Alternative Culture: God's not Dead review

Wheaton debates Professor Radisson

A thinking Christian film?
In 1882, German philosopher Nietzsche declared that God is dead after exploring the depths of his moral philosophy. This year, the Christian film God's not Dead attempts to present logical explanations for the existence of God. This happens after Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) forces everyone in his philosophy class to sign a statement to declare that God is dead.

Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) refuses to sign and is asked to present the evidence for God the class. Although discouraged by his girlfriend (Cassidy Gilfford), Wheaton takes up the challenge.

In this review, I will focus on the theological arguments presented in the film, and then talk about some of the minor characters of the film.

The arguments
Creation
Wheaton begins explaining how the Big Bang was explained by the Bible. This point is debatable, but Wheaton explains that God was the uncreated Creator of the universe.

The atheist counter-argument was unfairly simple. Professor Radisson simply states, Stephen Hawkings (one of the leading scientists in real life), does not think so. With a simple appeal to authority, Professor Radisson dismisses Wheaton's argument. There was no exploration of Wheaton's presentation.

In this way, the film is being unfair to many of my atheist friends. A genuine atheist would not simply appeal to authority and stop there. He/she would attempt to dig further, asking questions or proposing that the universe was a necessary consequence.

Evil
Wheaton also brings but evil in his debate, saying that the cause was human free will. Instead of addressing his argument directly, Professor Radison mocks the idea of moral absolutes. In this, the film seems to portray that the atheist objectors as lacking.

From what I know, most atheists I have debated would automatically asked about natural disasters (since they were not caused by human free will). I was disappointed that this point was overlooked.

Ultimate proof of God
Despite it being a Christian movie, the film fails to highlight is about Jesus. In the Christianity, we must often seek to point our friends to Jesus Christ. As Pastor Timothy Keller said,

In the Christian view, the ultimate evidence for the existence of God is Jesus Christ.

Little mention is made of Jesus, other than he was the son of God, and he paid for our sins.

A cost to follow Jesus
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. -- Matthew 16:24

One thing I feel that the film does well (despite the lack of character development) was to portray the cost of discipleship.

While Wheaton lost his girlfriend (a bit far-fetched I say), Ayisha (Hadeel Sittu) is disowned after she converts to Christianity. Mina (Corey Oliver) breaks up with her boyfriend in order to live closer to the gospel.

Ayisha's situation hits me the hardest, because I am reminded of a friend whose father would beat her if he found out she was a Christian. I could never imagine what the cost of following Jesus is for her.

Conclusion
The film would make well-meaning atheists cringe due to its unfair portrayal of non-Christians. Nevertheless, I think it has at least raised awareness on the importance of apologetics and the cost of discipleship.

For further reading
The cost of discipleship:



Importance of apologetics

Alternative culture: 5 Big Ideas All Christians Must Agree On review

Recently, Relevant Magazine has produced an article called 5 Big Ideas All Christians Must Agree On.

The five ideas presented are
I: God created the universe
II: Christ is the light in the darkness
III: Communion brings unity
IV: We are called to make disciples
V: Jesus is coming back

While they are ideas I agree with, I would think these ideas are insufficient in on itself. Mainly because it does not address who Jesus is, the conviction of sin or what Jesus's death means to us. Even on point III, it fails to explain the significance on the Lord's supper.

 I would stick to the Apostle's creed.

Creed? What's that?
A creed is a statement that summarises core tenants of a belief. The earliest Christian creed we know about comes from 1 Corinthains 15: 3-7,

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

In this creed, dated about five to twenty-four years after Jesus's death showed the following statements about Jesus -- that he lived, died for our sins and came back to life (which was witnessed by many).

Why would I want a creed?
Creeds seem unnecessarily divisive -- would it not be better if we define things as vaguely as possible so that we can be as inclusive as possible. It would be so much easier for Christians to accept all religions or even suggest non-believers go to heaven. Yet that is not how God has revealed his judgement and mercy.

In saying creeds, we affirm that God has spoken, and we are defined according to God's will, rather than the will of the world. For instance in saying the Nicene creed, we argee that God has revealed Himself as triune, and this excludes any Unitarian (people who reject the trinity) from the church.

So what should Christians agree on?
I would start with definitely start with this:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
      creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
      who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
      and born of the virgin Mary.
      He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
      was crucified, died, and was buried;
      he descended to hell.
      The third day he rose again from the dead.
      He ascended to heaven
      and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
      From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the holy catholic* church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting. Amen.

*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places

For further reading
The importance of doctrinal basis