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Source: Reuters
Oral Roberts, a pioneer of American televangelism who founded a multimillion-dollar ministry and university has died aged 91.
Roberts died of complications from pneumonia according to his spokesman. The evangelist was hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. He had previously survived two heart attacks in the 1990s.
Roberts was a pioneering broadcaster who brought spirit-revivals to television, a new frontier for religion, in the 1950s.
He was also involved the controversial "prosperity gospel" that has came to dominate televangelism. The evangelist's "Seed-Faith" theology holds that those who give to God will get things in return.
As a teenager Roberts overcame tuberculosis and a stutter when his brother carried him to a revival meeting where a healing evangelist was praying for the sick. Roberts claimed he was healed and that it was then that he heard God tell him he should build a university based on the Lord's authority and the Holy Spirit.
Roberts soon outgrew humble tent revivals to become one of the United Staes' most famous preachers.
He entered an evangelistic ministry in Tulsa in 1947 to pray for the healing of the whole person - the body, mind and spirit. The philosophy led many to call him a "faith healer," a label he rejected with the comment: "God heals - I don't."
By the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Roberts reached millions around the world through radio, television, publications and personal appearances.
However, his ministry hit upon hard times in the 1980s. There was controversy over his City of Faith medical center, a $US250 million investment that eventually folded, and Roberts' proclamation that God would "call me home" if he failed to meet a fundraising goal of $8 million.
