A lot of critics seemed to despise “God’s Not Dead” but I found myself enjoying this tender tale about faith in the modern world. Many atheists will no doubt see this film as mere religious propaganda but I think many Christians, including myself, will finding something of value in here.

The film follows several different characters, whose stories are interwoven but the main focus is on Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper). He is a university student, who realises he must stand up for his beliefs when the hard-line atheistic Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) demands his students agree that ‘God is dead’.

Most of the characters are not especially interesting and the performances are mediocre, with the exception of Kevin Sorbo as Professor Radisson. He is intellectually phenomenal but often comes across as cold, even to his Christian wife. We want to see the Josh character succeed even if he is not the most interesting of film heroes. I also admired the film for tackling some really controversial subjects by showing a Christian convert from a Muslim background and another from a communist Chinese background. Some of the folks from tv’s “Duck Dynasty” have a small role here in what comes across as one a really unsubtle piece of advertising.

“God’s Not Dead” is not exactly the most exciting film but I think it speaks about important issues regarding faith, science and public discourse. As I have already stated, I think Christians audiences will prefer it to non-religious audiences but I do hope that some of the atheists and agnostics that have seen it, found something worthwhile in the arguments made in the movie. Much like other Christian films such as the documentary “Jesus Camp”, audiences seem to be really polarised by “God’s Not Dead”. Films like this are unlikely to end the disagreement between believers and non-believers but it does at least meaningfully add to the debate.