Smile Pretty and Say Jesus

Smile Pretty and Say Jesus PDF Author: Hunter James
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820331910
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
In March 1987, the Reverend Jerry Falwell and the national news media found themselves in rare agreement: Jim Bakker, the charismatic, cash-hungry televangelist, was an accomplished sinner but a rather unconvincing penitent. The story had just broken that Bakker had fornicated with Jessica Hahn, a New York church secretary, and then tried to pay her off with $256,000. Once exposed, Bakker weepily begged Falwell to help him steer his ministry through the scandal. Falwell assented--but then demanded Bakker's resignation when he learned that the Hahn affair only hinted at Bakker's profligacy. The fight was on, and those stale jokes were born again: PTL, the acronym of Bakker's $172 million enterprise, stood not for "Praise the Lord" or "People That Love" but for "Pass the Loot" or "Pay the Lady." Veteran journalist Hunter James covered the story for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the first report of Bakker's double life until eight chaotic months later when the unwelcome Falwell left the bankrupt ministry in South Carolina and went home for good to his own church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Smile Pretty and Say Jesus is James's wry, personal account of the struggle for control of the PTL enterprise, which included a satellite network and a 2,300-acre theme park, Heritage USA. James's book is valuable for the important distinctions it makes between Pentecostals and Baptist fundamentalists and for its explanation of the "prosperity gospel" Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye, professed. Combining straightforward reportage with human interest sketches and profiles, the book is also the most insightful to date on the attitudes and motives of the principal figures involved in the debacle.

Smile Pretty and Say Jesus

Smile Pretty and Say Jesus PDF Author: Hunter James
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820331910
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book

Book Description
In March 1987, the Reverend Jerry Falwell and the national news media found themselves in rare agreement: Jim Bakker, the charismatic, cash-hungry televangelist, was an accomplished sinner but a rather unconvincing penitent. The story had just broken that Bakker had fornicated with Jessica Hahn, a New York church secretary, and then tried to pay her off with $256,000. Once exposed, Bakker weepily begged Falwell to help him steer his ministry through the scandal. Falwell assented--but then demanded Bakker's resignation when he learned that the Hahn affair only hinted at Bakker's profligacy. The fight was on, and those stale jokes were born again: PTL, the acronym of Bakker's $172 million enterprise, stood not for "Praise the Lord" or "People That Love" but for "Pass the Loot" or "Pay the Lady." Veteran journalist Hunter James covered the story for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the first report of Bakker's double life until eight chaotic months later when the unwelcome Falwell left the bankrupt ministry in South Carolina and went home for good to his own church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Smile Pretty and Say Jesus is James's wry, personal account of the struggle for control of the PTL enterprise, which included a satellite network and a 2,300-acre theme park, Heritage USA. James's book is valuable for the important distinctions it makes between Pentecostals and Baptist fundamentalists and for its explanation of the "prosperity gospel" Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye, professed. Combining straightforward reportage with human interest sketches and profiles, the book is also the most insightful to date on the attitudes and motives of the principal figures involved in the debacle.

The Universal Christ

The Universal Christ PDF Author: Richard Rohr
Publisher: Convergent Books
ISBN: 1524762105
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From one of the world’s most influential spiritual thinkers, a long-awaited book exploring what it means that Jesus was called “Christ,” and how this forgotten truth can restore hope and meaning to our lives. “Anyone who strives to put their faith into action will find encouragement and inspiration in the pages of this book.”—Melinda Gates In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus’s last name? Too often, Rohr writes, our understandings have been limited by culture, religious debate, and the human tendency to put ourselves at the center. Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet. Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.

Jesus and Women - Bible Study Book

Jesus and Women - Bible Study Book PDF Author: Kristi McLelland
Publisher: Lifeway Church Resources
ISBN: 9781535992039
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Join biblical culturalist Krisi McLelland as she takes you back to Jesus' first-century world, explaining the historical and cultural climate of His day. This 7-session Bible study is a look at several of Jesus' interactions with women.

One Nation Under God?

One Nation Under God? PDF Author: Marjorie Garber
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135207852
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
One Nation Under God? is a remarkable consideration of how religion manifests itself in America today.

Charisma, Medieval and Modern

Charisma, Medieval and Modern PDF Author: Peter Iver Kaufman
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 303842000X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Charisma, Medieval and Modern" that was published in Religions

Houses of God

Houses of God PDF Author: Peter W. Williams
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252047389
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Houses of God is the first broad survey of American religious architecture, a cultural cross-country expedition that will benefit travelers as much as scholars. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 photographs — some by well-known photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange — this handsome book provides a highly accessible look at how Americans shape their places of worship into multifaceted reflections of their culture, beliefs, and times.

Region, Race and Cities: Interpreting the Urban South

Region, Race and Cities: Interpreting the Urban South PDF Author: David R. Goldfield
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807140598
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description


Religion in America Since 1945

Religion in America Since 1945 PDF Author: Patrick Allitt
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231509316
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Moving far beyond the realm of traditional "church history," Patrick Allitt here offers a vigorous and erudite survey of the broad canvas of American religion since World War II. Identifying the major trends and telling moments within major denominations and also in less formal religious movements, he asks how these religious groups have shaped, and been shaped by, some of the most important and divisive issues and events of the last half century: the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, feminism and the sexual revolution, abortion rights, the antinuclear and environmentalist movements, and many others. Allitt argues that the boundaries between religious and political discourse have become increasingly blurred in the last fifty years. Having been divided along denominational lines in the early postwar period, religious Americans had come by the 1980s to be divided along political lines instead, as they grappled with the challenges of modernity and secularism. Partly because of this politicization, and partly because of the growing influence of Asian, Latino, and other ethnic groups, the United States is anomalous among the Western industrialized nations, as church membership and religious affiliation generally increased during this period. Religion in America Since 1945 is a masterful analysis of this dynamism and diversity and an ideal starting point for any exploration of the contemporary religious scene.

The Blessings of Business

The Blessings of Business PDF Author: Darren E. Grem
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199927987
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The Book of Matthew cautions readers that "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." But for at least a century conservative American Protestants have been trying to prove that adage wrong. In The Blessings of Business, Darren E. Grem argues that while preachers, activists, and politicians have all helped spread the gospel, American evangelicalism owes its enduring strength in a large part to private enterprise. Grem argues for a new history of American evangelicalism, demonstrating how its adherents strategically used corporate America--its leaders, businesses, money, ideas, and values--to advance their religious, cultural, and political movement. Beginning before the First World War, conservative evangelicals were able to use businessmen and business methods to retain and expand their public influence in a secularizing, diversifying, and liberalizing age. In the process they became beholden to pro-business stances on matters of theology, race, gender, taxation, trade, and the state, transforming evangelicalism itself into as much of an economic movement as a religious one. The Blessings of Business tells the story of unlikely partnerships between well-known champions of the evangelical movement such as Billy Graham and largely forgotten businessmen like Herbert Taylor, J. Howard Pew, and R.G. LeTourneau. Grem also shows how evangelicals set up their own pro-business organizations and linked the quarterly and yearly growth of "Christian" businesses to their social, religious, and political aspirations. Fascinating and provocative, The Blessings of Business uncovers the strong ties that conservative Christians have forged between the Almighty and the almighty dollar.

Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion [2 volumes]

Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion [2 volumes] PDF Author: June Melby Benowitz
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440839875
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 867

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Book Description
This two-volume set examines women's contributions to religious and moral development in America, covering individual women, their faith-related organizations, and women's roles and experiences in the broader social and cultural contexts of their times. This second edition of Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion provides updated and expanded information from historians and other scholars of religion, covering new issues in religion to better describe and document women's roles within religious groups. For instance, the term "evangelical feminism" is one newly defined aspect of women's involvement in religious activism. Changes are constantly occurring within the many religious faiths and denominations in America, particularly as women strive to gain positions within religious hierarchies that previously were exclusive to men and rise within their denominations to become theologians, church leaders, and bishops. The entries examine the roles that American women have played in mainstream religious denominations, small religious sects, and non-traditional practices such as witchcraft, as well as in groups that question religious beliefs, including agnostics and atheists. A section containing primary documents gives readers a firsthand look at matters of concern to religious women and their organizations. Many of these documents are the writings of women who merit entries within the encyclopedia. Readers will gain an awareness of women's contributions to religious culture in America, from the colonial era to the present day, and better understand the many challenges that women have faced to achieve success in their religion-related endeavors.