Educational Media Reviews Online

The cover art proclaims: “Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture. Super Size Me did it to fast food. Now The God Who Wasn’t There does it to religion.” Does what to religion? Explores it openly and honestly? Or lampoons it mercilessly? The answer might depend on your religious outlook, or even if you have one. To say The God Who Wasn’t There examines Christianity in a decidedly irreverent fashion is to put it mildly. Unfortunately the film becomes in the process a one-sided rant so intent on ridiculing religion that it never really attempts to understand it. Writer/Director/Narrator Brian Flemming, a former fundamentalist Christian, attacks his subject with the myopic zeal of, well…the newly converted. When the film is in his hands, it’s all over the place. When turned over to his interview subjects, the film is more focused.

Set to a modern techno score, the film begins with a very brief history of Christianity, using old clips from dreary religious instructional films and Bible B-movies, often shown in fast-motion to appear more ludicrous. There are also numerous clips from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (proudly “used without permission” and retitled The Smashin’ of the Christ), a film whose massive popularity Flemming attributes to Christians’ continued “obsess(ion) with blood sacrifice.” His analogies range from reasonable to absurd. In derisive detail he scrutinizes what Christians believe but ignores why they believe it -- a serious omission in a film about faith. It’s easy enough to mock religious belief; it’s quite another thing to attempt to understand why such beliefs are widely held. The God Who Wasn’t There is all about the former.

Even the interviews with skeptical scholars -- the film’s strength -- don’t delve into this area. While many of the interviews are compelling (particularly the segments with Sam Harris, author of the recently published The End of Faith), two crucial questions go unexplored: Why do people believe?, and Why has faith endured in the modern world? Though the DVD’s bonus materials touch on these topics, they’re not discussed at any length in the film proper. The scholars do cover the origins of Christianity in some detail, framing Jesus as a mythological figure closely resembling other ancient heroes, a man whose very existence – let alone divinity -- is called into question. There are also insightful discussions on the role of Paul/Saul in the creation of Christianity.

More problematic is an interview with a believer, Dr. Ronald Sipus, superintendent of Flemming’s Christian grade school. The interview grows heated when Flemming questions the wisdom of teaching children religious dogma as fact. Though one may well agree with Flemming’s argument, his interview method here amounts to an ambush. The scene ends with Sipus, before walking out, accusing Fleming of being dishonest in his stated intentions, and indeed, it is difficult not to side with Sipus. Immediately after this scene, Flemming visits the school’s chapel and comments on his years spent there. The film ends as Flemming photographs himself uttering the “one unforgivable sin” of the Bible – denying the Holy Spirit – then cuts to a title card reading “I am not afraid.”

The ending, the interview with Sipus, indeed the film’s overall smug tone makes one question the filmmaker’s intentions. Was it made simply to shock? To ridicule? To exorcize – if you’ll pardon the term – a religious upbringing? To seriously explore the nature of Christianity? Perhaps a little of everything, which may be why the film often feels out of control. Though not for all tastes, The God Who Wasn’t There is one of the few recent films to deal with free thought issues; and though its self-consciously “provocative” style wears thin, it is recommended with reservations