'God's Not Dead 2' a Much-Improved Sequel With Warning to Christians

《上帝未死2》：基督徒要警醒

MICHAEL FOUST , CP CONTRIBUTOR

翻译：Ruth-Wei

Twenty years ago, few Christians in America believed same-sex marriage ever would be legalized. And 10 years ago, not many of us could have imagined we'd all be debating whether a 5-year-old boy who'd rather be a girl can have his pick of restrooms at the local public school.

20年前，美国的基督徒很少有人相信同性婚姻可以合法。10年前也很少有人想象一个很想成为女孩的5岁男孩可以在当地的公立学校里选择他想进的厕所。

So if we watch "God's Not Dead 2" (PG) this weekend — and contemplate its plot of a school teacher being taken to court for discussing Jesus in a historical context — we'd better be slow in saying, "That could never happen."In some ways, it already is.

所以如果我们本周末看《上帝未死2》—一个学校的老师被带到法庭里讨论历史书中的耶稣—我们可能就不会脱口而出“那种事情永远不会发生了。”而事实上，已经发生了。

The sequel to the first "God's Not Dead" hits theaters today, spot lighting the debate over religious liberty at the very moment that a controversy is brewing over a religious liberty bill in Georgia. Yes, the issues are somewhat different — the Georgia bill addressed same-sex marriage and "God's Not Dead 2" focuses on religious speech in the classroom — but the two fall under the same umbrella, and Christians would be wise to "study up" and learn.

正逢佐治亚州酝酿策划宗教自由法案的时候，影院刚上映的《上帝未死》续集让人更加关注信仰自由的话题。确实，话题稍微有些不同--佐治亚州法案提倡同性婚姻而《上帝未死2》讲述的是在课堂里的自由演讲—但是两个话题都是一样的本质，基督徒应该有智慧的去学习分辨。

I wasn't a big fan of the first "God's Not Dead," but I was quite impressed with "God's Not Dead 2." The story is more engaging and faster-paced, the acting is better — in fact, it's very good — and the plot is more believable. It also has a bigger budget.

我不是《上帝未死》的忠实粉丝，但是《上帝未死2》给我非常深的印象。故事更加的充实，快节奏，演出也更好。事实上，非常好，剧情更让人相信。该电影也投资更多。

Melissa Joan Hart stars as Grace Wesley, a high school history teacher who, yes, is a Christian, but who isn't outspoken about it in class. She lands in hot water one day when a student asks her the similarities between the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus, and she gives an honest answer —based solely on history. Unbeknown to her, another student was secretly recording her lecture, hoping to use it to get her in trouble. It does.

梅利莎·琼·哈特饰演的Grace Wesley，在剧中是一个基督徒，作为一名高中历史老师在课堂上她并没有公开讲过自己的信仰。有一天，当一个学生问她关于马丁路德金和耶稣所教导的非暴力有何相似性，她只是单单根据历史给了一个很诚实的答案。而正是这个问题将她推入到了水深火热之中，因为另外一个学生想要害她就偷偷地把她的讲课给录了下来，也确实给她带来了麻烦。

When a lawsuit is threatened, school officials try to calm the situation by asking Grace to write a letter pledging not to discuss Jesus in class again. Her attorney urges her to follow the school's suggestion, but she refuses.

当受到起诉的威胁时，学校为了平息事件就让Grace写一封信保证不会再在课堂上讨论耶稣。她的律师力劝她听从学校的建议，但是她拒绝了。

"I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God," she says.

“我宁可被世界论断也要选择和上帝站在一边，而不是妥协世界被上帝审判。” Grace这样说。

An ACLU attorney then gets involved, telling the student's atheistic parents that "we're going to prove once and for all that God is dead." It may seem like a clear-cut Christian-versus-the ACLU movie, but it's not. That's because Grace's union-assigned attorney is not a Christian — a fact that he tells her is a good thing.

一个美国公民自由协会的律师介入并且告诉学生的无神论家长“我们将一次彻底的证明上帝已死。”看起来像是一部态度鲜明敌对的基督徒和美国公民自由协会的对抗电影，实际上则不是。因为机构指派给Grace的律师并不是基督徒—他告诉Grace的事实是一个好事情。

"I don't like to lose, and I'm willing to fight for you," he says.

“我不喜欢失败，我愿意为你辩护，”他说。

(By the way, the ACLU does some good work in the world that we should recognize, but that's a column for another day.)

（顺带说一下，我们应该认可美国公民自由协会所做的好的事情，但应另当别论）

The film also stars Pat Boone as Grace's father, Jesse Metcalfe (the new "Dallas“)as her attorney, and David A.R. White ("God's Not Dead") as a pastor who  actually lands on the jury for Grace's trial. Sadie Robertson, Robin Givens and the late Fred Thompson have secondary roles.

Pat Boone在剧中饰演Grace的爸爸，Jesse Metcalfe饰演她的律师，David A.R. White饰演的牧师是Grace陪审团中的一员。Sadie Robertson, Robin Givens 和 Fred Thompson也在剧中参演。

"God's Not Dead 2" is a good movie, for several reasons.

《上帝未死2》是一部好的电影，是有多种原因的。

First, it's simply well done. Hart and Metcalfe are believable, and White and the others are solid, too. The movie's plot also has enough twists that, more than once, I thought I didn't know how it would end.

首先，这部电影做的相当好。Hart和 Metcalfe演技出色，White和其他人也是靠谱的。剧情也是跌宕起伏，好几次我都无法想象故事的结局。

Second, the film serves as a sort of Apologetics 101 lesson. Two well-known authors and apologists — J. Warner Wallace and Lee Strobel — actually appear on the witness stand in the courtroom, addressing two major questions: "Did Jesus even exist?" and, "Is there evidence for Jesus' resurrection?" Their scenes aren't lengthy, but they're substantive.

第二，这部电影像是护教101课。两位有名的作家和护教家华莱士（J. Warner Wallace）和史特博（Lee Strobel）作为证人出席法庭，提出了两个问题：“耶稣是否存在过？”和“有没有耶稣复活的证据？”他们的镜头不多，但是他们的问题却是核心。

Third, the writers of "God's Not Dead 2" did a good job of giving us a story line  that is believable — even if it hasn't yet happened. I don't know if the courtroom setting would look like it does on screen, but I certainly can imagine a public  school teacher — somewhere in America in the near future —getting in trouble for doing exactly what the teacher in the film does. And that's frightening.

第三，《上帝未死2》的编剧给我们一个非常好的故事大纲让我们相信—即使并没有发生。我不知道法庭是否像是屏幕上的那样，但是我可以想象得到一个公立学校的老师很可能就会因着在课堂上讲耶稣而遭遇麻烦，也许这样的事情在美国很快就会发生。这是可怕的。

Of course, no "God's Not Dead" movie would be complete without the News boys, who finish with a rocking and inspiring number.

当然，如果没有报童的话，《上帝未死》的电影也不能完成，因为需要足够的影响力。

Finally, you might want to stay in your seats until the credits are finished rolling.There's an additional scene, and if you're wondering if there's going to be a "God's Not Dead 3," it's key.

最后，你会愿意在位子上等着所有的演员表鸣谢之类的显示结束。因为还有最后一幕，会告诉你是否还会续拍《上帝未死3》。