A Film: Against the Tide, Finding God in an Age of Science

By Jon Kauffman

In this film, Oxford Professor John Lennox and Hollywood actor Kevin Sorbo discuss the scientific evidence for God and the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.

Does science bury God? Lennox demonstrates that science and Christianity are compatible.

Are science and faith in conflict? John answers no. The fact is science supports faith.

John Lennox learned the German and Russian languages and lectured at universities in communist countries Hungary, East Germany and the Soviet Union. And where does an atheistic philosophy lead. We can see what happened in the atheist communist countries who tried to eliminate God and to keep dignity for human beings. The experiment in atheism failed.

The atheism/Christianity debate is not about science. The debate is about philosophy and worldview.

A quote from the movie’s website: https://againstthetide.movie/

Against the Tide is a travelogue, an examination of modern science, an excursion into history, an autobiography, and more. But at heart, it is the story of one man’s daring stand against the tide of contemporary atheism and its drive to relegate belief in God to society’s catalogue of dead ideas.

Join the conversation between Dr. John Lennox—esteemed Oxford professor, mathematician, and philosopher of science—and veteran Hollywood actor and director Kevin Sorbo as they journey from Oxford to Jerusalem and explore the evidence on which Lennox’s Christian faith stands firm.

A quote from Movieguide.org.

AGAINST THE TIDE is a stirring documentary about Christian Oxford University professor John Lennox and his life of intelligent debates against renowned atheists. MOVIEGUIDE® Award winning actor Kevin Sorbo travels to Great Britain to meet Lennox for this must-see movie. Later, the pair visit the Holy Land to explore Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection.

The movie begins with Kevin Sorbo, who rose to fame by playing Hercules on TV in the 1990s. Later in Sorbo’s career in the movie GOD’S NOT DEAD, Sorbo played an atheist who challenges one of his university students to prove that God isn’t dead. A Christian student in his class quotes John Lennox, a Christian professor who refutes atheism. Cut to Great Britain where Sorbo ventures to meet Lennox.

The pair meet and chat in the same pub, The Eagle and The Child, where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien contemplated Christianity. Viewers learn that Lennox is an Irishman and grew up in a family that challenged him to think deeply about other people’s points of view. One of Lennox’s teachers encouraged him to go to college, unlike so many of his peers, and Lennox went to Cambridge to study mathematics. His zeal and interest for God and Christianity grew, and he found himself having healthy debates with people about God.

Lennox believes that to make a convincing argument, one must base their truth claims on the evidence. Lennox spent time behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and learned that communism has always gone hand in hand with atheism. Many of his travels helped strengthen his arguments against renowned atheists like Richard Dawkins.

Halfway through AGAINST THE TIDE, Sorbo and Lennox travel to the Holy Land to unpack the historical validity of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Sorbo continues to ask Lennox about the reliability of the biblical authors and questions of that sort. Lennox always responds in a collected manner and draws on physical and intellectual reasoning for the hope Christians have in Jesus. Although science has made important discoveries and innovations, for Lennox and believers around the world, science simply can’t contain the glory of God.

AGAINST THE TIDE is extremely well written and features stellar archival footage clips that bring Lennox’s points of view to life. The music is also evocative and fits seamlessly with the on-screen action. Kevin Sorbo makes a great intellectual companion of John Lennox, and the pair have great back and forth conversation that helps debunk the age-old debate about the existence of God. The movie also might make viewers want to travel as well and experience the same feelings of the two gentleman who unearthed truth while abroad in the Holy Land.

AGAINST THE TIDE has a very strong Christian, biblical worldview. It stresses God as Creator and Jesus as God Incarnate. However, due to the religious discussion and debate, there are some references to Anti-Christian, atheist arguments and attacks. Of course, Lennox always brilliantly refutes these attacks and arguments with stronger Christian arguments and answers. MOVIEGUIDE® commends AGAINST THE TIDE for all older children and adults. AGAINST THE TIDE will strengthen their Christian faith and, hopefully, bring new people to Christ.

A quote from Patterns of Evidence: https://store.patternsofevidence.com/products/against-the-tide-dvd

Against the Tide is a travelogue, an examination of modern science, an excursion into history, an autobiography, and so much more. But at its heart, it is the story of one man’s daring stand against the tide of contemporary atheism and its drive to relegate belief in God to society’s catalogue of dead ideas.

Dr. John Lennox – esteemed Oxford professor, mathematician, and philosopher of science – along with veteran Hollywood actor, producer and director Kevin Sorbo journey from the university hallways of Oxford and Cambridge to the Holy Land to explore the intersection of science and Christianity, and the evidence on which Lennox’s Christian faith stands firm.

Along the way Prof. Lennox recounts his scholarly travels in the Soviet Union, and adds that experience to his debates with prominent atheists, including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss, and Peter Singer.

Then, as Kevin Sorbo and Prof. Lennox walk where Jesus taught – from the top of Mount Precipice to the Sea of Galilee – they dive deeper into the origins of Christianity right where it all happened, and ultimately reach the crux of their conversation: do science and history refute the Bible?

Copyright © 2022 by Jon Kauffman. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted when used to further the Kingdom of God. Permission is gladly given to re-blog this post.