Yesterday, I decided to see God’s Not Dead 2, with the expressed purpose of writing a blog post on it. Now, even though I grew up in the Evangelicalism of Wheaton, Illinois, and taught Bible for 16 years at three different Evangelical high schools, I have never been a big fan of “Christian” movies. The Thief in the Night End-Times films of the 70’s were abominable, the Left Behind films weren’t much better. And even with more “mainstream” movies like Fireproof and Courageous, well, let’s say I just wasn’t that impressed.
A few years ago, when God’s Not Dead came out, a number of my students at the Evangelical school at which I was teaching raved about it. Eventually I saw it on DVD and just shook my head. Yes, I could tell the movie was well-intentioned, but its basic storylines were nothing more than over-simplified caricatures of all the boogeymen Evangelicals are told in their schools and churches to fear: the militant atheist professor who openly condemns, ridicules and bullies any Christian students who wander into his class. By the end, he begins to change, runs through the city streets to the Newsboys concert in town, and gets hit by a car driven by the main pastor in the film. Then, in the rain, the pastor leads the professor to a profession of faith seconds before he dies in the rain on the street. Then there is the atheist reporter who comes down with cancer, only to find her atheist boyfriend dumps her on the spot because it won’t be fun anymore. Then there is the Chinese student, having grown up in Communist China, seeking God, but getting condemned by his Communist father; and finally the Muslim girl who finds Christ, only to be disowned by her angry Muslim father.
To be brief, yes it was well-intentioned, but I found it to be cringe-worthy. It played into every stereotype and boogeyman that Evangelicals have about “the world.” Its effect was predictable: many Evangelicals were thrilled about such a “powerful” movie that could reach the lost; but the movie was panned and ridiculed by, not simply “the secular world,” but also by virtually every other Christian group outside of Evangelicalism. I just kept my mouth shut, and thought, “This too shall pass.”
Well, this time around, I thought I’d analyze the new movie. The way I am going to do it, though, is first by writing a synopsis of the main plot for all those who have not seen the movie. That will be the contents of this post. My next post will provide my thoughts and analysis. So without further ado, here is the plot of God’s Not Dead 2.
The Plot (Yes, there are “spoiler alerts” if you care)
The movie centers on the character of Grace Wesley, a history teacher at a public school—a “teacher of the year” in fact—who is a Christian. Brooke, a senior in one of her classes, had lost her brother, and she is torn up about it. What makes it worse is that her two atheist parents have shown absolutely no concern for the loss of their son—he’s dead, oh well, time to move on. Distraught, Brooke finds Ms. Wesley at a local coffee shop and they talk. At one point, Brooke asks Ms. Wesley how she always has it so together, Ms. Wesley says, “Jesus.”
As it turns out, Brooke finds her deceased brother’s Bible—he was a secret Christian—and starts to read it. Then in class one day, during a history lesson on the non-violent practices of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Brooke asks Ms. Wesley, “Isn’t that sort of like Jesus, when he said ‘Turn the other cheek?’” Ms. Wesley, says, “Yes it is.” Then she briefly quoted the full verse in Matthew to illustrate the point…and that was that.
The State Crackdown Begins
It turned out, though, that a student texted his parents that Ms. Wesley had mentioned Jesus in class—and that’s when things spiraled downward for Grace Wesley. She soon is interrogated by the Board. The teacher union representative says, “Grace, what were you thinking?” The Board tells her that what she did was not in line with State and Federal policy, and the school begins to crack down on faith.
The principal (played by Robin Givens) calls a coach on the phone and tells him that he is not allowed to pray with his team anymore. She tells Brooke that she is not to have any contact with Ms. Wesley. A few days later, Grace and her lawyer meet again with the Board, the superintendent, and their lawyers. The tell her if she signs a statement admitting her wrong-doing and if she promises never to mention Jesus again, the whole thing could go away. Grace, though refuses. She tells her lawyer, “I’d rather be judged by the world and stand with God, than be judged by God and stand with the world.”
And so, the Board suspends her without pay, and they alert the ACLU. The superintendent says, “They’ve been dreaming of a case like this.” Soon, the ACLU lawyer shows up at Brooke’s house to discuss strategy with her parents. They are the ones who will bring the lawsuit. The ACLU lawyer tells them that their daughter had been subjected to persecution by a religious fanatic, and that he was going to “prove once and for all that God is dead.” Not only that, but they will get a lot of money from the school district, and that would pay for Brooke’s college. And don’t worry about Brooke getting into Stanford or an Ivy League school, the ACLU lawyer tells her parents: “Once they find out she was involved in a case like this, she’ll have her pick of schools.” Brooke hears all of this in the other room, so she walks in, stares at her parents in disgust, and then walks out. The ACLU lawyer says, “Don’t worry about her. She’s only 17—she doesn’t have any rights.”
The Trial…and the ACLU
Soon the trial begins. While Brooke and her friends silently protest the state’s persecution of Ms. Wesley on the steps of the courthouse, the events unfold in a predictable manner. The ACLU lawyer at one point tells Grace’s lawyer, “I hate what your client stands for and what she’s doing to society.” Grace’s lawyer tells her, “They are going to argue your beliefs are a disease.”
The ACLU’s basic argument in court is this: there is separation of Church and State; Ms. Wesley compared Jesus with Gandhi; and her quick answer to Brooke’s question, and her ability to quote a verse in Matthew, gave a clear indication to the students in class that she was a Christian. Therefore, what she did was preach in class. Therefore, she has to be stopped. He finished with, “The future of our republic depends on this case.”
Grace’s lawyer points out that the phrase, “separation of Church and State” isn’t found in the Constitution. It was in a letter Thomas Jefferson had written to a Baptist congregation and he was assuring them that the State was not allowed to interfere with their church or the right to believe what they wanted to believe.
As far as witnesses were concerned, Brooke’s parents state they are “free thinkers and rationalists,” and were deeply troubled to find out that there was “faith-based teaching” going on at the school. The union representative states that “Everyone at the school knew Grace was a Christian.” And the principal states that she didn’t believe faith should ever be mentioned in school. When asked about MLK’s religious convictions, she says she would not let Grace talk about MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” because he mentions his faith. She then reveals that Grace had invited her to church on a night they were honoring some students from the school—but Grace had invited her while they were on school grounds. In addition, Grace had accepted donations for a faith-based charity while at the school.
Meanwhile, the news media was bashing Grace in the news, calling her a “religious zealot,” and railing about how dangerous Christians are. The government then subpoenaed copies of all local pastors’ sermons for the past three years. The main pastor in the film, Pastor Hill, tells his fellow pastors, “Pressure today leads to persecution tomorrow. We’re at war, just like Ephesians 6 says.” He decides not to obey the subpoena. When he tells the government official, the government official stands up, menacingly, and says, “A nail that sticks up gets hammered down!”
Arguing for the Historicity of Jesus…and Other Subplots
As the trial continues, Grace and her lawyer have an epiphany—Jesus was a historical figure. She was a history teacher. She should be allowed to present him as a historical figure. Grace says, “This isn’t about faith; it’s about history—I talked about Jesus’ teachings. We just need to separate the history of Jesus from faith-based elements—Jesus as a historical figure.” And thus, their defense is just that: Jesus really existed, therefore Ms. Wesley should be able to mention historical figures. The rest of their defense consisted of bringing men like Lee Strobel (author of The Case for Christ) as well as others to argue that Jesus really existed.
While all this is going on, a number of subplots are unfolding. Martin, the Chinese student from the previous movie, has become a Christian. His Communist/Atheist father shows up from China, tells him he has disgraced his family, and then disowns him. Martin, distraught, goes to the church one evening and plays “Nearer to my God to Thee” on the piano. Brooke happens to be there, and they start talking. Long story short, Martin leads her to make a profession of faith.
The next day in court, Brooke barges in and tells the judge Ms. Wesley did nothing wrong. She is called to the stand and she tells her story: she was the one who asked the question about MLK and Jesus, and all Ms. Wesley did was answer her question. But then, under cross-examination by the ACLU lawyer, it comes out that Ms. Wesley had mentioned her faith in Jesus to Brooke at the coffee shop off campus. And that led to Brooke reading her brother’s Bible, and that led to…Brooke is now a Christian. Groans go up from the jury—they are disgusted and feel like Grace and her lawyer has lied to them.
That night at home, Grace cries out to God, but gets no answer. She talks to her aged father (played by Pat Boone) about how Jesus doesn’t seem to answer her, and he says, “You ought to know, Grace, that the teacher is quiet when the student is taking the test.” Then there is a knock at the door: Grace’s students, led by Brooke, show up at her door and sing “How Great Thou Art.”
Meanwhile, Martin has decided to become a minister so he could go back to China and share the Gospel.
The Verdict
The last day of the trial comes. A mob of angry atheists are at the courthouse, shouting down Brooke and the students who are still silently standing for Ms. Wesley. Then the entire community shows up with signs declaring, “God’s Not Dead,” and they stay with Brooke and the students.
In the courtroom, Grace’s lawyer pulls a trick. He comes in, puts Grace on the stand, and treats here like a hostile witness. He yells at her, makes her admit that she claimed Jesus had spoken to her, he makes her admit on the stand that she believes Jesus is the Son of God. Then he asks the jury to convict his own client. He says that we need to crush faith, get rid of all believers from public institutions, fine them until they leave, and if necessary, use the end of a gun. Grace breaks down and cries, and the judge send to jury to deliberate.
At that point, Amy Ryan (the news reporter who had cancer in the first movie, but who is now cancer free and a Christian…and a personal friend of the members of Newsboys) calls up the Newsboys to ask them to pray for Grace. They are in the middle of a concert, but they stop the concert, and the whole arena prays for Grace.
The jury returns. They find Grace not guilty. The courtroom erupts in cheers, and the ACLU lawyers (dressed in black) storm out. Grace then goes down to Brooke and the supporters outside to tell them. They cheer and start chanting, “God’s Not Dead!” The film ends by cutting back to the Newsboys in concert, singing “God’s Not Dead.”
At the very end, a message comes up, encouraging you to text your friends with the text, “God’s Not Dead.”
Conclusion…Thus Far
That’s the movie. All I have tried to do in this post is to clearly lay out the story-line of God’s Not Dead 2, without any real commentary. That’s for tomorrow when I will share my thoughts on it. Please share this post and come back tomorrow. There is plenty to talk about.
