God's Not Dead

(Reaction Paper)
The film God's Not Dead is a movie which was directed by Harold Cronk an
d was inspired by the legal cases where university students and campus ministrie
s were condemned for their faith, is a really great movie. It is about a Christi
an student named Josh Wheaton and an atheist professor named Jeffery Radisson. J
osh is a freshman student who will study in a university and he has a Philosophy
subject where his professor, which is Professor Jeffery Radisson, do not believ
e that God is alive. Professor Radisson wants all his students to write in the b
ond paper that God is dead or otherwise they will receive the lowest score that
they may have during the semester. All of his classmates followed what the profe
ssor said and as a Christian, Josh refused to do what their professor wishes the
m to do, so his professor challenged him to prove that God is not dead. The prof
essor also said that he needs to prove his antithesis in only three sessions eve
ry after their class and he was only given 20 minutes before the end of every se
ssion. If he will fail to convince his classmates after his defense then he will
get a failing grade on that subject regardless of his performance or grades in
his philosophy class.
The film showed different perspectives of people about the existence of
a supreme being. According to Josh Wheaton, he believes that God is existing and
He is responsible of creating the world while Jeffery Radisson, neglects that t
here is a living God. Radisson believes that there is no God only because of his
personal experiences and because of his disappointment about the death of his m
other. It was his experience that removed the existence of God in his heart and
in his mind. His sorrowful experience made him change his faith into hate.
The film tackles about a really sensitive topic that not everyone will o
r may understand and may have bad or good reactions about the film, but for me,
this film somehow answered some of my questions in my mind especially during the
debate of Josh Wheaton and his professor Jeffery Radisson. Josh is a Christian
and professor Radisson is an atheist so obviously the both of them will have dif
ferent perspectives. The both of them have good points, but it will just depend
on the perspective of the audience and how they will take it. The only bad thing
about professor Radisson is that he jumped into the conlusion that God is dead
and forced his students to agree with him and did not give them the chance to ch
oose. He did not respect the belief of his students. But even though professor R
adisson have this attitude and perspective, Josh still took his challenge with c
ourage. The courage that Josh showed even if almost everything and everyone is a
gainst him only proves that he is Full of Faith.
In the film, there was an interviewer named Amy. She is always serious a
bout everything to the point that she almost did not smile in the whole film. Sh
e always does surprise interviews to Christians. When she had cancer, she was re
ally in sorrow and it was like everything was ruined but when she interviewed th
e Christian rockers, she admitted that she was interviewing Christians because s
he was finding her hope. She only wanted to assure that Christian faith is true
and safe for her hope to be put. When she already hoped for Christ, she made a b
eautiful smile that is full of happiness and full of hope. Seeing her face which
is full of hope proves that she already saw that true beauty of life.
In the film, Reverend Dave and his companion have planned to go somewher
e for a vacation. But all the cars that they used did not start. In Christian pe
rspective, they said that everything happened for a reason. And what happened to
Reverend Dave is just a part of God's plan which is true in the movie because h
e is where he was really needed. He was needed by Mina when he got a problem in
her relationship with Radisson, by Josh when professor Radisson challenged him a
bout the existence of his God, by Ayisha when she was sent away by his dad for b
elieving a God that was not in their tradition and by Radisson when he was about
to die being an athiest and unforgiven from all his sins.
In the film, we can also see that nowadays, many people forget God becau
se they thinks that they don t need Him for they think that they already have ever
ything and their life is perfect but as what the old lady said in the movie, Som

etimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble because he doesn t w
ant them turning to God. Their sin is like a jail cell, except it is all nice an
d comfy and there doesn t seem to be any reason to leave. The door s wide open. Unti
l one day, time runs out, and the cell door slams shut, and suddenly it s too late
. , this statement clearly stated in Christian perspective that being a sinner is
being a prisoner. While they sin, they become happy of what they own, they feel
comfortable and perfect. These sins can still be forgiven by God and they can st
ill get out of that prison cell, but when judgment day comes, and their sins rem
ained unforgiven, it will be too late.
To be good man is to respect everyone's belief regardless of their race,
color, age, or gender. Science cannot tell or explain everything in this world
without considering religion or the existence of a supreme being. As well as rel
igion cannot prove everything was created by God and it has no scientific reason
. Everyman should consider both science and religion to have a clear mind and pe
rspective. These two produces balance when together. It is like bicycle that wil
l not run properly if only one pedal is working.