PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Evangelical Empire

by John Wigger Narrated by L.J. Ganser

Overview

In 1974, Jim and Tammy Bakker launched their television show, the PTL Club, from a former furniture store in Charlotte, North Carolina, with half a dozen friends. By 1987, they stood at the center of a ministry empire that included their own satellite network, a 2300-acre theme park visited by six million people a year, and millions of adoring fans.



When it all fell apart, after revelations of a sex scandal and massive financial mismanagement, America watched more than two years of federal investigation and trial as Jim was eventually convicted for fraud and conspiracy. He would go on to serve five years in federal prison.



PTL is more than just the spectacular story of the rise and fall of the Bakkers. John Wigger traces their lives from humble beginnings to wealth, fame, and eventual disgrace. PTL is the story of a group of people committed to religious innovation, who pushed the boundaries of evangelical religion's engagement with American culture.



Drawing on trial transcripts, videotapes, newspaper articles, and interviews with key insiders, dissidents, and lawyers, Wigger reveals the power of religion to redirect American culture.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 06/12/2017
Professor of History at the University of Missouri Wigger (American Saint) starts this captivating exploration of the rise, stumble, and fall of the PTL evangelical empire founded in 1973 by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker—one of the first major televangelist operations in the United States—with a brief review of the Pentecostal evangelical religion in America and the early biographies of both Bakkers before plunging into the development of the PTL business empire. The scandal-ridden downfall of the Bakkers was front-page news in the late 1980s and early ’90s, but the story starts in the early ’60s with the just-married Bakkers setting off to travel by car as evangelical preachers. The Bakkers started on television with a children’s show on a network headlined by Pat Robertson, the Bakkers’ expansion to owning studios and stations came quickly. Jim Bakker’s spin on what is broadly known as “the prosperity gospel,” a particularly American evangelical take on the relationship between God and money, was what led both to the couple’s spectacular success and, eventually, ruin. Wigger does an outstanding job of untangling and following the various threads of the PTL, only briefly allowing himself a moment of ahistorical judgment when discussing the 45-year prison term eventually passed on Jim Bakker. Anyone interested in the theological underpinnings of certain contemporary strains of right-wing American politics, as well as those more particularly interested in the Bakkers or televangelism, should find this book rewarding. (Aug.)

From the Publisher

"Wigger's sparkling prose makes the book a joy to read...a necessary addition to the bookshelves of those interested in American religious history."—The Gospel Coalition

"PTL...captures the thrill of the couple's ascent and the scale of their eventual collapse. The book also provides an opportunity for reflection on the meaning of their moment in American cultural history....John Wigger's book...gives the complicated story elegance, understated humor, and surprising emotional punch."—Washington Examiner

"Drawing on a wide range of interviews, newspaper reports, and court documents, Wigger expertly documents the larger-than-life transgressions that eventually brought the Bakkers and PTL tumbling down."—Christianity Today

"Wigger explicates critically but fairly the story of Jim Bakker and PTL ('Praise the Lord' or 'People That Love') Recommended."—W.B. Bedford, CHOICE

"Taking on scandal as a subject of study is complicated. It is tempting to dismiss PTL and the Bakkers as the worst exemplars of Christian hypocrisy. The more productive venture is to explicate the complexity of the Bakkers' motivations, to explain the gradual escalation of their ambition, and to narrate the story of grace found and lost. Wigger does this admirably and with good humor. Several passages stand out as delightfully funny-a rare feature in historical writing. As Jim Bakker continues to sell his apocalyptic gruel by exploiting Americans' fears, understanding the culture that he helped create and in which he still operates has never been more important."—Suzanna Krivulskaya, Reading Religion

"Thorough and thoughtful, Wigger's book affords nuance to a story that has often otherwise been relegated to tabloid fodder. PTL is a fascinating study of the ignominious collapse of an evangelical empire-an event that captured and scandalized a nation."—Foreword Reviews

"Wigger succeeds in providing a three-dimensional view of the one-dimensional figures of American television and a greater understanding of the Bakkers and their followers."— Library Journal

"Captivating...outstanding...Anyone interested in the theological underpinnings of certain contemporary strains of right-wing American politics, as well as those more particularly interested in the Bakkers or televangelism, should find this book rewarding."—Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

2017-04-30
A history professor recounts and updates the scandals revolving around the PTL Club and its guiding lights, evangelical preachers Jim Bakker and his then-wife, Tammy Faye Bakker.In this deeply researched combination of recent history and biography, Wigger (History/Univ. of Missouri; American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists, 2009, etc.) builds on a number of historical threads from the 1970s and '80s, when the Bakkers were first famous—as well as vastly and ostentatiously wealthy—and then infamous due to the PTL Club, their televised "religious" enterprise. (PTL stands for either Praise the Lord or People that Love.) The author's main themes are hubris and greed as well as financial fraud, sexual exploitation, phony religion, the siren song of celebrity, and the dangers of the prosperity gospel. Wigger acknowledges the far-reaching investigation during the 1980s by Charles E. Shepard, a Charlotte Observer reporter who wrote Forgiven: The Rise and Fall of Jim Bakker and the PTL Ministry (1989). In many ways, Wigger's book serves as a skilled, informative update of Shepard's exposé. Tammy Faye Bakker is now dead, but Jim Bakker is back after serving five years in prison for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy. He has remarried and is now running an enterprise called Morningside, which serves people who want to buy supplies for a predicted apocalypse. One of the most damning parts of the book concerns Jessica Hahn, a young admirer of Bakker who was raped by the preacher and a colleague, and the horrifying detail provided by the author remains as upsetting as it was when originally disclosed. The Bakkers started out with good intentions when they chose to become itinerant preachers, but the monsters they became make it difficult to feel any sympathy for them despite Wigger's thoughtful presentation. Many of the other high-profile evangelicals in the book—including Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggart, and Pat Robertson—also inspire very little admiration. A worthy, clearly written account of a movement and its downfall.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175985161
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/07/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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