God's Not Dead

Plot synopsis:
AP History teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart), a devout evangelical Christian, notices that one of her students, Brooke Thawley (Hayley Orrantia), is withdrawn following the recent accidental death of her brother. Involved in little more than her studies, Brooke notices Grace's hope-filled attitude, and asks where Grace finds her optimism. Grace replies "Jesus", and Brooke begins to read the Bible for herself. As Grace lectures on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., Brooke asks whether their peaceful teachings relate to the biblical account of the Sermon on the Mount. Grace responds in the affirmative, and relates parts of scripture to his teachings. One student immediately texts his parents about the class, and the ensuing backlash draws the ire of Principal Kinney (Robin Givens). She reprimands Grace, saying that the teacher's faith clouded her judgment. Grace is subsequently brought before the School Board, who inform her that legal action will be taken against her as she has violated the separation of church and state. Grace's case draws the attention of Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), a young defense attorney who is willing to aid her despite being an unbeliever himself.
After speaking to his friend Josh, Martin Yip, a college student, visits Pastor David Hill (David A. R. White) to ask him several questions about God. Former left-wing blogger Amy Ryan goes to the hospital to check in on her cancer, only to find that it has miraculously vanished. She talks to Michael Tait of the Newsboys, who encourages her, stating that with faith, prayers can be answered. Amy ponders this, and later makes her blog a diary about her adventures with God.
The School Board brings Grace's case before a judge in Little Rock, Arkansas, hoping to secure her termination and strip her of her teaching license unless she issues an apology, which Grace refuses to do. To Brooke's horror, ACLU prosecutor Pete Kane (Ray Wise) declares that the lawsuit will "prove once and for all that God is dead". His opening argument suggests that the society of the United States will crumble should Grace fail to be found guilty. Endler responds by stating that Grace was simply doing her job, and that the law separating church and state was written by Thomas Jefferson in an effort to protect the church, not persecute it. Kane builds a strong case against Brooke by bringing forward witnesses such as Kinney and Brooke's parents, prompting Endler to rethink their defense. Meanwhile Brooke stands in solidarity with her friends against Kinney. The defense is dealt another blow when their key juror, David, becomes ill. Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace is called as an expert witness, arguing that it is illogical to think that the gospel was a conspiracy because despite facing persecution and death, none of the Apostles ever retracted the accounts of seeing the risen Jesus. Kane is floored to learn that Wallace was formerly an atheist who was converted to Christianity.
Amy encourages Brooke to follow her heart, despite what others are making her do. Martin is surprised to find his father in his college dorm. Mr. Yip angrily rebukes Martin for following God despite the family's sacrifices. Martin refuses to deny God, and Mr. Yip disowns him, then leaves. A heartbroken Martin goes to the church, where he finds Brooke. They talk about God, and Martin eventually brings Brooke to God. Later, Brooke sets up a protest to support Grace.
Brooke is allowed as a witness. Kane is able to trick her into admitting that it was Grace and not Brooke who initiated their first conversation about Jesus. As Grace becomes more and more discouraged, Brooke and her friends sing her a song in an attempt to build up her spirits. Martin visits David in the hospital with his friend Paul, and announces that he feels his call is as a pastor in China. Using a tactic to position Grace as a hostile witness, Endler gets the judge to inform the jury not to let their bias or prejudices interfere with their verdict. The jury ultimately finds in favor of Grace, who rejoices along with Brooke and Endler as Kane stands humiliated.
In a post-credits scene, a fully recovered David returns to church with Paul, only to then be arrested for refusing to turn in his sermons to the government, (shown earlier in the film). Paul and Martin watch as David is taken away. Then, Martin wonders what to do next, and Paul replies that the best they can do is wait, and pray.

Tags: romantic, intrigue, philosophical

Review:
I'm a conservative evangelical Christian (a Calvinist in fact), and I am not exactly proud of this movie.At times, it was actually kind of entertaining - mostly because of the laughably bad writing, but near the end there actually were some dramatic moments that affected me.
And to be honest, it doesn't reflect very well on believers.I think that the entire thing is supposed to teach Christians how to use apologetics to evangelize, but if that's what it's trying to do, don't expect a huge influx of converts anytime soon.
The entire movie seems VERY caught up in how stupid, evil and bad non- Christians and atheists are, without stopping for one minute to recognize that HUMILITY is one of the key virtues of our faith.
In truth, Christians are literally NO better than other people, and whatever difference exists in our life is not because we're smarter or more moral - it's because of Christ and Christ alone.This movie is nothing more than an amalgamation of clichés and stereotypes that us Christians unfortunately have.
It's almost like this movie was made Christians who knew absolutely nothing about their own faith and of other beliefs.
Josh wears a cross around his neck.Anyone desiring to watch this movie will know from the hype around it or basic plot summary this film uses a linear Christian vs.
I frequently find myself upset with the scripted circular- logic sentiments offered by the common atheist (as well as those from the average self-identifying Christian).And furthermore, I found it quite ironic that the person they chose to represent a "God-hating atheist" is Kevin Sorbo, whose career was largely spent as Hercules.
Not in the way that the producers probably intended, but I thought it was entertaining.Of course this movie is complete hogwash with conversations in the script that would never ever happen in real life.
The biggest problem that I had with the movie is that it seems to make Christianity sound like the best religion by having all of the atheists and people of other religions in the movie seems like total jerks or have something bad happen to them.
At the end of the movie, they also showed a message telling the audience to send 'God's not dead' to all of the contacts in their phone.
I would recommend this movie to any Christians, who firmly believe in their faith, but for people of other religions, I would stay away from it..
I have watched non-Christian movie and TV content at the urging of friends; they don't demand it, and then crow about how this "proves" that faith and Christianity and God are wrong or nonexistent.
Every time I encounter this tidbit of Christian exclusivity, I want scream, "What about God's grace?" I'm sorry that I couldn't give this movie a rating of minus 10 stars!!!.
I have read reviews about the non Christian characters in the movie as being portrayed poorly.
The college student in this film, did an excellent job of bringing to light that philosophers are not the know-all figures (held in grandeur) but our society believes in what they say, because they are educated people.
I went to support the movie but expecting the same old lame and wooden 'Christian' movie experience, but came away very impressed with all aspects.A little pointed, of course, but not far off what kids would face in today's university at times.
Nice that the 'artistic license' is on the other foot for one time (in movies/TV/etc)...and just listen to the howls (see other reviews here).The flow and point of the movie wasn't actually heavy-handed (sensitive raw nerves excluded), but went to the point of Christianity and the God-given right of freewill, along the way refuting the sophomoric-yet-ultimate 'show-stopper' argument of moralistic-atheists, 'How can a God who is (considered) good allow bad?'.Overall, accomplishes the point of any good movie...
In God's Not Dead, for example, we see a university coed raised Muslim converting to Christianity, and, while her father is violent in his reaction to learning of his daughter's conversion, both before that scene and at the end of that scene, we see a human dad sincerely striving to raise his children as best he can and his genuine disappointment over his daughter's loss of the faith of her upbringing.
In other words, for this female character, her Christianity was as external as her overly thick makeup.And many of the other characters were not left at the superficial level, we actually found out what made them tick, what drove them to be the way they are.The classroom discussions over the existence of God can spur viewers, no matter their beliefs, to investigate for themselves and perhaps be less afraid of opposing viewpoints.All that said, the movie's makers couldn't help themselves in forcing piecing of the puzzle by going to the evangelical Protestant "Come to Jesus" solution in unrealistic settings that stretch the imagination.
I've concluded that most viewers are over-rating or under-rating the movie, depending on their perspective on God. As a Christian, of course my friend and I had an appreciation for the subject matter, but as movie-lovers we also enjoyed the film..
The movie is about whether on not God is real, not about Muslim's reaction to Christianity.
No "AHA!" moment, but a lot to think about.I thought the local pastor's character was a bit weak, and appreciated the balance of "poor" Christianity provided by the student's girlfriend.The end seemed a bit confused and weak.LOVED seeing LSU!!
If you have friends or acquaintances who are professors, just ask them!I especially liked that this movie raises the scary question of the existence of evil (cancer, suffering, natural disasters, criminal activity, etc.,) in the world.
The movie points out that most people mistakenly think these things are "acts of God," which makes no sense.
Is God Real?This is not a Christian movie per se since it presents a discussion in a secular context and invites the audience to ask themselves and to think for themselves based on well known and published works.I'd just ask viewers to ask themselves - how does this movie make you feel?
If you're an Atheist, Agnostic or follower of a faith other than Christianity and have an emotional response - like many of the reviews posted - i'd just ask - why are you getting emotional?
If Jesus wasn't real, the Bible wasn't true, and God was dead then unbelievers and atheist would not be so offended.The movie was very well made and for those on here who claim to be Christians, my question is this?
Just curious because if you have then you are very well aware of the majority of scenario's in the movie are very real life for people in touch with reality.The very fact that Christian values are under attack or trying to be suppressed to practice in your home or Church only should be eye opening.The very fact that you running a Christian based business made it to the supreme court shows the hatred for our First Amendment rights.Take time and read your Bible and look at the public witness Jesus displayed.
Sure, some subplots are weird and some characters are stereotypical, but for a Christian viewer, they will certainly remind them of someone they met in the real world.Most of the negative reviews are biased and hateful.
God's Not Dead is the inspirational story of how much one person standing up for their Christian faith can impact family, friends, and their surrounding community.
It seems like people saw the title of the movie and went to watch it just to see how bad it'd be.
Obviously the script/acting/whatever wasn't anything special, but it was watchable for sure, and I actually enjoyed the positive energy displayed in the film, and the positive message.I've met a lot of Christians in real life, and I have to admit, they're some of the nicest people around.
If Christian films are bringing movies with good messages in them, then why put them down?
Sure there are Christians who are bad, that use religion just for money, but there are people like that all over the world and in every religion.
I encourage people of all backgrounds to attend the movie and allow themselves to acknowledge the benevolence of God and the privilege of living in the "free world".
I have read some reviews that described the movie as "offensive", I tell those who wrote that, that the most offensive thing about this movie is that it will be forbidden in over 80% of the world countries, along with other current movies like "Noah", "Son of God" and "Heaven is for real.
This movie probably will not appeal to non-Christians,ie atheists and the like.
I've been having what some call a crisis of faith for several years now, and I think I finally figured out that maybe the problem wasn't that I was trying to rediscover my faith, but perhaps it was that I was trying to find out why I quit believing in God. More and more, I've been drawn to an Atheist view, and was hoping that maybe this movie would help me firm up my stance on Atheism.I went into the experience knowing that it was likely to be tilted in the other direction, but was curious what arguments would be made.
I will let you see the film God's Not Dead for yourself but my wife and I really enjoyed the movie.
this is a must see for all, I know all atheist do not act this way but some of them do they feel the same way the Professor does I am a Christian and I will stand up for God just the way the student did he did not make the class choose God he let them make their own choice by proving that God's Not Dead.
He does a very good job proving his point and goes against his family and his Girlfriend to prove what he feels he needs to, he is impelled by God to prove that there is a God and that people should have a choice to believe the way they want to.
Thankfully, as word got out, the university apologized for the whole assignment.I can tell you I have met in my life people exactly like the characters in this film and although the interconnectedness of the principals is stretched, I believe that as a plot tool it works.
As a Christian it is wonderful to see a Salvation message in a mainstream, in regular theater , movie.It is well worth taking the time to see this film..
An atheist cannot possible write a fair review on a Christian movie.
Do not let the atheists or unbelievers keep you from this very moving Christian experience, its one for God in this movie and you won't regret it.
Movie is excellent, give us a wonderful message about the existence of God. In difficult times like now, thats what we really need to watch and feed our spirit with something that really fulfill our soul, not the garbage the is been around us!
The "point" of this movie is to speak out to the world that God is not dead and to "stand up" for what you believe so yes it shows each type of persecution towards believers with the dad and the professor and so on but it isn't saying all unbelievers are that way, That was the point of the movie, to show specific things that are really going on today if you choose to stand and say I believe in Jesus Christ.
The film really paints everything with a black and white brush and makes assumptions about atheists - AND people from other faiths and countries - that cause much of the criticism of the Christian community in the first place.
The in-class debate part of the film was interesting, but I believe professor Raddison when he said they did not have pre-law at the university, because just about every action he took was completely illegal, from threatening his students with failing grades or at least greatly enhanced workloads if they did not write down "God is dead" on a piece of paper and sign it, to confronting and taunting the student Josh when he began to get his goat.Josh makes a big deal during his portion of the debate about God allowing free will to reign on earth and that being the reason for all of the evil, and then the plot goes on to disprove exactly that by implying divine destruction of the ignition capabilities of every car that two random missionaries on their way to Disneyland touch (in one of many sideplots) so that they can be at a particular place at a crucial time.
God's Not Dead is not one of those movies.I took some of my youth leaders and youth group to see this movie (they bought their own ticket, the church didn't buy them and hand them out to the youth, like what members of the media think happens for Christian films.
I don't believe the movie creators were trying to portray the message that ALL atheists are like the characters in the movie; however, because strong Christians are a minority, there are atheists out there who will put God down in front of a class full of students.
This teacher she has at school is trying to make her class believe that there is no God. It's really encouraging seeing a movie where Christians prove God's existence with success.
If you are going to approach the story in a different perspective, you would probably not gonna like the movie since you have your own personal point of view in life.If you came from a different culture then there is a high chance that you would probably get offended even if you can not admit it directly to yourself since there are some scene that is quite disturbing if you don't have an open mind about things and stuff.The most important thing you need to know about this movie is its worth watching and its worth your time.
We went with several people some of whom are Christians and some who were not and everyone enjoyed the movie and what they got out of it.
I wasn't expecting an academy award winning movie, nor a deeply intellectual exploration of Christian apologetics countered by a balanced and equally effective anti-God perspective that would leave the viewer wondering what they should believe.
If you are a believer or have questions about God, its a great movie.
For a long time Christians have been told that if they don't like something on TV or in the Movies that they shouldn't go.
A liberal, atheist, or person who chooses to not believe in God berate, belittle, bully, and vilify Christianity or make rude, demeaning comments about followers of Christ in the media and through film or written word.
A well made movie that will make people rethink there views on whether God exists or not.
I have seen many negative reviews calling this movie propaganda, and how it makes atheists look bad.
To be honest, I've never seen a Christian film with good acting, nonetheless this is how I feel about the film: I noticed a lot of people said it was awful how the non-Christians were over the top jerks and the Christians in this movie were perfect.
This film did a great job outlining some of the major questions that "good people" have when it comes to Christianity and answering these questions.
Such as, if God is real why do horrible people live such good lives (as outlined by Dean Cain's character); how sometimes the most aggressive anti-theistic people are desperately seeking answers, and sometimes it takes a drastic life altering event to bring them to terms with this.The girlfriend of the main character was a good depiction of people who claim the faith but don't really live the faith.There were a few Luke-warm Christians in this film, so in no way did it depict Christians as being perfect.To the gentleman who said professors and University systems are not like this, I beg to differ.
If you are a Christian or a non believer this movie is a must see.
Good Christian movies have a way of striking a chord with those who are in tune with the message and is deemed "offensive" by those who don't understand a deep relationship with God. The main character Josh displays courage and the conviction to take on what is perceived to be an unpopular view of defending the existence of God. I found the movie to be realistic to todays culture as he defends what he believes and takes abuse from the "tolerant" secular world.
It is not just your normal christen movie it is different in a good way i never wanted it to end and i hope you think the something like i did.
If you have a friend that does not believe in God or doubts his existence this is the movie to watch!
Hollywood needs to take note...that people want to see movies like this.
But this movie ...I mean, to depict God as someone who needs to be defended, to depict Christians as perfect people, and to generalize all atheists as bigots ...just doesn't make any sense from a biblical perspective.
Christian movies seem to follow the pattern of having a non-believer, or someone from a different religion.
So the message of the movie ends up being "It's ok to believe what you want, and shove those beliefs down people's throats, but only if you're a Christian.
If you don't believe in GOD or Jesus then don't waste your time and see good clean movies like this one.
You just look stupid explaining why movies like this are so bad just because we believe in a Loving Creator.