Oral Roberts

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Lore & Background

Roberts was born on January 24, 1918, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the fifth and youngest child of Reverend Ellis Melvin Roberts and Claudius Priscilla Roberts. He began life in poverty and nearly died of tuberculosis when he was 17. After finishing high school, Roberts studied for two years each at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University. In 1938, he married a preacher's daughter, Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock. Roberts became a traveling faith healer after ending his college studies without a degree. According to a TIME Magazine profile of 1972, Roberts originally made a name for himself with a large mobile tent "that sat 3,000 on metal folding chairs."

In 1945, Roberts resigned from his pastorate in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to hold revivals. In late summer 1945, while preaching in a North Carolina camp meeting, he was asked by Robert E. "Daddy" Lee of Toccoa, Georgia, to consider becoming pastor of his small, eighty-member church. Roberts accepted, but by the end of the year had resigned and moved back to Shawnee. Until 1947, Roberts struggled as a part-time preacher in Oklahoma, but when he was 29, he said he picked up his Bible and it fell open at the Third Epistle of John, where he read verse 2: "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." The next day, he said, he bought a Buick and God appeared, directing him to heal the sick. Roberts resigned his pastoral ministry with the Pentecostal Holiness Church to found Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA). In November 1947, he started Healing Waters, a monthly magazine. He conducted more than 300 "crusades" on six continents, and personally laid hands in prayer on more than 2 million people. In January 1955, Roberts held a "salvation and healing" campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid. He was bitterly assailed by the Sunday Express for the hysteria and traffic jams of 20,000 people that packed big Wembley stadium. Other newspapers reported on the healings and 25,000 people saved. In 1963, he founded Oral Roberts University (ORU) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, stating he was obeying a command from God. The Prayer Tower opened in 1967. Roberts began broadcasting by radio in 1947, and began broadcasting his revivals by television in 1954. His television ministry continued with The Abundant Life program reaching 80% of the United States by 1957, and quarterly Prime Time Specials from 1969 through 1980. On March 17, 1968, Roberts and his wife were received as members of the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1977, Roberts claimed to have had a vision from a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build City of Faith Medical and Research Center, which opened in 1981.

Reader's Guide

Oral Roberts was one of the most well-known and controversial American religious leaders of the 20th century. His preaching emphasized seed-faith. His ministries reached millions of followers worldwide spanning a period of over six decades. His healing ministry and his bringing American Charismatic movement into the mainstream had the most impact, but he also pioneered televangelism, and laid the foundations of the prosperity gospel and abundant life teachings. The breadth and style of his ministry, including his widely publicized funding appeals, made him a consistent subject of contention among critics and supporters. According to one commentator, his ministry's influence in conservative Protestant culture was second only to that of Billy Graham. His divine healing ministry called for prayer to heal the whole person—body, mind and spirit. Many labeled him a faith healer, but he rejected this with the comment: "God heals—I don't." He played a major role in bringing American Pentecostal Christianity into the mainstream. Even though Roberts was often associated with the prosperity gospel and the faith movement because of his close doctrinal and personal ties with Word-Faith teachers, his abundant life teachings did not fully identify him with that movement. His fundraising was controversial. In January 1987, during a fundraising drive, Roberts announced to a television audience that unless he raised $8 million by that March, God would "call him home." Late in March 1987, while Roberts was fasting and praying in the Prayer Tower, Florida, dog track owner J...

Did You Know?

• Roberts nearly died of tuberculosis when he was 17.
• He claimed his mother was of Cherokee descent and also claimed Choctaw heritage.
• In 1947, Roberts said he picked up his Bible and it fell open at 3 John 2, leading him to buy a Buick and begin healing the sick.
• In January 1955, Roberts held a campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid, with 20,000 people packing Wembley stadium.
• In 1977, Roberts claimed a vision of a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build the City of Faith Medical and Research Center.