A new documentary is spotlighting the growing number of young Americans who are rethinking atheism and returning to historic Christian faith. Filmmaker Michael Ray Lewis—who once described himself as a devoted atheist—shared how his journey from unbelief to discipleship began with skepticism, continued with honest inquiry, and ultimately led him to surrender his life to Jesus.

Lewis told CBN News that his atheism wasn’t rooted in hostility toward God at first, but in unanswered questions. “Questions like, ‘Well, evolution has disproven Christianity,'” he recalled. “‘If there’s an all-loving God, then there wouldn’t be the existence of evil in the world.'” He also struggled with the idea of judgment, saying, “I can’t believe in a God who would send me to an eternal punishment just because I have trouble believing in Him.”

With Christians around him unable to address those objections, he drifted deeper into unbelief. He consumed atheist documentaries like Bill Maher’s and the viral film Zeitgeist, which claimed Christianity was a myth copied from pagan religions. “Both of those documentaries were showing how Christianity wasn’t true,” Lewis said. What he didn’t realize then was that many of those claims had long been refuted by historians and scholars.

His turning point came after he married his wife, who had grown up in church but drifted away. One day, she told him she felt Jesus calling her back. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Oh, no. I don’t want to deal with this,'” he admitted. “But you know what? I love her. So I’ll go to church, and I’ll see what all this is about. I figured all I have to do to stop going to church is just to show her that it’s not true.”

But instead of disproving Christianity, he found himself confronted with evidence he had never encountered. His wife bought him a Bible. He initially dismissed it, but then a video from an astrophysicist appeared in his YouTube feed arguing that science points toward an intelligent creator. “That was the first moment where it kind of piqued my curiosity,” he said.

What began as curiosity became a three-year deep dive into cosmology, philosophy, biblical studies, and theology. “I realized that my reasoning for not believing in God wasn’t based on evidence anymore,” Lewis said. “It was the fact that I didn’t want it to be true, and that was when I thought to myself, ‘That’s not a good reason.’ I threw my hands up, gave my life to Jesus, and I am all in at this point.”

After working in secular film—including on horror projects—Lewis sensed a calling to use his craft for God’s kingdom. His new documentary, Universe Designed, collects years of interviews and research to make a case for the rationality of belief. “I ended up with 36 hours of interview content that I had to condense into an hour-and-25-minute film,” he said. “I hope that that’s what I’ve done.”

For Lewis, his story is not just about leaving atheism—it’s about discovering what he believes is a larger trend among younger generations hungry for meaning in a disenchanted age.