God Is Not Dead—I
Director: Harold Cronk. Cast: Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper, Benjamin A. Onyango. 2014. 113 minutes.
Adapted from a book by Rice Brooks, the movie addresses the issue of militant atheism in a university setting. In the very first philosophy class, Professor Radisson wants everyone to sign a declaration of atheism, “God is dead.” A student called Josh refuses, declaring that he is a Christian. Radisson challenges Josh to prove that God is not dead, or else he will fail him. Radisson uses the writings of atheistic thinkers like Richard Dawkins and Michael Foucault to mock religious belief. Josh has to do his defense before the entire class who will be the judges. He ably does so before a more or less skeptical group. His courage and sincere faith influence many of his classmates who are troubled about their faith or have no belief. When a classmate asks Josh why he is ready to risk his college career by defying Radisson, Josh replies, “I think of Jesus as my friend. I don’t want to disappoint Him, even if everyone else thinks I should. See, to me, He’s not dead. He’s alive. I don’t want anyone to get talked out of believing in Him because some professor thinks they should.”
At the end of much discussion on belief and unbelief,, Josh says, “What I’m hoping you’ll pick up from all this is that you don’t have to commit intellectual suicide to believe in a Creator behind the creation.” Later in the story we come to know that Professor Radisson’s hatred of God sprang from the traumatic experience of his mother’s death when he was just twelve years old. Eventually, he too comes to Christ when he is fatally sick.
God Is Not Dead—II
Director: Harold Cronk. Cast: Melissa Joan Hart, Ray Wise, Jesse Metcalfe, Hayley Orrantia, David A. R. White, Ernie Hudson. 2016. 121 minutes.
This is not a sequel to the earlier movie. It addresses the question of witnessing to faith in an increasingly antireligious secular society where the church-state separation (in the US) is misinterpreted to mean a denial of the right to speak out on one’s faith. It centres around Grace Wesley, a school teacher, who is brought to court by the School Board for violating the church-state separation by airing her Christian belief and quoting the Bible. The case arose while Grace was discussing the idea of nonviolent resistance as practiced by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. A student asks the question whether these men were inspired by the Sermon on the Mount. Grace clarifies that they were. One of the pupils sneakily reports this to her secular-minded parents at home. They complain to the principal before whom Grace has to defend her position. She refuses to apologize before the School Board. The prosecutor declares it as a case which once and for all will prove that God is dead. He even argues in the court that if the teacher is not punished, it will be disastrous for American society. A former atheist turned Christian apologist is brought in as expert witness. He points out to the court that the Gospel cannot be a conspiracy borne out by the fact that none of the Apostles of Christ ever retracted their witnessing of the Resurrection even in the face of death. Despite the manipulatory tactic in and out of court, the judgment vindicates the teacher. The movie ends on a note of rejoicing in the face of persecution in secular society where prayer in faith is indicated as the chief defense against it.
Dr Gigy Joseph
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