God Is Not Dead (2013) User Reviews

Similar to other Christian movies

[jdonalds-5 · 5/10 · 17 March 2015]

I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus is God and He saved me from my sins by dying in my place on the cross. Still this movie, and many like it, fall short in my opinion.

Yes it's easy to enjoy a movie like this if you are a Christian. They are all sweet and give a solid message. But as a message for those who do not yet believe I think these movies fall short by a lot. Don't get me wrong, it would be great if some who watch would examine Christianity and come to believe in Jesus.

I find these movies dull, mostly unconvincing, and lacking in depth. I wish I could put my finger on why they all seem to come out of the same mold. I'm not suggesting for a moment that I could do it better.

I'm glad that people make these movies. I'm sure if they ask their Christian friends they would receive positive feedback. My hope is that they would ask a broad spectrum of non-believers to find out what might work better and product some movies that have a deeper impact.

What genre is this anyway?

[Tbird281 · 1/10 · 13 June 2014]

This film is classified as a documentary. Seriously, a documentary? No way. I went to the dictionary, maybe I was wrong. There it was... "Fact- based film that depicts actual events and persons". But further "documentaries can be a form of journalism or social commentary, or can be a conduit for propaganda or personal expression." Hmm. So I was right and wrong depending on the movie's agenda. OK.

Propaganda? Check! It certainly had all of that.

Did the movie change anyone's mind. No. Not anyone standing on the fence of whether to believe or not. In fact, it was a shameless portrayal of the clichés that one would hope to avoid in an honest presentation.

SPOILER ALERT!

1. Intellectual atheistic professor FORCING his students to deny the existence of God by signing a sheet of paper or they would be subject to lower grade failure.

*Any philosophy professor worth his salt tries to get you to THINK.... period. To question ALL things. None would say "THIS" is the way it is! And on day one of class! Laughable.

2. Muslim girl thrown out of her house by her "loving?" father for listening to the bible on her I-pod and without even a suitcase or a change of head gear. *A real opportunity missed here as the propaganda train rolls on, this time with present day moderate Muslims taking the hit. Now we can affirm that the stereotype that they're ALL really messed up.

3. The college student vs. the professor in the final scene where the question of how could a loving God do bad things to good people? Students answers triumphantly...free will. After all, god needs to know how you will act without his divine direction right?

*Interesting, an all-knowing all-powerful entity needing anything. God has needs? And just how does free will influence that town that gets destroyed by the tornado, or the drought that affects the starving children or in the cancer that affects the healthy body.

I will leave this with the most outrageous statement made in the film that caused me to really get upset. "Without God all manner of evil is permissible." Say what!!!? Only believers have ownership of morality?? Being a good person, a loving father, a civic minded citizen...all worthless without a god?

It is truly pathetic and scary that some people actually believe that nonsense! A horror documentary??... maybe.

Is this what Christians think of atheists?

[pitt-penguin · 1/10 · 23 December 2014]

As a Christian myself, I found this movie a complete embarrassment. The portrayal of atheists as all having some sort of psychological problem makes everything else irrelevant. There aren't any arguments here, just a decent boy who believes in God being hounded by an idiot professor. Josh (the boy), is never able to make a cogent argument on the points, but you feel so sorry for him, he wins on likability.

There are several lives followed, but the main lives concern a freshman named Josh Wheaton and an arrogant philosophy professor named Prof. Radisson.

Radisson forces everyone in the class to sign a piece of paper stating that "God is Dead" so that the class can "move-on" to the important aspects of philosophy. Of course everyone signs but Josh. He can't sign the sheet in good conscience and thus is asked to prove that God is not dead over the next three lectures. He is belittled by Radisson publicly and often throughout the entire movie.

Josh's life is intertwined with an attractive blonde girlfriend named Kara. She also believes in God, but wants Josh to either drop the philosophy class or to just sign the paper so he can focus on her and the rest of his difficult college schedule. Kara, who at first appears to be a supportive and lovely girlfriend, proves to be self-centered. She demands that Josh drop the class, or drop her. She childishly demands his full attention, arguing that either the relationship comes first or Prof. Radisson—it is Josh's choice. Josh argues that God comes first. Of course she promptly dumps Josh.

So it is clear now that Josh is up against the world. Even his mother coaches him to take things easy by dropping the class to focus on his other studies this first semester. But Josh is a stand up person. He does not shy away from a challenge. He visits a church where a reverend 'Dave' provides some Bible verses to make Josh feel guilty about not taking on the challenge.

Radisson has a girlfriend too. She is a beautiful young former student named Mina. She believes in God, but is so psychologically weak she latches onto Radisson for security, and thus suppresses her belief in God. Radisson regularly bully's and belittles her in private and public. It is clear that Radisson is merely tolerated by his colleagues—no one likes him.

Josh's first lecture focuses on the creation of the universe. Specifically how the universe was, for thousands of years, believed by scientists to be always in existence. But then evidence of a "big bang" was found. Physicist Stephen Weinberg (atheist) and Belgian astronomer George LeMaitre (theist) seem to agree on the beginnings of the universe. LeMaitre says the big bang is consistent with how the Bible portrays creation of the universe when God says ""let there be light." It is unclear how any of this proves, or disproves, God is dead or not dead.

After Josh is done, Radisson belittles Josh again, saying that Stephen Hawking says something else. Radisson makes sure that the class knows that Stephen Hawking is the greatest physicist to ever live, and that unschooled Josh is arguing with the greatest physicist who ever lived.

Hawking is mischaracterized and then used as a defense against divine creation. But the argument does not really matter. What matters is that Hawking makes the argument, thus it must be right. Radisson is clearly a numb-skull philosophy professor using an appeal to authority. Actually, that is all anyone does in this movie.

After the lecture Radisson roughly corners Josh attempting to intimidate him. Radisson's exchange with Josh is very arrogant and mean—as if by a ruffian on the streets of New York.

Josh's second lecture takes on Hawking's mischaracterized statement. Josh finds mathematician and philosopher John Lennox to refute Stephen Hawking. Again, this argument is a mischaracterization, but it does not matter. Josh takes this as a refutation. What matters most is that Lennox and Hawking disagree, and Lennox is no dummy. Professor Dummy, I mean Radisson, then asks Josh arrogantly, if he is arguing with professor Hawking. Of course Josh now responds with a no. He isn't, but Professor Lennox of Mathematics and Philosophy IS! Also, Josh finds Hawking making the following statement "Philosophy is dead." This is gem for Josh. Now he can force Radisson to choose either to dump Hawking all together, or to accept that philosophy is dead.

And so it goes on...

There are other characters in the film too. A Muslim raised girl named Ayisha who gets beat up by her demanding Muslim father. An atheist young woman reporter Amy Ryan facing cancer. Marc Shelly, an arrogant businessman who is dating Amy Ryan, but conveniently dumps her in her time of need. Reverend Jude, who seems to be the only non-wavering Christian. Martin Yip, an atheistic Chinese American who is impressed with Josh and thus wants to believe in God. And Willie Robertson, a caricature of Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson.

Great Movie

[jennifer-985-545431 · 10/10 · 28 April 2014]

A lot of reviewers believe this is just propaganda and says the movie generalizes all (small spoiler alert) Muslims, atheists, and others; however that is not the case. It is simply telling a story,as all movies do, it can not possibly get every story/ scenario that ever existed nor can it include every friend that you know who is a nice atheist or Muslim or whatever. I am sorry to say this, but no movie actually can in 110 minutes. It is simply telling about (small spoiler alert) a few people who are connected in various ways and their journey to the Christian Faith.

And to address the "propaganda" comments, guess what you are right- in some degree. In order for something to be labeled as propaganda it must first be false or exaggerated. There was nothing in this move that is false/ exaggerated because people have been/are killed for the Christian Faith about everyday (yes it's true Google it!) so since that extreme is currently happening anything less can not be an exaggeration nor false.

The second qualification one would need to call something propaganda is to "further a cause". Which, duh, the movie is called God's Not Dead. It is telling you in the title what it's motivations are. It is being more obvious than a commercial you see on TV or an ad in a magazine. If you still think that is horrible have you ever heard of the words "product placement" or "plug". The most talented and skilled actors, producers, directors, of movies and film all do it. Think about your favorite TV show and watch how the main actor just happens to be drinking a Sprite- does this make you angry? Well, if it doesn't then you are getting mad about obvious acts of persuasion (this movie) but not about subliminal. Hmmm.

It has some great stories and it tells them well. Go see the movie!

This movie makes some grand claims it fails to substantiate

[legalizearizona2014 · 1/10 · 5 May 2014]

Towards the end of the oh-so predictable climactic scene, the young student says that the professor knows god exists, that the scientific evidence proves it.

The only problem? The movie offered ZERO evidence for the existence of god. Literally NOTHING. They suggest that the scientific description of the big bang matches the opening of genesis, but that is not even remotely evidence. Outside of that, they offered ZERO evidence for the existence of god.

Are people really this dumb? And why did the "professor" sit there dumbfounded at these ridiculous, unsubstantiated claims?

If only that young man had been in my class. This movie would have a very different ending :)

Good movie but haters will hate

[investorsxchange · 10/10 · 2 February 2015]

I've read several of the reviews. There was only one that I felt brought up some valid points.

The good:

It was well acted, though perhaps not to the degree of some Hollywood actors, but convincing enough. Many Christian movies require extra grace in this department.

The plot was interesting. We watch on an intimate level how several people trudge through their personal struggles and how they deal with these. There's isn't a focus on just one person, though the college kid's situation is the main story. The others are well interwoven as subplots that affect one another.

I also appreciate what was left out of the movie. We never see Dean Cain's character come to Christ. The reporter allows the band to pray for her, but doesn't accept Christ either at that point. The father of the Muslim girl doesn't change his position with regard to his daughter. There is not one sermon in the entire film, which 99% of Christian movies predictably include... etc. In sum, all of the story lines aren't summed up neatly and to appease the Christian viewer.

The bad:

Perhaps this movie caters too much to the Christian community. There are few Christian movies that are willing to go out on a limb and show real world ugliness followed by biblical, uncompromising truth that leads to an individual's conversion and transformation. Perhaps this is because the production companies put movie makers in a pickle. If they are too worldy at any point, the Christian production companies will not produce it. If it's too holy moly, the secular ones will reject it. Be that as it may, we are in the world and not of it, but we are still IN it.

The second point that could use improvement and I agree with Freshy on this is the character development. There was some, but the characters were mostly flat. Having said that, this is not THAT type of a movie. The plot entailed decisions and the outcomes of those decisions, not the personal growth of the characters.

What this film is not:

It is not an attempt to address every question that non-believers have about why they should believe in God. It is not a conversion, magic-bullet tool. For this reason, I don't view it as propaganda at all. What it is, and the film does accomplish, is a catalyst for thought.

To non-believers: only the Spirit of God can open your eyes to the reality of Him, and if you want that, just ask. A movie in and of itself cannot do that, though it can be used by the Spirit. So, fear not. You will not see Him if you don't want to.

In sum, this is probably one of the best Christian movies that I've seen. Admittedly though, the Christian movie industry is new and nowhere near as well funded as it's secular rival.

An offense to intelligence

[giulio56 · 1/10 · 30 October 2014]

If it was not so blatantly a cheap piece of cchristian propaganda, it would be logic to ask why someone wasted time and money for to assemble a so poor quality story. The final scene with the conversion of the professor to cchristian religion laying on the asphalt after being hit by a car that don't stops and disappears in the rain, is just too much for any Human with more than two neurons, but the scene where the student, armed with just his faith, obtains that a cultured and prepared philosophy professor, admits, in front of the whole class, that he hates god because "he" took him everything, is really a piece of the worst religious propaganda, that deserve to be taken as an " how don't do a movie scene". I saw almost all this movie because somebody at home was watching it while I was doing some works, so I don't feel guilty of having wasted even one second of my precious life watching a similar piece of cinematographic garbage. Not even Hitler propaganda guys had enough stomach for to produce something similar to this. An offense to intelligence!! but .... " god acts in mysterious ways " says Jimm Jeffries ...

Awesome Christian movie

[jjhill505 · 10/10 · 26 August 2014]

The movie was inspirational. A great teaching movie on faith an beliefs. A lot of people better take notice of this movie cause one day we all will have to answer to him.

I seen a few other reviews saying that this movie is clearly made by Christians, well yea buddy it is. It don't make everyone else seem stupid like some may think. Most people rated it 3 stars out of 10.. why cause it didn't have big name actors in it? low budget film? Movies don't have to have big name players in it to be good. Sorbo and David A.R. White did an excellent job as well did the rest of the cast.. One final not for the ones who said the movie wasn't good.. 2 million dollar movie and it makes 61 million at box offices and DVD sells are through the roof..

The movie is a awesome, moving movie and great for the whole family

Christian or not, you have to admit this movie is awful

[kingstonhawke · 1/10 · 31 March 2015]

OK, I get it. You are Christians and you just want to see a movie where the Christians win. I grew up watching wrestling, I really do understand turning your brain off and rooting for Hulk Hogan to take down Iron Sheik. But assuming we're all adults here, cut the bull, and be honest. This movie is all sorts of awful.

*Bad acting. Check. Cain and Sorbo were the only serviceable actors in the whole movie. The rest were abysmal.

*Horrible editing. This movie wants to be Crash so bad. But unlike Crash it isn't able to intertwine the lives of it's characters seamlessly. Instead you get these jarring moments where someone is mid-speech, then a whole scene completely unrelated plays out, and then they finish the original scene.

*The cinematography is very poor. I understand that they movie was made on a cheap budget and finished in 20 days. But dang, I've seen cable shows with better cinematography than this.

*Wow, didn't expect a movie about Christians to be so damn racist. Hey yo my homies call me G-dawg, somehow I graduated highschool even though I'm an idiot. And here's my Asian friend who's overly serious, because you know, the more stereotypes the merry.

*The characters are painfully unrealistic. I'm not even going to point out the ones everyone else is. The ones that bothered me more were the Christians who are depicted as so inept that they are all in relationships with horrible people.

*The biggest of them all is that they slighted all the viewers on BOTH sides of the fence by not using real debate points. Instead of having an actually competent professor, they take the lazy route and make him commit fallacy after fallacy. I grew up in a Christian household. No Christian that engages in apologetics is dumb enough to think you can switch the burden of proof over to the non- believer.

*The movie was just too cluttered. I really ended up not caring about anyone because every time I attempted to get invested in a character the movie would shift over to someone else, and them someone else again... and then it'd finally return to where it was 15 minutes later. They should've cut out cancer girl, Dean Cain, the Asian, the Muslim, and the preacher and his friend. None of that helped the movie. Although I guess for some people it gave the undertone that secretly we all want to be Christians.

Christians, this is how you can tell if this is a good movie or not. When you watch, every time they say Jesus, in your mind, switch that to Muhammad. And every time they say God, switch that to Allah. If you still love the movie, then cool. But more than likely you'll see this horrible movie for the pure fail that it is.

One of the Worst Ever Made

[xyz717 · 1/10 · 5 April 2015]

This movie was unwatchable and downright insulting. Even through the hokey opening credit scenes I found myself rolling my eyes at the cliché's and obvious stereotypes. No professor would ever, ever make a kid sign a paper like that. The object of learning is to challenge students beliefs with ideas and to study and discuss those ideas. The decision to accept or reject an idea is entirely up to the student. I only got roped into this movie because it kept appearing in my "you might like" queue on my Netflix menu. Absolutely horrible film on every level. My fault, I should have realized from the title that it's intent was to manipulate, but my hope that perhaps the makers of this film had happened upon some new insight or refreshing angle, was completely and utterly in vain.

Dreadful, dishonest film centering on a debate where only one side shows up

[kira02bit · 1/10 · 17 January 2015]

In this thinly veiled right-wing Christian propaganda piece, a noble young Christian college student takes on his nasty atheist professor in a series of debates about the existence of God. There is actually nothing wrong with propaganda pieces – all films try to manipulate us in some way. Unfortunately,there is nothing here in this film thematically,intellectually or artistically that can save it.

There is the bad writing with cardboard characters mouthing questionable platitudes that sound like they are coming from ideologues. There is the terrible acting by an undistinguished cast – including former Hercules Kevin Sorbo bugging his eyes out and hurling snark at the camera in a desperate attempt to convince us he can act and former Superman Dean Cain looking shell-shocked.

Yet the biggest blunder of all is the entire plot line revolving around "debates". The foundation of this film rests on the viewer believing that this evil and arrogant professor, would conveniently allow his entire curriculum to be halted so that he can have a series of debates with a first-year college student on the existence of God. The debates are the linchpin of this film and purportedly what should decide us in its favor. But can it truly be called a debate when only one side shows up?

Anyone who has attended a university is probably already laughing. The really absurd parts are the debates themselves. I have attended and viewed a number of debates between learned Christians and educated atheists and they resemble nothing as what is committed to celluloid here. For one thing, both sides usually come fully prepared for an actual debate. Josh, the young student, cites no evidence or persuasive arguments to support his extraordinary claims, yet somehow manages to win the debate. That is, perhaps, because Sorbo's character apparently thought he was attending a tea dance and his strongest argument rests with citing acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking…and that is it. On a side note to Dr. Hawking, he really should consider a lawsuit for having his name come up at all in this drivel.

As some examples: Sorbo could have asked Josh to account for why Christianity has not been at the forefront of any civil rights movements, but has often been an obstacle instead. He could have asked him to account for Christianity's outdated and morally repulsive views on women and gays – but given that Josh is getting so much on screen advice from members of Duck Dynasty, that may have been uncomfortable to answer. He could have asked him to explain if God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent and knows all in a man's heart as he indicates in the Bible, then there is no need to test anyone since He already knows the answer. He could also use that as an argument against free will since if there is arguably a set future of which God is already aware than that would negate free will, which would make a future uncertain. He could argue about why a "peaceful" being like God would take credit for creating evil as he does in Genesis. He could argue about placing innocent rubes with no idea of right and wrong with a super-intelligent serpent and then blaming them for their actions. He could bring up the bloody history of Christianity, with its inquisitions and wars and condoned pillaging and rapes and mass exterminations, while God apparently approved from afar. He could bring up the pedophilia scandal and cover-up in the Catholic Church, which still tries to claim the moral high ground. He could bring up the treatment of native populations by Christian missionaries through history, or the role Christianity has played in the spread of AIDS in Africa, or its role in retarding sexual education to place teens at risk. He could ask why there are so many glaring contradictions and inconsistencies in important events of the Bible and name them – if the book is truly inspired by a Divine Being. He could point out that the Bible's attempts at social and scientific claims are nothing that an Iron Age man would not have known and are anything but the views of a Supreme Being. He could have argued that the entire bloody sacrifice of Jesus story is a reworked version of the already popular scapegoat myth of the time. Or that there were numerous prophets and messiahs that preceded Jesus. Or that other religions make the same claims on the same evidence and have their own holy books, but are derided by Christianity as false. He could cite the number of erroneous prophecies and now-proved wrong statements made by Jesus. The list is truly endless and would no doubt have made for a truly lively debate.

Unfortunately, there is no debate as the Sorbo character pretty much raises the white flag from the start and stumbles blindly around. For his troubles, he loses everything, including his life – after which the victorious Christians head to an upbeat Christian rock concert to celebrate.

It is because there really is no debate here that the movie utterly fails even in its own minimal aims and it does not even see the irony. Apparently, so weak and with so little faith do the makers of this film see their own religious convictions, that a real debate could not be allowed to occur and the deck must be shamelessly stacked in their favor in order to prop up their "truth". The fact that this is so speaks volumes more than any of the characters in this film. To see some real debates between noted Christians and atheists, one would be well advised to head over to Youtube to see how a real debate shapes up. It is much more fascinating than anything offered in this tragic misfire.

Read

[js1801 · 9/10 · 21 July 2019]

The Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit, if most churches are correct. The Trinity is a Family-- two Parents and an Offspring, if most churches are correct. In the Bible, Jesus Himself said, " I and the Father are One".--John 10:30 On the topic of marriage in general,according to the Bible Jesus said "they are no longer two but one..."-Matthew 19:6

A pandering and malignant failed attempt at propaganda

[opensorce69 · 1/10 · 13 July 2015]

This movie in essence does nothing but harm to religion and the possibility of an all-powerful God. It also serves as an outright and intentional affront to Islam. The universe it takes place in is less believable than those seen in the Hunger Games, Divergent or the Chronicles of Narnia. From it's poor acting, storytelling and directing to it's weak scientific arguments this movie is just bad.

It plays like out of tune flat religious music that only sells because it mentions your favorite deity every few minutes.

The only way it offers any argument to the statement "God's not Dead" is by convincing you that Satan must surely exist in order for this film to have been made. As he most certainly took part in funding this little gem to help destroy Christianity. Although discreetly as I would imagine he has better taste than to attach his name to this dung heap of a film.

It gets Christians wrong.

It gets Muslims wrong.

It gets Atheists wrong.

It gets Chinese people wrong.

It gets black people (American and African) wrong.

It gets humanity so ridiculously and painfully wrong.

If you are looking for something to reaffirm your belief in God I recommend that you watch Showgirls or Joe Dirt. Either would surely make a stronger argument for the existence of God than "God is not Dead".

Dawkins fan boys hate it!

[liverpoolirish · 10/10 · 8 May 2021]

Great movie that has clearly rattled the Dawkins fan boys of this world. Check their reviews, paragraph after paragraph, they really went to that much trouble 😂😂

Great movie that clearly touches the nerves it was supposed to touch!

Insulting to other religions and creeds. Intolerant!!!

[ricardoivanmelendez · 1/10 · 2 April 2015]

Jesus did not preach intolerance as THIS MOVIE DO. Movies and postures like this one are the reason why dark forces push even radical fundamentalist to insist in the opposite direction (In other words, Muslims are OK :-) as any other religion if they the follow through their principles). So they praise the lord dancing and singing while the atheist professor dies after an accident where he converts? Is that the image of god's plan? :-( It makes me think twice before converting to Christianity. I'm a believer but I don't believe this movie is even fair to any creed neither any religious nor atheist individual.

P.S. God is not… …liking this movie.

Only for moronic sheeps

[Techcorp · 1/10 · 7 November 2014]

This movie is so dumb as religion itself. First of all, christians complain about being prosecuted in colleges. Well, where else? Colleges are the only places with people using brain in this country. Of course they will make fun of morons who live by a fairy tale. Believing in god is no different to believing in Santa, Easter rabbit or tooth fairies. God was created to control dumb people since the majority of people was always dumb and easy to manipulate.

As already mentioned by other posters, all atheist characters in the movie were portrayed as bad people while in reality its mostly the opposite. Religion is responsible for the most killings and cruelty in the history of the world. Beloved christians were killing atheists or burning women as witches.

so ridiculous it is almost funny

[mgranerod · 1/10 · 11 November 2015]

To live up to the religion of George Carlin - oh my Pesci!

This makes me physically ill. This is pure propaganda and should be branded as such. If they produced a documentary on religion it would be different, in that I would gladly listen to the opinions of any of the people in the movie.. This should be illegal! I'm surprised it didn't spur more controversy.

Most baffling of all is that any of the actors were willing to participate in this absolute drivel They must be seriously strapped for cash.. Has to be the worst movie ever made - at least until no. 2 comes out.

Wasted potential

[corrientes123 · 3/10 · 30 December 2014]

The premise of the movie is a great one: a David vs. Goliath type of debate over God. While the acting was very good and could have easily achieved that goal, it got screwed by a bad script and a bad (or partisan!) director: the movie is blatantly partisan for Christianity by depicting the atheist professor ("Goliath") as an arrogant asshole while the student ("David") is playing the likable, modest, and fairly smart Christian opponent.

No professor would ever act like the one in the movie (I happen to be one of them) and hardly any one of them would be as arrogant, especially in philosophy.

On the other hand, the technically outstanding presentations of the student (using fancy animations etc.) used lame arguments, e.g. "evolution makes no jumps" citing Darwin himself. Hey, that's a 150-year old argument, long obsolete, since Darwin even didn't know about DNA or mutations (surely evolution does make jumps!).

The whole psychological argument was more or less ignored although it is the most important argument in favor of religion: it simply makes people feel good, no matter whether there is a god or not. (It did come across rather in passing though).

Running neck and neck with Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas as the nadir in this genre

[mnpollio · 1/10 · 12 January 2015]

A young Christian college student takes on his atheist professor in an effort to prove the existence of God in this woebegone misfire that competes with Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas in being at the nadir of a genre already chock full of low points. It is unthinkable that this film would turn even the most wishy-washy skeptic to Christianity, but it could most certainly turn those grappling with their faith against it.

First, one would think that if you were making a film where you were demonizing specific demographics of society, primarily atheists, you would know what exactly it was you were demonizing. An atheist is someone who does not believe in a god - by definition an atheist cannot "hate" God because he/she simply does not believe such a being exists. Yet this film posits that atheists are really all angry believers who just have an ax to grind with God because they have emotional boo-boos. The thought that they legitimately do not believe in God (like Christians do not believe in Zeus or Odin) is an alien concept and sets the film up on a level of unparalleled biased ignorance from which it cannot claim any credibility.

The story itself is based on a widely disseminated internet meme which was subsequently discredited (except in Christian circles) and further betrays an ignorance of how colleges work. No professor valuing their job or their tenure would start off a class requesting that their students sign a paper stating "God is Dead" unless they wanted a whole lot of blowback. And the fact that no one in this class really carps except for the ridiculous hero so that we can get some kind of David and Goliath story is laughable in its own right. Even more preposterous is that the professor then allows said student to basically take over the class for the semester building up to a "debate" that really is no debate. No professor would give this kind of luxury to a first-year student and no fellow student(s) would stand for such foolishness dominating the bulk of their classroom studies. Obviously the film was conceived by people and marketed to people who have little idea how an actual place of higher learning works.

More obnoxious is that all of the "bad" characters are liberal stereotypes that are often the targets of conservative Christian ire (i.e., the professor, the journalist, the attorney). As ignorant as the depiction of atheists is, it is very nearly superseded by the film's depiction of Americanized Muslims - another faction of which the writers apparently know little. We are presented with a Muslim girl who secretly longs to convert to Christianity and who is disowned by her family when they learn of her blasphemy.

The acting is uniformly awful and the "name" leads are no exception. Kevin Sorbo, sporting a devilish goatee, hams it up manically as the professor. Sorbo, who spent years as barely serviceable beefcake eye candy on the TV series Hercules, can now be found in his later years giving shrill bigoted appearances on conservative news shows demonstrating that former beefcake is better seen and not heard. Co-lead Dean Cain is largely remembered as being the only Superman to ever be upstaged by Lois Lane in Lois and Clark - here he plays an angry lawyer and his acting has gotten worse while advancing years have made him appear disconcertingly bloated. The supporting cast is instantly forgettable.

There never really is any question that the "hero" will best the "villain" in one of the lamest debates in film history. The boy presents the flimsiest of arguments/supports for his cause, all of which flummox the educated man so badly that he fumbles the whole thing. Given that there are so many debates between prominent atheists and Christians available on Youtube - comparing those to this is almost surreal with how badly it is handled in this film. Then again, it would have to be badly handled because the real-life debates usually either end in a draw or with the atheists having the edge - depending on how good the debaters are.

Among the film's low points (and there are many), one must include: 1) any time members of Duck Dynasty show up to give the hero a pep talk, because nothing says inspirational quite like a group of homophobic, misogynistic bigots. 2) The fact that not one Christian offers shelter to the homeless Muslim girl - just useless pep talks. 3) Apparently it is not enough for the professor to have lost his girlfriend, the debate and had an epiphany - he must also be smashed to death by a truck to complete his comeuppance, which brings us to 4) after which, all of the Christians immediately gather at a feel-good concluding Christian rock concert, completely unconcerned about the pulverized guy they knew and rock out - including the penniless Muslim convert (who paid her way in how?) and an Asian boy, so blown away by our hero's arguments that he is compelled to enlighten his parents that "God is not dead".

This dreck is a prime example of something that should be shown only in church basements to the most devoted or easily deceived believers who need a fantasy pick-me-up to affirm their faith. How it managed to slime its way into multiplexes is a real mystery, but it certainly belies the fallacy of Christian persecution that something like this can get made and get a release, while some truly marvelous and intelligent films get lost.

Internet meme gone horribly wrong

[earil-26-538040 · 1/10 · 12 June 2014]

Usually when they make a movie out of an urban legend it is an amusing urban legend. The atheist professor dumbfounded by the brilliant young student (usually Einstein) has been making the rounds on the internet for some time now. It reminds me of the Underpants Gnomes episode of South Park: Step one, steal underpants. Step two, ???? Step three, profits. Same deal with the meek student and arrogant professor. All the variations on the internet are the same, a big hole in their reasoning when it comes to proving the existence of God. Hoped this movie would be different, it wasn't. Hoped it would at least be interesting and well written or acted, oh well. Please don't waste your time. I gave this movie a chance because I thought Kevin Sorbo could make anything funny by going tongue in cheek. The poor man had no chance. A final thought, if you can prove God exists, wouldn't some cleaver philosopher or scientist done so by now, and dispensed with the need for faith? And fortunately the need for this movie.

GOD Is Not Dead BUT AAA is???

[GeoPierpont · 2/10 · 19 June 2015]

Being a Catholic most of my life I could not relate to much of anything in this film. I guess the pride of the atheist claims a very limited life experience. Most are actually very angry folks and can't relate to events that are outside the realm of normal. I was perplexed that Hawking's statement was devoid of possibilities given his enormous genius. How about a viewing of a few Celebrity Ghost Story episodes for some perspective. With such a miraculous life I seriously doubt someone could be sane with no medication side effects and claim they know ANYTHING with complete certainty.

I found most of the script and scenes completely ridiculous and off putting that I could not determine the intention of the director/producers. Whoever the target audience was, there was little to find that was inspirational, educational let alone vaguely entertaining.

High recommend for Sorbo fans, never saw him in this type of role. Also the list of atheists is interesting if you read philosophy books. Otherwise skip this one and hope for a more serious in-depth treatment of the great debate.

Wished i had checked the ratings first what a piece of junk

[jason_leo · 2/10 · 10 August 2014]

First up i watch a lot of movies and i do mean loads. Because i watch so many now i find myself watching movies that don't look amazing but might be OK. I thought this was going to be a comedy and would clearly push towards god but not much otherwise it would be a open your mouth while i ram this bible in type of thing.

The arguments were weak at best but OK thats fine until suddenly a teacher who outright hates god for the death of someone turns round and follows him again. magically the two tired follows show up at the exact moment to issue last rites. It went from light to being force fed as suddenly everyone switched to god.

so his wife slowly dies and the excuse would be thats gods will which never explains why when you goto church they pray for people to get better? Don't waste your time unless your considering joining a religion as it gets vomit worthy towards the end.

A pitiful movie

[eduardoffeula · 1/10 · 15 May 2021]

This film is ridiculous and insults the viewer's intelligence. This "story" has so many mistakes and flaws that I am ashamed of having spent almost 2 hours on it. I had hoped that at least the debates would be interesting, a mistake.

Wishful Thinking At Its Finest

[copymefawksyou · 1/10 · 14 August 2016]

This contains spoilers, you have been warned. Short version: a Catastrophe.

Long version:

It goes with the same intention as 'USA is a Christian nation', 'The Constitution was written by Christians with Christian principles', 'Separation of Church and Staye is not constitutional therefore we should have a Christian theocracy' kind of childish LIES. The ignorant, capricious, presumptuous script let us see how Christians, as any other theists, have a very simple, biased, wishful self-deluded, pretentious and arrogant perspective about their theology, that simply is so true that it's easily proved by logic and that through it, will discover the foundation for all reasons for atheism and find that they're invalid, because Christian theology is simply undeniably perfect, as is the perfect revelation of the perfect word of god, from a perfect god.

All these unfounded pretentious arrogance, gives them a wishful thinking attitude, thinking that the Universal Laws don't apply, and as a result: embarrassing logic errors, fallacies claim as true and assumptions out of ignorance, and all these in turn to jump to completely biased conclusions.

All of these are portrayed in this movie, they prove abundantly how delusional and skewed from reality Christians really are. They claim this is a documentary, but for atheists, so we thank you for this.

This teach us to be realistic, to be honest and accept reality to have a solid base progress and be able to contribute elevating Humanity quality of life, this is what typically happens in science, you fail , you learn, so this spectacular disaster can be seen by future generations as how retrograde some people were, just to favor their religion and self-centered way of life.

Cheerio.

Christian Apologist Reviews "God Is Not Dead"

[herosguild · 3/10 · 13 September 2014]

I have been involved in Christian apologetics for more than two decades. I teach Physics for a living, too.

I write these things to give folks who read this perspective of where I am coming from.

~~~~Warning, contains spoilers.~~~~

This movie was 113 minutes of emotional pleading and false doctrines. The defense the primary character in the movie gives during the class is more dramatic than useful. The entire debate ends up with a gotcha moment rather than real evidence.

At the very end of the movie, Satan shows this to be his tool rather than God's with the death of the professor and his alleged conversion just before he dies.

The Bible is very clear about what is necessary for salvation and it isn't the so called sinner's prayer (John 9:31) or just "accepting Jesus into your heart" (found nowhere in scripture) or faith alone (James 2:24).

One must:

Hear the gospel (Romans 10:17) Believe it (Heb. 11:6) Repent of sins (Acts 2:38; 2 Cor. 7:10) Confession of Faith (Romans 10:9-10; Matt. 10:32) Immersion in water into Christ (Romans 6:16-18; 1 Pet. 3:21; Acts 22:16; etc.)

As for the apologetics stuff, they could have done so much better. The Bible is excellent evidence for the existence of God and it is possible, through induction, to prove His existence.