Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009[1][2]) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, who was one of the first to propagate Prosperity Gospel Theology.

[5] His healing ministry and his bringing American Pentecostalism into the mainstream had the most impact,[6] but he also pioneered televangelism, and laid the foundations of the prosperity gospel[5] and abundant life teachings.

[7] 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According to a TIME Magazine profile of 1972, Roberts originally made a name for himself with a large mobile tent "that sat 3,000 on metal folding chairs".

He was bitterly assailed by the Sunday Express for the hysteria and traffic jams of 20,000 people that packed big Wembley stadium and playing field.

[21] Three of the four sponsoring churches were Pentecostal, including Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) and the Assemblies of God – White Group (AG).

Students were required to sign an honor code pledging not to drink, smoke, or engage in premarital sexual activities.

[5] 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.

[15] On March 17, 1968, Roberts and his wife were received as members of the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Dr. Finis Crutchfield, its then pastor.

[38] 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, and the hospital would be a success.

[39][40][41] In 1980, Roberts said he had a vision that encouraged him to continue the construction of his City of Faith Medical and Research Center in Oklahoma, which opened in 1981.

At the time, it was among the largest health facilities of its kind in the world and was intended to merge prayer and medicine in the healing process.

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.

[46] Regardless of this new March deadline and the fact that he was still $4.5 million short of his goal,[47] some were fearful that he was referring to suicide, given the impassioned pleas and tears that accompanied his statement.

Late in March 1987, while Roberts was fasting and praying in the Prayer Tower, Florida dog track owner Jerry Collins donated $1.3 million.

[48][49] Highly worried by what he perceived as Roberts threatening to starve himself, Collins said, "I did it in order to save the guy from going to heaven in a hurry.

[53] Roberts maintained his love of finery; one obituary claimed that even when times became economically hard, "he continued to wear his Italian silk suits, diamond rings and gold bracelets—airbrushed out by his staff on publicity pictures".

[14][32] He stirred up controversy when Time reported in 1987 that his son Richard Roberts claimed that he had seen his father raise a child from the dead.

[45] Harry McNevin said that in 1988 the ORU Board of Regents "rubber-stamped" the "use of millions in endowment money to buy a Beverly Hills property so that Oral Roberts could have a West Coast office and house.

[55][56][57] His organizations were also affected by scandals involving other televangelists[2] and the City of Faith hospital was forced to close in 1989 after losing money.

Roberts was forced to respond with the sale of his holiday homes in Palm Springs and Beverly Hills as well as three of his Mercedes cars.

[69][70] Their elder son, Ronald Roberts, died by suicide on June 10, 1982, five months after receiving a court order to undergo counseling at a drug treatment center.

[75] According to a 1987 article in The New York Review of Books by Martin Gardner, the "most accurate and best documented biography" is Oral Roberts: An American Life, an objective study by David Edwin Harrell Jr., a historian at Auburn University.