Review of The God Who Wasn't There (2005) by Paul N — 09 Mar 2009

I'll say at the outset that I didn't dislike this film simply because it was anti-Christian. I dislike this film because it wasted my time. I'm interested in watching/reading/hearing anti-Christian (or anti-religious) material. But if I'm going to watch/read/listen to something, it ought to do more than this documentary did, by a long shot. ***.

The film purports to be a documentary exposing the unreality of a historical Jesus. It accomplishes this - not through historical analysis or some other academic (or perhaps "scientific" would better suit Flemming's tastes) methodology. Rather, it attempts to do it primarily by poking fun at Christianity without really addressing any of the arguments against a historical Jesus, other than that it isn't 'original' or isn't reasonable.***.

The film really displays it's major issue at the end, when Flemming goes back to the evangelical school he attended as a boy, to confront the current principle (it's unclear if he's the same principle that was there when Flemming attended, but there seem to be indications that he was) about the alleged dishonesty of teaching 1800 children to believe in a Jesus and a Holy Spirit that can't be empirically proven. The interview was apparently arranged under somewhat less than fully disclosed terms, and ends prematurely.***.

But ironically enough, it's the school administrator who nails on the head the purpose for the interview, and ultimately, for the film - Flemming's apparent need to justify and exhonerate his decision to renounce Christianity and the Bible. He concludes by sneaking into the chapel of the school, where he had on multiple occasions dedicated himself to Jesus, and denying the Holy Spirit - committing the 'unforgivable sin'.***.

The film is pretty good in terms of technical standards - far better than the atrocious "I Like Killing Flies" I reviewed a month or more ago. But the content is juvenile, at best. He interviews a variety of folks with varying levels of the academic/scientific credentials that Flemming apparently has deemed to be the sole determining factor for truth. Their collective arguments boil down to the single issue of 'how can anyone believe this stuff'? Not exactly strong arguments.***.

The DVD (through Netflix) has some extended interviews I didn't bother to watch, based on the quality of the 'highlights' chosen to appear in the actual film. Flemming also purports to provide substantiating evidence and references for the allegations he slings willy-nilly in the film, but reviewing that 'bonus' feature revealed little more than some sarcastic and derogatory narrative followed by links to a variety of atheist-related web sites.***.

I'm sorry that Brian has lost his faith. But if he's going to go to the trouble to make a movie about it, take the time to do some actual research. Cite your research, even if you don't use it all. If you're going to make a big deal about something, like it's the smoking gun to kill Christianity, explain it in context. Flemming makes a big deal out of an apparent misinterpretation and/or mistranslation of Hebrews 8:4 to 'prove' that the Apostle Paul didn't actually know about or believe in an actual historical Jesus. Needless to say, Flemming's take on the verse is both unsupported in the DVD, and pretty much completely off-base.***.

This is an hour that I can't get back, and isn't going to be of much use to anyone, unfortunately. Save yourself the time and find a better movie that claims to debunk Jesus and the Bible and Christianity.