I haven’t watched the movie; but judging from the reviews and from people who have watched it, I wouldn’t recommend it. The philosophy is watered down and the sources of the arguments for the existence of God are only limited in the Bible and not adding to that arguments from past philosophers or natural observance - yes it is Protestanized. The characters are flat and stereotypical, and portrays non-Christians as people who have unfortunate things happen to them.
)Good review.
I really didn’t like it either. It was…painful. I had to walk out. For the same reason you gave, but also for the way it portrayed non-Christians. Way too shallow. The atheist was just a plain jerk. Why couldn’t he have been a good, decent guy who just didn’t see any evidence for the divine like most atheists I know? That might have actually made it an interesting story.
Maybe good college professors who are atheists exist but from the ones that appear in the news every so often or other professors that could be similar, anti-religion, anti-conservative, pro-choicers (as one pro-choice professor was arrested for assaulting a peaceful protester), a number of them do seem to be arrogant self-centered egg-headed jerks I suppose. And as for my own experience, I couldn’t name a professor who struck me the wrong way, they were all good but none of them were controversial in this way.I really didn’t like it either. It was…painful. I had to walk out. For the same reason you gave, but also for the way it portrayed non-Christians. Way too shallow. The atheist was just a plain jerk. Why couldn’t he have been a good, decent guy who just didn’t see any evidence for the divine like most atheists I know? That might have actually made it an interesting story.
But…that wouldn’t have gone over well with the intended audience, I guess. So instead we got the petty, angry, selfish philosophy professor who hates God because his mom died or something. (I forget now exactly what the reason was) I can’t fault atheist reviewers for not liking it. If I was an atheist, I would have been offended. The way to engage people and attract them to the faith isn’t to stereotype them like this.
And that’s what all the characters in the movie felt like to me. Stereotypes.
Honestly, I can’t stand faith-based movies anymore. I used to watch them because I felt I had to support “Good Christian media”. But my issue is they don’t even seem like they really are trying to tell a good story, or even care a smidgen about the story they’re telling. They are just using the film to sell a message. Nothing challenging or thought-provoking about them. They end up only reaching people who already agree with the filmmakers. What good does that do anyone?
Art, including film, shouldn’t be used as propaganda. It should be about sharing with others something good or true or beautiful that you care about. That’s why I like Tolkien. He was Catholic, and his stories have Catholic themes, but it’s subtle. He really cared about the world and characters he invented. When you do stories like that, people listen, and that’s more effective than banging people on the head with a bible like this movie did.
Anyways, there’s my opinion. I feel pretty strongly about this as you can tell.
Most of the reviews I based my judgment on are from Christian authors
Yes, there are atheists like that in real life. But let’s be honest, there are Christians like that too. And that’s my problem with the movie. It’s one sided. It confirms our biases. It feeds on the story we all love to hear about the big mean atheist who picks on believers and the brave Christian who puts him in his place. It doesn’t take atheists or atheism’s claims seriously. It makes them the enemy.
From what I heard it was a movie with an Evangelical (not necessarily protestant) point of view. So I would not expect for it to have Catholic themes.
We’re not judging non-Catholic Christians. We’re judging their movies. Action and the person doing it are two different things. We can judge the actions of persons, but not the persons themselves.
It seems tailored somewhat after a specific incident at a University in Florida.
So, in this case, I’d find it hard to believe the Professor was still a “good guy”. The movie is addressing some very radical ideas and persons at Universities who truly exist. Depicting such acts OR actors as less than sinister might be misrepresenting reality as well.
In an emergency baptism anybody around could’ve done it. And baptism would suffice for the removal of all sins.
First of all, thank you for acknowledging that Catholics ARE indeed Christians! People have told me that I have misrepresented myself by referring to myself as a “Christian,” saying, you’re Catholic! Catholics are the world’s original Christians, and I’m not sure how it has become passe for Catholics to refer to themselves as Christians, as if it is something lesser.