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Christianity Today, March, 2009

Startling Fingerprints

It's up to the viewer of "Finger of God" to determine whose they are.

Reviewed by Katelyn Beaty | posted 4/14/2009 11:01AM

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A frail Mozambiquan woman watches the Jesus film and is healed of deafness. In rural China, house churches hold days-long services in 110-degree heat—with gusto. More strangely, in suburban Chicago, worshipers get gold teeth ex nihilo. In Christian circles, such "miracle stories" are typically met with glee, groans, or a mixture of tepid acceptance and doubt, depending on one's theological disposition. No matter your own, Finger of God (Wanderlust Productions) , a compelling 2007 documentary that recently released to dvd, was made to convince audiences that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to all Christians, and that miracles are manifest in the unlikeliest pockets of the globe.

The man doing the convincing is director Darren Wilson, a Judson University professor and former "unbelieving Christian" who aims his film at Christians who do not think the charismata are real, or who believe they ended in the apostolic era. Wilson's narration gives coherence to a mishmash of video footage and interviews with pastors, evangelists, and those who have been healed. Many of these are familiar faces of the charismatic movement, including Canon Andrew White, Heidi and Rolland Baker, Sid Roth, and John and Carol Arnott, founding pastors of the controversial Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.

With no script, borrowed equipment, and a paper-thin budget of $20,000, Finger is like a home video of a Pentecostal worship service—which is its strength and weakness. On one hand, this is not the flashy televangelist working his magic on stage; it's unpolished and captures the feel of true documentation. On the other, watching the miracles begins to feel voyeuristic. As one interviewee puts it, "The supernatural becomes the entertainment, because God is the most exciting, captivating being in the world." Well, yes, but is he here for our entertainment?

Still, Finger is surprisingly moving, especially when it finally connects all the miracles with the love of the living God, whose inbreaking kingdom leaves no part of the created order untouched.

Related Elsewhere:

Finger of God is available at ChristianBook.com and other retailers. To learn more about the film, go to FingerofGodFilm.com.

Christianity Today also has other reviews on music, movies, books, and other media.

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March 2009, Vol. 53, No. 3

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Displaying 1–5 of 13 comments

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Ranel

April 23, 2009 3:38pm

For a Christian to judge why God would do something is to say they themselves are above Him. BE CAREFUL! It is better to ponder and seek the Lord's council than to cast a judgement you would be later held accountable for. Word's are very powerful as Jesus can attest He is the Word of God made Manifest.

tim

April 21, 2009 11:22am

I sure agree with Patrick Gann on this. I think satan loves to have people follow miricle's rather than The Word of God and Christ himself. Articales like this confuse the young Christian and lead them astray.

John

April 16, 2009 9:52pm

The Incorruptibles are proof of the existence of miracles. We have dozens of bodies of Catholic saints that haven't even begun to decompose - many of them have been dead for several centuries. Look up "Incorruptibles" in any search engine to look at the pictures. Absolutely amazing!

Karen

April 15, 2009 4:16pm

For anyone who has not seen "Finger of God" but have read Patrick Gann's comments on evangelical "pharisee's": no where in Darren Wilson's documentary does he state or imply that your salvation is dependant on manifesting supernatural gifts such as speaking in tongues. Darren Wilson did what documentary film makers are meant to do: he searched for an answer to a question. Why does my Aunt Patsy have gold teeth? He had no further agenda than to make a record of the journey he took to get that answer. Whether you are uncomfortable with what he documented or not, it is irresponsible to make statements that have no more basis than your own opinion. We are, in spite of our differences, brothers and sisters in Christ. We should treat each other with love and respect, for our Lord's sake.

Patrick Gann

April 15, 2009 11:36am

Thanks Sergey. -- and Joel, I too wonder what a Pharisee's "blog" re: Jesus and the early church would look like. But I'm sure it wouldn't look like my blog, where I proclaim that a) Jesus died and rose again, and b) people claiming God gave them gold teeth from thin air are either lying or *quite* confused. Do not dare stoop to compare today's skeptics to Pharisees. The real Pharisees in today's religious climate are those who lay specific claims down about who does and doesn't make it into heaven: such as those who say you aren't saved unless you exhibit "supernatural" gifts such as speaking in tongues.

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