The last religious movie I watched, in religion class, was a documentary made in the 90’s that solely consisted of a picture slideshow and a voice narration. There is a very small selection of religious movies that are educational and of decent quality nowadays. Breaking this trend of boring educational documentaries on the Christian faith is the new movie, God’s Not Dead.

On a field trip to see this movie with my youth group, I was taken aback by the quality of a movie that had to do with faith. Given that 32% of the world’s population is of the Christian faith, according to the Washington Times, I was shocked to find that this movie was getting any attention in the theaters.

The movie’s main plot revolves around a freshman college student, Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), as he tries to prove to his philosophy class and Professor (Kevin Sorbo) that God is not dead. Within the main plot there are five subplots revolving around other people’s faith journeys. The movie captures a pure act of a young boy pursuing God’s will and defending his faith even when it threatened to tear apart his life. Josh Wheaton sacrificed his social standard, true love, and future to live out the plan God made for him.

Like in other religious movies the acting was subpar, excluding the two main characters Harper and Sorbo. At times when the acting faltered, the message prevailed. In one scene, Wheaton’s girlfriend (Cassidy Gifford) gives him an ultimatum to pick between her and God. Although the girlfriend’s acting qualified as cheesy and over dramatic, she made it that much easier for Josh to choose God.

While sitting in the theater watching the movie, I was inspired by the characters willingness to defend their faith, but also fearful at how society would accept this film. To my dismay, the film is receiving an average rating of a 4.8 out of 10, according to IMDb. However, I predict that a majority of those votes came from people who don’t understand the movie or judged it based on preconceived notions. Although it is not for everyone, the film definitely hits home with its Christian viewers as it motivates them to embrace their faith like Josh Wheaton did.  

Besides the cheesy acting and partially negative reviews, the best part of the film is that is tests an audience’s faith by having them join the movement. Director Harold Cronk left his viewers with the simple task of now going out and spreading the news that God is in fact NOT dead.