Jim Bakker’s Rolls-Royce and private plane might seem like obvious reasons to question a ministry. John Wigger offers a different view of what followers saw, helping you understand how extravagance could reinforce faith rather than undermine it.
PTL began in a former furniture store with six employees and a mission they believed in. What turned that operation into an international television empire? The answer involves a broadcasting breakthrough, a flood of money and a change in who had Jim’s ear.
Yet people who worked there didn’t remember only the excess. Almost everyone John interviewed called PTL both the best and worst thing they had ever done. What could make the same experience deserve both descriptions, even after they learned what lay underneath?
Topics: Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye Bakker, PTL, satellite television, prosperity gospel
GUEST: John Wigger | http://history.missouri.edu
Originally aired on2026-10-16
