Prosperity Gospel Pioneer Oral Roberts, Dead At 91

Oral Roberts, Fiery Preacher, Dies at 91

New York Times
By KEITH SCHNEIDER
Published: December 15, 2009


Oral Roberts in 1958 in West
Hempstead, N.Y.

Oral Roberts, the Pentecostal evangelist whose televised faith-healing ministry attracted millions of followers worldwide and made him one of the most recognizable and controversial religious leaders of the 20th century, died Tuesday in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 91. The cause was complications of pneumonia, said Melany Ethridge, a spokeswoman for Mr. Roberts. He died at a hospital in Newport Beach, where he lived.

At the height of his influence, Mr. Roberts sat at the head of a religious, educational and communications enterprise based in Tulsa, Okla., that managed a university that bears his name, mounted healing “crusades” on five continents, preached on prime-time national television and published dozens of books and magazines.

He was the patriarch of the “prosperity gospel,” a theology that promotes the idea that Christians who pray and donate with sufficient fervency will be rewarded with health, wealth and happiness. Mr. Roberts trained and mentored several generations of younger prosperity gospel preachers who now have television and multimedia empires of their own.

Mr. Roberts was as politically conservative as his contemporaries in what became known as the “religious right,” but he was known more for his religious style than for his political pronouncements. He was widely lampooned after he proclaimed on his television program in 1987 that God would “call him home” if he did not raise millions.

Also see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61_rPgitFmc&feature=player_embedded">Oral Roberts Explains What God Wants You To Do With Your Vagina And Penis

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16roberts.html?_r=1">MORE