Approved for 12+

Story of God with Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman presents his quest in order to find how most religions perceive life after death, what different civilizations thought about the act of creation and other big questions that mankind has continuously asked.

The following are each episode's description:

1. Beyond Death: Host Morgan Freeman explores how different religions of past and present answer the question: What happens when we die?

2. Apocalypse: Host Morgan Freeman examines both the past and the future to determine what various faith traditions predict about the End of Days.

3. Who Is God?: Who is God? Morgan begins a quest to discover who God is and how he, she or they have evolved over human history.

4. Creation: Morgan Freeman traverses the globe to ask: Where did we come from, and what happened in the beginning?

5. Why Does Evil Exist?: Where does evil come from? Morgan sets out to understand the root of evil and how our ideas of it have evolved over the millennia.

6. Miracles: Do miracles really happen? Morgan sets out to discover why we believe in miracles and how they shape our understanding of God.
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Dove Review

The “Story of God with Morgan Freeman” features six episodes which examine the various religions of the world and their beliefs.

In the episode titled “Miracles,” Morgan Freeman explores Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. He centers on miracles and shares the story of how, when he was 16 years old, he had pneumonia and was cured. When the doctor said it was a “miracle”, it made him wonder about the possibility of miracles. Several people share testimonies of miracles including a window cleaner who fell 47 stories after his cable snapped; he was hurt but did not die. Again, this man was told it was a miracle. His brother died, and he survived, which prompted the question, “Why my brother, and why did I survive?”

Freeman travels to Jerusalem and celebrates Passover with the Jewish people. The story of the plagues and the miracle of the Hebrews’ survival are examined. And in the next episode, “Creation”, the Big Bang Theory is discussed in comparison to the Genesis account of creation. Morgan travels to Cairo, Egypt to learn about the Muslim faith. Aborigines talk about their belief of creation. Also, a story of a “Corn God” is mentioned, and this god is seen as the progenitor of the entire human race.

The next episode is titled, “Who is God?” and is about the divine being known as God. Christian concepts and Jesus as God in the flesh are precepts that are examined. Hindus, in contrast, believe in millions of gods. In some cases an entire family worships one particular god. Stonehenge and its history is featured, and the Sun god which is their god. Also, the theory of a god being King Tut’s father is mentioned. Morgan states the belief that Muslims, Christians and Jews worship the same God, although in fact the Christians worship Christ and Muslims serve Allah, and Jews serve Jehovah. Interestingly, it is stated that the God of Abraham is the only God communicated with, without a temple. From Lakewood Church Joel and Victoria Osteen pray with Morgan and talk about the Christian faith. 10,000 people worship at Joel’s church.

In the episode titled “Why Does Evil Exist?” Morgan talks to a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder and rape and learns the man felt no remorse or emotions after perpetuating his crimes. Various ideas of evil including the personal belief, or lack thereof, of the devil are all examined. Is evil a result of a personal devil, a person’s choice, or both? Morgan interviews a man named Brian, who used to be a Neo-Nazi, and hated people. He has had the tattoos removed from his face and says the birth of his son, and a dawning belief in God changed him. Yet Morgan wonders aloud if the man’s own will didn’t bring about the change. Also, a specialist works with children and studies them when they are alone in a room. They are given a game to play and when they think no one is watching they cheat but when they believe an invisible princess is in the room, they are honest. Does the belief in a Supreme Being keep us in check?

“Apocalypse” is an episode about the end of the world and focuses on the Antichrist coming for three purposes: restoring the Jewish kingdom, bringing peace to the Jewish people; and rebuilding the temple. Although of course his ultimate goal will be to defeat Christianity. The word Apocalypse is a Greek word meaning to “lift the veil” or, in other words, to shed light on futuristic events.

Finally, we have a fascinating episode titled “Beyond Death” which looks at various religious beliefs concerning death. The Hindus believe in reincarnation and karma. Christians believe in life after death and eternal life. The question of an eternal soul where science is concerned is examined and, interestingly enough, one scientist says whether or not it is a consciousness beyond death or a soul, there is evidence of something beyond, at least in the early stages of death.

We are awarding our Dove Seal to this in-depth presentation as it looks closely at the major world religions and what they believe. It should be noted that although Christianity is treated with respect, other religions are looked at in a way that presents the possibility of them being on an equal basis, and that all could contain truth. We base our reviews on a Judeo-Christian belief system, so we wish to make note of this. The education people will gain from the belief systems that are examined in this documentary is commendable. We are awarding this documentary series our Dove Seal for ages twelve-plus and we encourage parental guidance in viewing the series.

Dove Rating Details

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Faith

None

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Integrity

An idol god of war is mentioned; the mention of a battle; the mention of psychopath killers; the mention of kids killed at Sandy Hook; footage of people shooting guns; war scenes from a long-ago battle; a man is crucified upside down; Christians set on fire in a brief scene; in another brief scene, people are seen being shocked; blood is seen being poured out as it is mentioned a religion offers sacrifices; a bleeding heart is held, with blood covering the heart and the man's hand; very bloody hand seen a couple of times just for a moment; Christ is shown being crucified; three men seen on crosses including Christ; a drop of blood falls from a crown of thorns.

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Sex

It's stated a man in prison raped and murdered women.

2
Language

M/G-1; oh Lord-2; H (as a Biblical place)-5; He*l-bent-1; holy cow-2.

2
Violence

An idol god of war is mentioned; the mention of a battle; the mention of psychopath killers; the mention of kids killed at Sandy Hook; footage of people shooting guns; war scenes from a long-ago battle; a man is crucified upside down; Christians set on fire in a brief scene; in another brief scene, people are seen being shocked; blood is seen being poured out as it is mentioned a religion offers sacrifices; a bleeding heart is held, with blood covering the heart and the man's hand; very bloody hand seen a couple of times just for a moment; Christ is shown being crucified; three men seen on crosses including Christ; a drop of blood falls from a crown of thorns.

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Drugs

The drinking of wine at Passover; the smoking of a pipe; a man says his father was an alcoholic; the mention of beer.

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Nudity

Shirtless men including shirtless priests; nudity in artwork of creation; mild cleavage and a man's back is seen; shirtless Christ is seen on the cross.

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Other

Scary image of a death angel regarding Passover; Scary image of a demonic-looking creature in the sky; people who practice Buddhism bow to an idol; gambling with dice; a Chinese woman practicing astrology uses a star chart on Freeman; a comment about chance, stars, or is it God? (Aborigines believe a star baby fell from the sky and created man and woman); people seen praying to an idol; Allah is mentioned as the Muslim god; Navajo Indians believe a god and human can become one being; various beliefs are contrasted, including a belief in God versus the belief that self-will can change people; a man with many tattoos had many on his face before he had them removed; a belief that offering food to a person's ancestors can change their financial situation as well as nailing coins to a special tree; a chanting shaman chants and speaks in tongues and tells certain people they need an exorcism; a comment that Egyptian beliefs developed into Christianity; a Neo-Nazi is seen with a "White Power" sign; a woman receives electric shock as part of a treatment; dead people are seen on bunks; one man believes in God and eternal life following a close call but is not sure if another god or Christ was involved; the mention of spells and religious spells in journeying through death to the afterlife; the Hindu teaching of reincarnation and karma is mentioned; a man says we can't answer whether or not there is a soul.

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