Smile Pretty and Say Jesus: The Last Great Days of Ptl

by Hunter James, Charles Reagan Wilson (Foreword)

Interesting book on the PTL and Jim Bakker

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1993

Reviews

[Joshua Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalist Hunter James chronicles the media, legal, and religious debacles surrounding Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and the Christian ministry PTL that rocked the east coast directly and American Christendom as a whole during the late 80's then residually into the 90's. The Bakker scandal created rifts in the once-great ministry and eventually between Christian denominations, fundamentalist Baptists and the charismatics, etc. Enter Jerry Falwell and his attempt to salvage the Bakker ministry, at Bakker's request, and then the drama and back-stabbing which surrounded it. Some say Falwell made a good-faith effort to help, others considered Falwell predatory and opportunist. In the end Bakker never fully recovered and the “corporate” American Christian church took a blow.