This review covers the DVD release of the PBS documentary The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C. S. Lewis with Dr. Armand Nicholi, which was based upon the book The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life and the related coursework from Harvard University professor Armand Nicholi. The documentary attempts to answer an important question amongst atheists, agnostics, and theists, "does God really exist?" The question is attempted from a Christian perspective. The documentary attempts to answer this question by presenting the religious viewpoints from two characters from history, Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. In addition a panel joins Dr. Nicholi to discuss the matter. The topics covered in the discussion are very common issued tackled when considering religion and the existence of God. They are "A Transcendent Experience", "Science or Revelation?", "The Exalted Father", "Why Believe? Miracles", "Love Thy Neighbor", "Human Condition", "Moral Law", and "Suffering and Death".

Overall, I found the documentary to dry and very difficult to get into. And while the actual subject is dull to some, I find the question of God, and theology in general intriguing. There are several aspects of The Question of God which leave it dry in content. It includes the individuals in the discussion panel, the format and presentation, the actual focus, and how all they tie together.

Firstly, joining Dr. Nicholi there are seven different individuals. They include Frederick Lee (Medical Doctor), Michael Shermer (Author, Publisher of Skeptic Magazine), Margaret Klenck (Jungian Analyst), Jeremy Fraiberg (Attorney), Doug Holladay (General Partner at Park Aveune Equity Partners, LP), Winifred Gallagher (Author & Journalist), and Louis Massiah (Independent Filmmaker). The problem I had with this panel was there was absolutely no introduction to who they were or exactly why they were there. As the documentary proceeds, you begin to realize which are predisposed to answer yes there is a God, who is willing to say no, or who takes an agnostic viewpoint, because they're just not quite sure. I felt a clear introduction to who they were would have really helped clarify in the beginning their positions and why exactly I should listen to them. Furthermore, clearly outlining their relationship with Dr. Nicholi would have been a better insight to who they were. From looking at the PBS website for The Question of God, several are former students who had classes or worked on research with him.

While not an extremely huge gripe, I did not particular like the format and presentation of the documentary. Basically, there were nine major topics covered. Once a topic was introduced, there would be a brief discussion with the panel. Afterwards, enacted segments of Lewis and/or Freud would be used to chronicle their ideas relating to the current topic. There would also be short interviews with other professionals in the field. Finally, the focus would return back to the discussion panel and there would be a debate. What I did not like about the format was how the debates in the discussion panels were not given more time. Generally when a subject would start to get interesting, the documentary would move on to the next subject and begin with the enacted segments for the next topic.

Next I had a really hard to accepting the approach taken by Dr. Nicholi. His association of Lewis and Freud as respectively, believer and disbeliever did not promote the strongest outlook on the issue. While I do think some of the material presented from Lewis and Freud can be strong in support of either direction, there are many others in history who could offer more.

This final gripe relates to the three previous ones. The documentary took two very separate approaches. First, the issues would be covered from the viewpoint of Lewis or Freud with the enacted segments and short interview. In the panel discussion, Dr. Nicholi would ask a question relating to Freud or Lewis' stand point. However, the viewpoints are so broad and general the concepts from Freud and Lewis could be completely ignored and as such, repeatedly the panel discussion would have nothing to do with the ideas proposed by Lewis or Freud. In effect, it felt as if there were two very different discussions being tied together.

Overall, Individuals who are deeply interested in the question of God might get something out of watching The Question of God. However, keep in mind that it is not necessarily the most informative or entertaining documentary on the subject. If you have any interest, this release best as a rental.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in a widescreen color format. The picture quality is nothing really special and fits the needs of a documentary well.

Audio:
The audio is given in English Dolby digital stereo sound. The sound quality is fairly good and offers a very flat and straightforward listening experience.

Extras:
The extras include a printable version (PDF format) of the discussions. You may access this on you home computer via DVD-ROM.

Final Thoughts:
I was initially pretty excited to watch The Question of God. I was interested in seeing how Dr. Nicholi was going to associate the viewpoints of Freud and Lewis to the existence of God. However, I found the approach to be barely tolerable and not quite insightful enough to really enjoy. The discussion panel members were also not very captivating and the ideas they brought to the fore were very general and common responses. In the end, The Question of God is fairly dry and hard to get into.