Review: God's Not Dead (2014)

I have been trying for almost 20 months to write a review of the movie “God’s Not Dead”. The movie has so many flaws that to address each one in-depth I would end up writing a book. In trying to keep this review brief I will only be hitting the highlights.

I am going to start with story first. All of the characters are one-dimensional/stereotypes. The chronology doesn’t make sense. It took me until the fifth time watching the movie to realize the events begin on a Wednesday and not a Monday. Then, Rev. Dave’s secretary informs him he can have lunch with Mina on Friday, but their lunch scene does not take place until the following Monday. And there are too many characters with sub-plots.

The biggest story problem is the main one: Josh vs. Radisson. Even if a professor would allow a student to present a differing viewpoint in his class, the student should not take the bait. Prof. Radisson was making the claim that “God is dead”. The burden of proof was on him, and he made it clear that he did not want to teach why he believed what he believed. Instead, Radisson shifts the burden of proof to Josh. Josh should respectfully point out that Radisson has the burden of proof, instead of falling for “The Professor’s Ploy”.

The "professor's ploy" is to shift the burden of proof from himself to someone else. He demands that others defend views they have not expressed even though he is the one who has made specific claims. He tries to sidestep his responsibility, but the burden of proof is still his.

Gregory Koukl, "Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions", p. 67

Once Josh begins his presentations, he make many errors. For this review I am only going to address two that he makes in his first lesson.

He begins by saying, “[T]he only way to debate this issue is to look at the available evidence, and that is what we're going to do. We are going to put God on trial, with Professor Radisson as the prosecutor, and me as the defense attorney, and you as the jury.” I could write many paragraphs about what is wrong with those statements, but the bottom line is that God is the judge of sinners not the other way around.

Next, Josh tries to fit the atheistic myth of the “Big Bang” with the Christian account of creation in Genesis 1. There are many reasons why Christians should not accept the “Big Bang” fairy tale.

Again, this is only briefly looking at some of the problems I have with “God’s Not Dead”.

For additional information, I recommend my editorial “God's Not Dead: Advice for Christian Students”, the websites ProofThatGodExists.org and AnswersInGenesis.org, and the books “Tactics” by Greg Kokul and “The Ultimate Proof of Creation” by Dr. Jason Lisle.

“God’s Not Dead” has a BBM MGS grade of 5/10, and a BBM CMGS grade of 7/12.