At the end of March, I attended the first big-screen viewing of the upcoming theatrical documentary The Story of Everything, which opens April 30 (find tickets here). The screening took place in Nashville, TN, at Bethel World Outreach Church, hosted by Dr. Rice Broocks. After the film, Dr. Broocks invited Stephen Meyer and Brian Bird, one of the producers, to the stage for comments and an extended question-and-answer session.
Hearing their passion and commitment to the message of the film complemented the already powerful impact made by the movie itself. The Story of Everything was five years in the making, meaning that work on it began shortly after the publication of Dr. Meyer’s foundational book, Return of the God Hypothesis. Meyer urged people to share the film with students, in particular. The well-documented evidence for a creator presented in it provides, as Brian Bird stated, an effective inoculation against the materialistic philosophy that often works in academia to undermine students’ faith.
An Exclamation Point
The film’s high quality visual and audio effects serve as an exclamation point to the clear, concise, and convincing interviews with numerous scientists we have come to know and appreciate through their connections with the Center for Science and Culture. Seeing them in the context of this dramatic cinematic experience felt like a tremendous boost for the “home team.”
Although it may have seemed a bit much for me to drive 350 miles to Nashville to watch a movie, the significance of the event made it worthwhile. The Story of Everything represents a coalescence of two focal points of my vocation. I serve as a Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture and have enjoyed relationships with many scientists and other great people associated with the Center since 2013. In addition, I’ve been blessed by friendship with Pastor Rice Broocks over this time.
A Whole New Level
Over the last four years, I’ve enjoyed the privilege of speaking together with Dr. Broocks at God’s Not Dead outreach events on college campuses across the country. Broocks is the best-selling author of the book God’s Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty, which was the impetus for the popular movie series. In our university outreach events, we present evidence for a creator, highlighting the same major lines of evidence portrayed in the film. However, the high-quality production of the film transports this message to a whole new level!
In my career of university teaching, I interacted with hundreds of students. I became convinced that many students harbor a deep concern for questions about the significance of their lives, about ultimate purpose and eternal destiny. This motivated my development of the “Boundaries of Science” course, which I taught for six years at Ball State University. The topics in my course included the Big Bang model of the origin of the universe, the fine-tuning of physical parameters to allow life’s existence, and the information content of the molecules of life. When a national atheist organization threatened to sue the university over my course, a unique opportunity for students to consider the implications of scientific discoveries was canceled.
Over the years, extensive scientific research has strengthened the case for intelligent design. With the release of The Story of Everything in theaters throughout the country, momentum is increasing for its life-changing message about the significance of our lives in a universe of amazing design.