This episode's title is a reference to the film "God's Not Dead".
Also as in previous episode Bart was struck by lightning, this title could indicate that Bart didn't die due to that. So this episode could be a sequel.
The title may also be a reference to a horror internet story made Creepypasta, Dead Bart.
Homer tells Marge at the hospital, "as someone who has fallen off of cliffs lots of times". This could be referencing "Bart The Daredevil".
Rotten Communion Wafers is a parody of Rotten Tomatoes.
Trivia
In the opening to this episode, it reuses scenes from the past 29 seasons in reverse chronological order.
The story may be based on the story of Alex Malarkey, a boy who, after a traumatic car crash, claimed he saw heaven. Alex later admitted that he made up the story for attention, but not before a book was published and adapted into a movie.
Goofs
The second set of credits at the end of act 3 has only one S in the last word of "Springfield Film Commision".
