The God Who Wasn’t There

Beyond Belief Media

All Region DVD

Web: http://www.thegodmovie.com/

The God Who Wasn’t There is an explosive documentary examining the myth of Christianity. It is well presented, uses the latest multimedia, has a great sense of irreverent humor and communicates well to a modern audience. Its use of an analysis of the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson to explore Christian obsessions with violence is especially effective. It mixes academic presentations, touch in cheek humour with a personal story of the loss of faith.

This is an important documentary. Fundamentalism and terrorism is on the increase and has been for many years. The strange anomaly at the heart of this is that academic information on the origins of Christianity has increased a thousand fold since 1900. Yet the gap between what is known academically about Christian origins and what is taught by priests and Christian teachers is huge. It is such a contradiction that it is hard to comprehend. Academically there is an abundance of evidence to prove the gospels and indeed the Bible as a whole is historically inaccurate and that Jesus did not exist as a historical personage. Yet at the same time we have Christian schools around the world teaching the Bible as supposed historical fact. It is not only intellectually dishonest but borders on a form of self deceptive psychosis.

The bedrock of this film is a discussion of the lack of historical evidence for the existence of Jesus, especially with reference to the similarity between the Jesus story and other mythic figures such as Apollo, Mithra, Osiris and Dionysius. There is also a presentation of the inherent contradictions within the modern Christian understanding of the early Church.

These three issues really form the basis on which modern Christianity can be refuted, while The God who isn’t there gives a good overview of these issues I don’t believe it spends enough time on them. This is the nexus of the film and the section on which it succeeds or fails. There was so much more that could have been explored, the historical errors in the gospels, the total lack of evidence for the existence of Jesus, a refuting of Christian proof texts such as the use of Josephus etc. While this section of the film is certainly educational I don’t believe there is enough evidence presented to prove the case.

When, at the climax of the film, the filmmaker confronts the headmaster of the Christian school be was educated up in and the headmaster states there is historical evidence for the life of Jesus the film falters because it has not proved its case. This is not because evidence is lacking to proof Jesus is a fiction, far from it, but because the film has not offered enough coverage of these issues to be persuasive.

The films also explores the ramifications of the Judeo-Christian tradition including its effect on Gays and Lesbian, its history of violence and its destructive role in modern politics. Again these are introduced well, but not given enough coverage.

The bottom line as I see it is that this documentary is way too short, at just over 50 minutes it cannot hope to explore such an explosive subject with any real depth. While there are lots of extras on the DVD including lots of expanded interviews and commentaries, the heart of the product, the movie itself is just not comprehensive enough. In the advertising this movie is compared to Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore, yet Bowling for Columbine needed two hours to prove its case and this film, attempts to refuse Christianity, a far bigger task in fifty minutes.

I am not saying this is a bad documentary. This is a significant presentation which is important and confronting. Its climax in a personal account of the effect of Christianity is powerful and while I think the conclusion could have been a bit more emotionally impact, it was thought provoking.

However, for this film to really succeed it needed to be longer and more extensively researched, in its present form it is more like an entrée. It stimulates the appetite but doesn’t provide a full meal. I would love to see a new Director’s Edition where the film is re-edited and expanded. This is an important documentary, it just needs more work.

Still, please buy it for your friends; use it to encourage debate and discussion. It is an exciting and powerful presentation of the most dangerous of all threats to our culture, superstition. Whatever its faults it is a good start and worth watching.