 |
| Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker (1986) |
Oxford University Press
$34.95
Hardcover
Published: 04 August 2017
424 Pages | 46 Black and White images
6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches
ISBN: 9780199379712
I really enjoyed reading this book. It's very well researched and written by John Wigger, professor of history at the University of Missouri, whose research focuses on American religious and cultural history.
I'm a real fan of American religious and cultural history. I've read many books about America's religious and cultural history and, more importantly, I've lived it.
Younger people may not be very familiar with Jim and Tammy Bakker and the PTL Club, but those of us who are older will remember PTL and its scandalous collapse.
Those were the days before the internet and social media, the most influential era for the medium of television, when the so-called televangelists were the top television influencers.
When I was twenty-five years old, in 1985, I became a born again Christian while watching, hearing the gospel, and praying with the folks on The 700 Club, which was a Christian television program Jim Bakker had, years earlier, hosted, when he worked for Pat Robertson at his Christian Broadcasting Network.
During the 1970s Jim and Tammy Bakker were at the forefront of satellite television. Their PTL Christian satellite network, which went live in 1978, was one of the first satellite television networks. Only HBO and Ted Turner's station in Atlanta preceded them.
When reading this book I found those early innovative years of PTL to be the most interesting. As the book progresses, of course, PTL slowly but surely becomes something of a train wreck. It was interesting to learn the details of the collapse of PTL.
Anyone who was a Christian during the collapse of PTL will remember that it became the talk of the town, so to speak. Some of the guys who weren't Christians on my job loved to bring up the subject of PTL's scandalous collapse, knowing I was a Christian. As a new Christian it was something of a wake-up call for me, having to defend Christianity whilst not excusing PTL's sin and corruption and, at the same time, feeling grieved over the end of a popular and influential Christian television ministry.
As the book explains, had Jim and Tammy simply stuck to television and television ministry as their main focus, things may not have ended so badly for them and for PTL. Heritage USA, Jim Bakker's Christian theme park, and the endless fundraising for the building thereof, is what ultimately ruined their ministry (and their marriage).
This is a fascinating true story. It's a story about poverty, love, faith, technological innovation, stardom, riches, greed, hatred, sexual depravity, grace, and forgiveness.
In short, this is a very human story overshadowed by the gracious gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you enjoy books about American religion and culture you are sure to enjoy this book...
PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Evangelical Empire (Oxford) https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ptl-9780199379712?cc=us&lang=en&
PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Evangelical Empire (Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/PTL-Tammy-Bakkers-Evangelical-Empire/dp/0199379718
ABC 20/20: The Rise and Fall of PTL (Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUDaValP-9OLf44vdkGZHARWHaW_W65Cx
The Eyes of Tammy Faye https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B002WGC6XO
Roseanne interviews Tammy Faye Bakker (1998) https://youtu.be/VwH4MwfDTjs
PTL CLUB 1987 - Jim & Tammy's Goodbye https://youtu.be/we18_hqy5O8
Jim and Tammy Bakker Through the Years https://youtu.be/_NNPJn1KeQQ
Steve Pieters Interview with Tammy Faye Bakker on PTL / Tammy's House Party https://youtu.be/GjXXdQ6VceQ
No comments:
Post a Comment