The Sceptic Behind the Camera
Darren Wilson was a film professor — trained, credentialed, and deeply sceptical of anything he couldn't frame, light, and record. He'd grown up around Christianity, but by adulthood, his relationship with faith was complicated at best. The charismatic wing of the church — people claiming miracles, supernatural encounters, and divine healing — struck him as either deluded or dishonest.
So he decided to film it.
Finger of God
In 2007, Wilson set out to make a documentary about charismatic Christianity. His plan was straightforward: travel the world, point a camera at the people making these extraordinary claims, and let the footage speak for itself. If it was fake, the camera would show it. If it was real — well, he didn't really believe that was possible.
He filmed in Mozambique, Brazil, the United States, and multiple other countries. He interviewed healers, pastors, and ordinary people who claimed they'd witnessed the impossible.
What the Camera Showed
The footage didn't cooperate with his hypothesis. Wilson witnessed things he couldn't explain — and he had the training and equipment to know the difference between a trick and something genuinely inexplicable. People with documented medical conditions showing instantaneous improvement. Circumstances that defied the statistical probabilities any filmmaker understands.
But it wasn't just what he saw. It was what he felt behind the camera. Wilson later described the production process as something that transformed him personally — not through argument, but through sustained exposure to something real. The professional distance he'd maintained as a filmmaker collapsed.
"Finger of God" was released in 2007 and became a surprise hit in the documentary world. It wasn't polished Christian propaganda — it was a sceptic's honest footage of what he found when he went looking.
The Aftermath
Wilson went on to make multiple follow-up films, each one digging deeper into what he'd encountered. But the real story wasn't the documentaries — it was the filmmaker. The man who'd set out to expose charismatic Christianity on camera found his own faith completely rebuilt through the process of making a film.
What This Means for You
Darren Wilson brought the most honest tool he had — a camera — and pointed it at claims he didn't believe. The footage changed him before it changed anyone else. Sometimes the most dangerous thing you can do is honestly investigate something you've already decided isn't real.