is this anti-Christian?
I'm Christian, do any Christians like this movie?
shareThe movie is not anti-Christian and there are many Christians who like it and have praised it.
shareI'm Christian and I found this film to be very moving. We aren't meant to go through such hardship for our faith (and thankfully we live in a time where it's much easier compared to the 1600's) and this film showed the breaking point of going up against such brutal persecution. Only the strongest become martyrs and I think God has mercy for those who lose their faith against such opposition. It's so easy to say that we'd die for our faith, but I don't think very many of us would actually do so and I think that's ok. Christ did it for us.
shareWtf are you talking about? The entire point of being alive and Christian is to suffer and be tested if your unwavering faith. If you experienced neither than you're not doing your job as a Christian. Hence why there's the character like kochijiro who can so easily deny his faith when it's to his convenience yet at the end still sees himself as a believer when he had nothing to show for it in his life.
shareChrstians I imagine live this flick as it depicts Christians as saviors of the world and mightily pitiful and dramatic in their loss.
***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**
It's not a feel good movie that preaches more than it tells a good story like God's Not Dead, so a lot of American, evangelical, upper/middle class Christians aren't going to enjoy it. I as a Christian like most of Scorcese's films. He had a Catholic upbringing, so there are traces of Christianity in a lot of his work. Most of his films are about a sinner who either gets his/her comeuppance by the end of the movie (Raging Bull) or gets a second chance to redeem his/herself (Goodfellas). This film, however, is about the Christian who has to wrestle greatly with his faith in the midst of trials that cam tempt him to doubt. This is something we constantly see from David, which is why the Psalms have the continuous praise/lament pattern. Most wealthy American Christian moviegoers whose only concerns are whether they can pray in school or whether they'll rub elbows with an atheist professor have it so good that they'll probably never experience real persecution like the characters in this film, and they'll therefore have a hard time relating to it because they've never had to face the tough
situations and make the tough decisions the characters do, so they'll therefore prefer God's Not Dead.
A movie with this similar type of theme is The Seventh Seal, which stars a 14th century Christian who wrestles with his faith when he's on the verge of death (he literally comes face-to-face with the figure of Death). You might have a hard time chewing on that film if you didn't like this one, but if you ever come around it I recommend it nontetheless. It's one of my favorite films and it's unlike anything else you'll ever watch.
shareA recent movie with a faith element that you would probably enjoy more is Hacksaw Ridge, which also stars Andrew Garfield and is largely inspired by the 1941 Howard Hawks film Sergeant York, which is also a great movie.
shareI am Christian and it kept me thinking for days after. Very good film, if not imperfect in a few ways.
***
"Only a man who's been burned knows what hell is truly like."