Giveaway: Is Genesis History?

“Is Genesis History” is a film by Del Tackett. It had a short exhibition in theaters, and was released for viewing online or by Blue ray or DVD at the film’s site: Click here to buy the film.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie! From the start to the finish we were impressed with the artwork and beautiful scenes which were presented. The movie follow Del Tackett around the United States as he asks experts in different areas of science about the likelihood of Genesis being actual history, in contradiction to theories such as the Big Bang and macro-evolution.

There is no doubt from the onset of the film that the goal is to present the Genesis account of creation and early history as factual. Very little sympathy, if any, is offered to adherents to ideas contrary to the Bible’s clear teaching about creation.

There is one extra feature where Del and a theologian/author named Douglas Kelly discuss the history of the church’s compromise in this area. The church’s errors in this area are spoken of as mistakes, and never was an excuse made for those mistakes.

But I thought they could have been harder on people who have compromised in this area than they were. I wish that was just my personality, but the fact of the matter is this, false doctrine kills people. It damns souls to hell and it pulls even Christians away from the joy of the Lord. False doctrines always lead to more false doctrines. And there may be no bad doctrine which is as damaging or insipid as doctrines which undermine the authority, inerrancy or sufficiency of the Bible.

To the film’s credit, they made me want to learn more. There was even a challenge given during a special feature where the viewer is encouraged to ‘dig deeper.’ The scientists admitted that in order to make a film short enough for people to watch they couldn’t possibly include everything they might know or believe about a topic discussed. As well, they were taking facts and distilling those facts into the best possibly layman’s terms they could in order to give people tastes of the truths they hold dear.

It’d be like having a brain surgeon or rocket scientist explain what he does in a matter of minutes. It wouldn’t truly convey the complexity that is beneath that discussion. So my challenge for creation skeptics would be to watch this film, and then, when you are not convinced, to do the homework to learn the science behind what is being presented and analyze it for yourself.

I do not believe this film would convince a harsh critic or skeptic of creation. In my opinion, this movie will be an EXCELLENT resource for the church. But the question has to be asked – was yet another resource proving that Christians ought to believe Genesis is literal history necessary? Will a film of this type be watched by “those who need to watch it?” That I doubt sincerely. I also doubt my unbelieving neighbor will go to the website and buy the movie and watch it, neither out of personal interest nor by my prodding.

I think the Christian’s only hope would be to buy a stack of these movies (after watching it him or herself), and have them ready to be given as gifts to people, or to host a showing of the movie, maybe for discussion. I’d love to see an effort made to create events at colleges where people can come see this movie.

My final comment is that I am never going to be pleased with a movie which purports to be Christian but never actually clearly states the Christian gospel. The gospel is mentioned. Jesus is referred to. But the minds of folks will never be opened to the truth of Christ without His gospel, and this movie had multiple very logical places where a brief presentation would have fit.

I don’t propose to know the hearts of all those involved, but it seemed odd to really come out with a bold stance concerning Genesis, and then basically miss the point of why we defend Genesis¸ which is because it is the foundation upon which the sin of man and the forgiveness found in Christ stands.

I wholeheartedly recommend this movie. I believe it will be a help to anyone who watches it. And, despite the few areas where I’d have done something differently, I think it can be a valuable resource for people to use to being a gospel conversation with a neighbor, coworker or friend.

Click here to buy the film.

Would you like a DVD of the film for FREE? If so, leave a comment on this post and I will select a winner at random on or about May 1st. No special rules, just leave me a comment so I know you want the DVD.