Everything Wrong with the God's Not Dead Franchise

God's Not Dead (2014) is a series of Christian films that have gained a significant following since the first installment in 2014. This franchise, based off the book by the same name, has been a source of controversy in the proverbial culture war of the 2010s.

The movies were developed by Pure Flix, a super creatively named and trademarked Christian streaming service dedicated to faith-based media such as Fireproof (2008), a movie about a firefighter who decides not to divorce his wife after they become closer to God and Courageous (2011), a copaganda film chronicling a group of sheriff deputies mending relationships with their children and communities through following God.

The original title featuring Shane Harper (Spencer from Disney's Good Luck Charlie) got a whopping 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 16% positive reviews on Metacritic and a 4.6 rating on IMDb. On the other hand, 82% of Google users liked the movie. Despite the conflicting reviews, they managed to milk this film into a trilogy.

In it, university philosophy professor Jeffrey Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) requires his students to proclaim that "God is dead." When freshman student and devout Christian Josh Wheaton refuses to do so, he sets out to prove the existence of God, or else receive a failing grade for the semester. Josh's girlfriend, despite knowing him from church "forbids" him from challenging his teacher so as not to risk the life she's already planned for them.

The third movie, subtitled A Light in Darkness follows a homeschool teacher and mother who is also forced to defend her beliefs when the government starts asking questions about her child’s quality of education… or something.

Poor Quality Filmmaking

One of the biggest criticisms of the God's Not Dead franchise isn't just about the Sims-esque royalty-free music score, but the poor-quality filmmaking as a whole. The acting ranges from wooden and uninspired to overenthusiastic and corny, the writing is heavy-handed and didactic, and the overall production values are lacking.

There were plenty of opportunities for good-faith arguments surrounding the value of spirituality in trying times, but those opportunities were largely squandered in favor of "owning the libs."

Despite its flaws, God's Not Dead has secured a large cult following to bolster its numbers. This isn’t indicative of its broader success, as it’s only possible for outsiders to enjoy the films through the lens of satire. The iMovie style directing only continues to depreciate in quality down the line, and the same can be said of the subject matter.

Misrepresentation of Non-Believers

God's Not Dead promotes a simplistic worldview that reduces complex discussions to black and white debates with unsubstantiated arguments. In the films, Christians are always portrayed as good and virtuous, while non-Christians are depicted as immoral and misguided. This oversimplification of reality fails to acknowledge the nuances and complexities of the human experience and can be harmful in promoting a narrow worldview.

In the films, atheists are often portrayed as angry, bitter, and hostile towards Christians. This caricature of atheists is not only inaccurate but also harmful, as it perpetuates negative stereotypes and further polarizes the growing divide between religion and secularism.

This can be observed in the portrayal of Amy Ryan, a vlogger for “The New Left,” who sports bumper stickers reading “Meat is Murder” and “I Love Evolution.” Shortly after having hunting mansplained to her by Willie Robertson and his wife Korie, Amy is diagnosed with cancer and finds herself at a crossroads.

But back to Professor Radisson, who corners Josh in after class one afternoon to threaten him to back down from his argument or risk his law career. In the end, Josh tricks Radisson into admitting that he “hates God,” and because this literally isn't an argument anyone was making, it feels like we’re being forced to watch Christians argue with themselves for two hours.

It’s clear that non-Christians–atheists in particular–are represented as antagonists from beginning to end. The “happy ending” in question comes in the form of the atheist professor being struck by a car in the parking lot, and the preacher walks him through the sinners prayer as he takes his final breaths.

While being an incredibly cruel and brazen ending on the part of the writers, this ex deus machina plot device is an obvious cop-out and appeal to an emotion literally no one in the audience is having. It reads like a thinly-veiled threat, but all’s well that ends well, right?

God's Not Dead 2 goes even further down a political and polarizing route, letting us know it wasn’t just about a personal relationship with Jesus after all. In the 2016 sequel, high school history teacher Grace Wesley is suspended and put on trial against the American Civil Liberties Union despite the ACLU’s long documented history of siding with Christian students singing songs, reading the Bible aloud, writing faith based responses to assignments, and distributing church materials in class and on campus. While entire plot is kind of a non-issue seeing as the character's reference to the historical Jesus within the classroom was entirely legal, the pervasive “anti-wokeness” drew the attention of the ACLU at large. The organization says of itself:

“The ACLU vigorously defends the rights of all Americans to practice their religion. Because the ACLU is often better known for its work preventing the government from promoting and funding selected religious activities, it is sometimes wrongly assumed that the ACLU does not zealously defend the rights of all religious believers to practice their faith.”

Lack of Diversity

The God's Not Dead franchise has also been criticized for its lack of positive diversity. The films feature predominantly white, middle-class characters, and fail to acknowledge the experiences of people from different backgrounds. This lack of diversity is particularly problematic given the franchise's themes of faith and reconciliation, which should ideally embrace people from all walks of life.

The fact that all of the “good” ethnic characters make some sort of moral conversion and decision for Christ reeks of colonization. The Asian characters are characterized as rigid and oppressed, while the subplot spanning the first and second movies details Islamic student Ayisha and the abuse she faces from her Muslim father for converting to Christianity.

Ayisha is first seen in hijab, which she claims her father forces her to wear. The second film follows this storyline, where her Ayisha's father Misrab has a change of heart regarding Christianity. In the same vein, prosecutor Pete Kane just so happens to be a former Muslim.

Commercialization of Faith

You would think that with content this threadbare Pure Flix would be a free service, but it isn’t.

The original God's Not Dead picture boasted a soundtrack and band cameo by Newsboys, a CCM group that was inescapable in Christian circles and radio stations at the time of release, as well as a short clip of Willie Robertson of AMC's Duck Dynasty promoting the slogan "God's Not Dead."

The films are often marketed to Christian audiences and are designed to promote a particular brand of Christianity. This commercialization of faith can be seen as exploitative, as it seeks to profit from people's spiritual beliefs and emotions. Of course Ayisha can't be outed for listening to just any Christian radio, but it would be that of evangelical leader Franklin Graham.

Was this the best way to spend 5 million dollars in the name of Christianity, and who has the most to gain from this material being promoted? In a lot of ways, these scripts seem to be written so as to tell evangelicals exactly what they’re looking to hear, leading to the conclusion that these films were never really for non-Christians to begin with. Instead, there is a clear call to action aimed at existent believers to rally behind this marketing and influence the culture.

Where to Watch God’s Not Dead:

God's Not Dead is available for free streaming on Vudu and YouTube, and the entire series is available with a Pure Flix subscription.