When I was offered the opportunity to review The Genesis Code , I was intrigued. A movie about how evolution and the Biblical account of creation collide. I wondered, how is THAT going to play out?
So I decided to do the review, and I walked away with mixed feelings.
For those who have never heard of The Genesis Code, here’s a brief synopsis:
Kerry Wells (Kelsey Sanders), a college journalist and committed Christian with an effervescent personality, has been assigned to do a story on Blake Truman (Logan Bartholomew) the college’s newest and very popular hockey superstar. As a relationship between them begins to develop Kerry finds that Blake, who hides behind a tough and independent façade, is actually struggling through a difficult personal crisis and that he bears the cross of a secret he has kept hidden for years. Blake rebuffs Kerry’s suggestion that prayer might help ease his burden; he is convinced that modern science completely disproves the Bible, especially the opening verses of Genesis. Kerry — who is herself suddenly confronted with a challenge to her faith on another front — sets out to prove that science and Genesis are not in conflict and her quest leads to a startling revelation. Could it be that what science teaches us about creation and the Story as told in Genesis are both true!
Sounds like a good story, right?
This is my take. First, the good.
The Genesis Code is a very family friendly movie, as far as language, violence, and other off-putting subjects are concerned. The language was clean, and there was no violence. There was a party scene where a guy chugs a pitcher of beer, but it wasn’t too bad.
Sensitive subject were brought up, such as female circumcision and taking a dying person off life support. With that in mind, this probably isn’t a movie for very young children.
I thought the actors were good. Logan Bartholomew and Kelsey Sanders played the leads well. I enjoyed the appearance of Fred Thompson, too.
And I thought The Genesis Code did a good job highlighting a subject that is often a struggle for Christians: how to reconcile science with creation.
But (and here comes the bad), I didn’t like that the movie seemed to push that in order for science and creation to coexist, we must change how we read the Bible, specifically the six day creation account.
I believe in a six day creation, and like Kerry, the lead Christian in the movie, I believe that “one day science will catch up to scripture.” I cheered when that line was said in the movie.
But that’s not what happened in The Genesis Code. Spoiler ahead.
At the end of the movie, science and creation are reconciled by embracing the idea that six days from God’s perspective could have been thousands of years from man’s perspective.
That doesn’t sit right with me. Time is mentioned many times in the Bible. Jesus was in the desert for 40 days. King David reigned for 40 years. Jesus was resurrected on the 3rd day.
If what is proposed in The Genesis Code is true, do we then need to call into question all of the timelines of the Bible?
If I truly believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God, that it is His message to His people, then I believe God to be clear in what is written in the Bible. If the Bible says the earth was created in 6 days, then I’m going to believe it was created in 6 twenty-four hour days. If the Bible says that God breathed life into Adam, then I’m going to believe that was a literal first breath.
And that is my problem with The Genesis Code. It implies that a six day creation could never have occurred in six literal days.
The bottom line is The Genesis Code is a good family friendly movie. It will likely provoke much discussion on an important topic. But if you’re a literal six day creationist, don’t expect to love the outcome of the movie.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
There is no need to question the other “timelines” in the Bible. Jesus was here – on earth – dealing in earth time. The point of the movie was we perceive EVERTHING from earth time and don’t consider time any other type of “timeline”. Creation was done in God’s time, not our earth time and science has backed that God’s time line matches “earth events”. All other time lines in the Bible refer to earth’s time line.
I myself had no problem with this. I ponder the idea of God’s time being different than ours myself. And for me, I can’t take everything said by God or Christ TOO literally. For example, Christ said “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Do you take that literally? God and Christ spoke in ways we, in our limited capacity, would understand. In the end of our time here we will find all the answers. Meanwhile, it’s nice to see that someone gave “science” something to think about – expand their vision somewhat. In their arrogance, their own “religion” (science) kind of pulled the rug out from underneath them.
actually, the bible is not the infallible word of God. It’s a collection of stories ( and gospels) that all claim to be infallible works ( and sometimes words) of God. Add to that obvious and well known transcription and translation errors, you could read the “infallible word of god” unless you could speak ancient Greek. Heck, the old testament is a bunch of oral histories from 4 primary secular groups that argued over which stories would be included, and includes multiple differing versions of all the old testament stories. For example: two very different creation stories, one of which is well known for the part about eve being made out of a rib, or the other where both and the entirety of life on earth is made out of clay that had been touched by “ruach”. look that one up. Beliefs based on beliefs hold no water, yet beliefs based more on faith gather weight with age.
Thank-you for this review. I almost picked up this movie, but wondered about the movie makers reconciling long periods of time into the Genesis account. I am a literal 6 day creationist. I don’t take man’s word over God’s any day.