The abrupt uptick of Gen Z men turning to the church in 2026 may foreshadow a coming sea change in the age-old struggle between faith and reason. The Charlie Kirk phenomenon, coming in an age of AI deep fakes, Covid response, and media gaslighting, ushered Christianity back to the table of public discourse.
Kirk’s way was evidential. “Prove me wrong” his campus visits begged. His popularity among young people was fueled by a quest for evidence that they had been told to demand. But it came anew from Charlie’s insistence that Jesus Christ answers questions that matter every day in very tangible ways — Who are you? Why are you here? How should you live? That which matters — that which really matters — is material and spiritual all at once.
Charlie’s words stuck because, for the past 200 years, the Academy has taken us on an uncharted expedition toward a new societal destination, ostensibly with evidence guiding the way. “Science,” after all, has become modernity’s preeminent guide — not just for medicine or space travel, but for politics (political science), human behavior (psychology), culture (social science), and so on. Along the way, our words have been transformed, including the very definition of science.
Once, science simply meant knowledge about everything. Some knowledge was material (earthly), some was metaphysical (heavenly). But then, post-enlightenment, in what can be best described as materialism’s crusade, “science” emerged with a golden rule: truth is limited to knowledge gained from our reason, using only observed evidence from the material world. Outside, banished from influence, was the leftover domain of “faith.”
Faith, also a repurposed word, came to mean personal convictions about that which could not be materially supported. “Faith” is “science’s” impotent alter ego. “Democratic liberalism,” the political outworking of this materialistic view, is now believed possible only because “science” keeps us a safe distance from religion. Very well. But what if the new “science” were to paint itself into a metaphysical corner with only one way out: a forced violation of its own golden rule?
With “science” on the throne, Dr. Stephen Meyer and his team at The Discovery Institute have taken up its challenge, entered its courts, played by its rules, and caught the materialists in a conundrum that is unraveling their ruse.
If Covid didn’t convince us that “science” wasn’t so objective after all, The Story of Everything will finish the job. Produced by Sypher films and featuring many scientists from the Discovery Institute and others from well-known research universities globally, this new documentary pieces together The Story of Everything with such beautiful and graphic concision that you’ll want to show it to anyone who cares about science, or reality.
You may have heard some parts of this before, but not in such a rhetorically deep and unified package. The three-part documentary explains why the historic Christian view of origins is the hands-down favorite, without ever making the claim. Meyer’s team plays the materialists’ game, and beats them at it.
In the first part of the show, The Story of Everything tackles astrophysics. It chronicles attempts by mainstream physicists from Einstein to the present day as they strain to maintain their commitment to materialism. Try as they might, materialistic theory after theory falls to the stubborn evidence. By the end, some outside, uncaused cause cannot be avoided. So much so that the materialists, perhaps without realizing it, resort to their own faith claims: Maybe there’s a multi-dimensional answer. Maybe there are infinite universes outside of our own. Maybe we’re in a simulation. All have one thing in common — they’re untestable by the materialist’s own golden rule. It’s a bait and switch. Christians were left in the penalty box for the very “faith” violation that “science” now requires for its theories to work!
As is so often the case, “science” is guilty of even more outlandish claims than it boldly accuses religion of. This new “science” is grasping for a handhold, a foothold, anything to rescue it from the knowledge of God’s necessary existence.
Where other documentaries stop, The Story of Everything doubles down. As it moves through chemistry, biology, life, information, and onward, it gives form to a hopeful reality that nothing shows signs of being an accident. Our world teems with meaning. Nature seems to beg us to see what materialism tells us not to think about.
Now, just over six months after the awakening brought about by Charlie’s assassination, The Story of Everything will hit theaters on April 30. The ACCS, as a vanguard voice for classical Christian education, has long prayed for a revival of faith and reason united in the pursuit of Truth. We’ve been laboring in our more than 500 K-12 schools to give students access to the Truth of Christ in a way that matters— one might say “in a way that is material.”
In other words, in a way that defies materialism, in pursuit of an encompassing cosmology that will lend meaning to all of life through Christ. The timing of The Story of Everything could not be a better spark to ignite the wonder of those who seek answers. I hope over time we will see the return of true science, united with faith, and shaping society for good.
I encourage Christians to take some friends — believers and not — and rendezvous afterward to enjoy conversation. Unlike other videos that seek this end, this film balances new depth with clarity that I’ve not seen elsewhere. I’m hopeful that The Story of Everything will play a part, perhaps as the concertmaster, for a symphony of sanity in our times.
