plots.
To be fair, one of the students also tried to defy Josh when she asked one of the questions, but he was prepared to answer it. The Professor tried to counter Josh as well, but he just couldn’t do it. In a sense, it’s still realistic. The Professor likely hadn’t needed to debate any Christian for a very long time so he hadn’t looked up counters for the arguments that Josh made. He was very over confident so it would still be in his character. The actual debate was still pretty good and fun. Josh was an excellent character.
He was defeating the Professor with the moral absolutes scene. I remember that argument, but I thought that Josh was making a different point. He was saying that the Professor would object to cheating, but why should he object? If results are all that matter in the end, then morality is meaningless. He didn’t mean that morality is completely from the Bible, but why would we bother with it. If there is no Heaven or Hell to go to once you’re dead, then you just need to do whatever you need to do in order to have a great life because the results are what’s going to help you. Therefore, cheating is acceptable. That being said, morality in its nature is based off of the Bible. Common Sense morality and Biblical morality share a lot of similarities. Naturally, it varies between country to country and there are differences, but the big ones are from the Bible. No murder, etc.
There is no need to respond in such an obscene manner! I appreciated the movie and the review for that matter. That being said, there have been other times when I have not agreed with the opinions of the reviewer. I have expressed this without being demeaning or condescending.
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Never been wrong in a opinion before, huh? Talk about modesty.
Modesty isn’t my strong suit. That being said, I meant it as just opinions. You can’t be wrong if you like a film and think that it’s good. If you liked the film, then it’s good to you. That’s the point that I was making. It’s why my opinions can’t be wrong 😎
Though I have to agree with you that saying one’s opinions are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ can be a bit arrogant, I don’t think he meant it literally.
One’s own beliefs are, as you can expect, entirely subjective. His opinion can’t be ‘wrong’ because it’s what he believes, just as anyone’s religion can’t be ‘wrong’ as they can’t be proven false or true. Since they have the right to believe in whatever they want, their God isn’t wrong.