The death of evangelist Oral Roberts on Dec. 15 brings to a close one of the great lives in American religious history and global Pentecostalism. Roberts pioneered the use of mass media and mentored a generation of preachers. But his career was also controversial. So what is the legacy of Oral Roberts?
ReligionLink editions
See our source guide on Pentecostalism, tied to the 2006 centennial of the Azusa Street revival.
See our source guide on the “prosperity gospel,” which was a hallmark of Oral Roberts’ ministry and an enduring legacy.
See ReligionLink’s guide to evangelicals and politics for experts who can assess the political impact of Oral Roberts.
African-Americans and Latinos form a critical core of modern Pentecostalism, and ReligionLink has sources guides on these communities here and here, respectively.
Are charismatic Christians of the sort Oral Roberts inspired fundamentalists? Experts from our fundamentalism source guide can answer that question.
Some see the megachurch movement as the modern, high-tech version of tent revivals. See our new megachurch source guide here.
The latest stories and resources
- Read Charisma magazine’s obituary here.
- Read The Los Angeles Times obituary, “Televangelist Oral Roberts dies; pioneering preacher of the ‘prosperity gospel’ was 91.”
- Read The Washington Post obituary, “Oral Roberts, 91; trailblazing, empire-building evangelist.”
- The New York Times obituary is here.
- Read the entry on “Pentecostalism” in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society.
- Photo: David Silver, Flickr
