A Reasoned Attitude Toward God--In Movies

There are precious few movies, reasonably well made and in English anyway, which fit the category. There are many, particularly older titles which deal with religious faith, but such faith is inevitably blind since faith is held up as its own justification.  There are only 6 titles given here.  It isn't surprising that there are so few, and one of those is musical.  As science progresses, presenting us with natural answers and evidence to questions that had previously been deemed to be the realm of religious faith, we tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater when we reject God along with religion.  We rush to judgement, so if God doesn't intervene, He/It must not exist.  But science has yet to come up with the first bit of evidence that addresses the origin of the universe, pro- or no God.  The least favorite thing for us as a species to do is to admit that we're clueless.

A model or theory that answers this conundrum has been given in previous posts here, but this is only one tiny voice squeaking in the ethereal wilderness  So if there are movies which have a wider appeal while promoting reason and reasonable questions in this area of inquiry, we may draw benefit from their messages, and we may support those messages by bringing them up in our social interactions.

Inherit the Wind (1960)--The first and in many ways the most courageous, it's thinly fictional look at the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925 brought teaching religion and suppressing science in the classroom to the forefront again.  A classic with some outstanding performances.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)--Another classic, this first major rock opera (based on the 1971 Broadway production, which itself followed the music album in 1970) uses an outstanding Webber-Rice score telling the story of the Passion of Jesus, based on the gospels but without  the supernatural elements.  The lyrics of the title song at the end ask the questions we've been asking, often in hiding, ever since. 

The Devil's Advocate (1997)--It's important to remember that most of the film is a dream sequence, with the Devil being, for the protagonist (as he is for us all), a symbol for temptation.  As he declares at the end, "Vanity is definitely my favorite sin", but on introspection we realize that it's the justification for all sin.

 Doubt (2008)--The specific problems that are a consequence of the abuse of power of an authoritarian church, lead the parochial school principle/nun to question the divine source of that authority.  Those questions, given her commitment to that divine authority, lead to her soul crushing doubt.


Creation (2009)--Well made but little known independent film about the events surrounding Darwin's publication of On the Origin of the Species.  He struggles with it due to his wife, Emma, being very religious and insists that she agree to its publication (profound speculation?).  The death of their sweet, favorite daughter, due possibly to their being close cousins, points to natural selection, while there's no explanation for God's non-intervention in any case.

The Tree of Life (2011)-- The opening quote sets the stage, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4,7".  In other words, it isn't your concern, which is the only answer any revealed religion can give to man's continual question, Why?  (See post by that title below.)