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Review by Ann M. Shayne
I love Jim and Tammy Faye.
I have been following their trials since the 1980s when I attended college near PTL ground zero, Heritage USA, outside Charlotte, North Carolina.
At that time I was mostly fascinated by their physical plant: what a spread, I thought, as a friend and I sneaked into the complex one night. By 1984, Heritage USA included a giant Victorian-style hotel, a water park, campgrounds, a 24-hour prayer center, a satellite-linked TV studio, and an amphitheater where the Passion of Christ was reenacted each night. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one fascinated by this ever-growing building program. Jim Bakker was, too. His pride in bricks and mortar would ultimately be his undoing, Bakker tells us in his ultradetailed memoir of life at the PTL ministry and prison.
I Was Wrong serves a number of purposes for Bakker: there's nothing like a good, leisurely confession to ease the mind. It's a great way to thank the myriad people who helped him in one way or another (judging by all the warm thank-yous, he must have kept the bales of correspondence that came his way during the four and a half years he was in prison for wire and mail fraud convictions). And for someone headed back into ministry after utter disgrace, 632 pages is just enough to try to clear the air regarding the charges against him.
The book is a page turner, actually. There's high drama in the question of how Bakker will survive a stint in the big house, perhaps less mystery in the question of whether he will win an early reprieve (we all know he's out, after all). He spends a lot of pages explaining how his trial was poorly handled, and even more space explaining how his ministry was not in fact bilking old ladies out of their Social Security checks.
He does, however, admit that preaching a gospel of prosperity was utterly incorrect: the Bible has nothing good to say about money, he writes. And he's filled with regret for the excessive salary and perks he accepted in the name of living the prosperity gospel he preached.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.