Support for 2014 movie 'God Is Not Dead'

Classes have resumed at Southeast Missouri State University. I have met the 28 students in my Old Testament Literature class in Dempster Hall, and we already have had two sessions together.

On the first day of class, I did not require the students to sign a statement denying the existence of God.

However, this is precisely what occurs in the opening minutes of the 2014 film, "God is Not Dead." Professor Jeffrey Radisson, convincingly played by actor Kevin Sorbo (an avowed Christian in real life), is the academic who requires the class to capitulate to atheism.

God, the professor alleges, was a "useful fairy tale in ages gone by," but now "science and reason have supplanted primitive superstition." You can tell what's coming.

All the students fall in line and dutifully affix their signatures to satisfy the prof's demand, fearing his wrath and a bad grade. All, save for one, concede the point. Josh Wheaton tells Radisson, "I can't do it. I'm a Christian."

The professor tells Josh he must defend his theism in the final 20 minutes of each of the next three class periods.

If he ultimately fails to convince the class that God is not dead, Josh will fail the first section of the course, will lose 30 percent of the grade, and at best, he might walk away with a "C," although a "D" or an "F" is more likely.

Josh's faith obstinacy in the face of great risk calls to mind the 16th century Englishman Thomas More. More refused to take the oath recognizing King Henry VIII's supremacy over the English church and was imprisoned in the Tower of London and faced execution.

In the Robert Bolt play based on More's life, his daughter pleads with him: "Say the words, father, and in your heart speak otherwise." More's unshakable integrity did not allow this. "What is an oath, then, but words we say to God?"

Psalm 14:1 reads, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" This verse helped persuade Anselm, the 11th century Archbishop of Canterbury, to develop the "ontological argument for the existence of God."

If you read Anselm's actual words, they are a bit dense. Here is the essence of Anselm's argument: God is the greatest being that humans can conceive in their minds. It is a greater thing to exist than not to exist. Therefore, God exists.

When I explain Anselm to people, I truncate the churchman's argument even further: If we can conceive of God, then God must be. The contention of this last paragraph will not be persuasive to many readers of this column, but it resonates with me.

The strength of "God is Not Dead" is the debate between professor and student.

The end of the picture, to my thinking, is unfortunately weak -- yet the interplay between Professor Radisson and student Wheaton is so compelling and intellectually rigorous that a Christian would be well served in seeing it. If you have not seen it, I recommend renting it on DVD. It is not my habit to recommend a film, but this one is worth the time and money.

Dr. Jeff Long, of Jackson, is executive director of the Chateau Girardeau Foundation, a teacher of religious studies at SEMO, and a part-time United Methodist pastor.