Pat Robertson: A Life and Legacy

To many, especially liberals, Pat Robertson is little more than a Christian charlatan whose intemperate remarks on diverting hurricanes and divine healings are a symptom of religiosity gone bad. Harrell, a retired professor at Alabama’s Auburn University, is convinced otherwise. His biography of Robertson portrays the religious broadcaster as a centrist within the charismatic Pentecostal movement and a major player in the spread of American Christianity around the world. His thick tome is thorough, if not always insightful. He paints Robertson, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Christian Coalition, Regent University, and the American Center for Law and Justice, in a sympathetic but not fawning light. No excuses are given for Robertson’s disastrous business deals abroad or his reckless comments about world leaders. Instead, Harrell gives Robertson credit for uniting conservative Roman Catholics, evangelicals, and Pentecostals on many culture war issues, such as abortion, and against what Robertson—and others—see as a growing secular establishment hostile to Christianity. This volume will be appreciated as evenhanded but not especially far-reaching. (May)