Pat Roberson: Prophet or Embarrassment?

Rev Pat Robertson has come under considerable criticism for statements he has made in the past and recently. Typically these statements are made on his TV program which are often said by him to be inspired by divine intervention.

Years ago, I worked for Pat Robertson when he was first starting his ministry in Virginia Beach. What I did was of a technical nature working in his then, UHF station. This was a high school project associated with the audio-visual club of our school and in no way was associated with his beliefs or his Church. It was just a chance to learn new skills.

Being young and impressionable, I found it amazing how he and his followers would suddenly break out talking in tongues, then there were the prayer messages and his visions of people being cured of a variety of illnesses.

It was quite interesting to see the growing swell of support for his brand of Christianity. But I was not that impressionable to swallow the belief pill that he was dispensing. It was not my cup of tea, nor is the snake charming Christianity sects that can still be found in some rural areas, supposedly in Virginia and rural North Carolina.

The Virginia Pilot today has done an article on Pat Robertson. The title is "Pat Robertson, a prophet to his believers." In this article I found the following quote:


“I think his views originate in his theology,” said Vinson Synan , dean of the divinity school at Regent University, which Robertson founded. Synan called Robertson “evangelical with a charismatic emphasis.”
“He prophesizes . He speaks in tongues,” said Synan, an expert on charismatics, citing two of the most defining beliefs of charismatic Christianity. In addition, “Pat literally believes in the Old Testament testimony about Israel” and how it is linked to current events and the future “end times,” he said.

Pat Robertson had recently made the statement that God punished Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for giving Israeli-controlled land to the Palestinians.

I would like to state that he has now retracted that statement, and apologized both in public and to the family of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Rev Pat Robertson has done a lot of good, and in my opinion has done some things that do not sit well with me. Being a religious leader entails responsibilities, he has responsibilities to those who find moral guidance in what he says, and he has responsibilities on how he represents Christianity to others.

Some of the good he does comes from Operation Blessing:

Operation Blessing has provided nearly $500 million -- which includes Operation Blessing donations and matching funds from other organizations -- to assist nearly 130 million people in 50 states and 71 foreign countries.

Here, he has shown a better side of his efforts to help others rather than hurt. There are many things that I wish he just wouldn't do. And he has had his share of scandals, and misspoken words. Can the good he has done offset the bad? That is a question I still struggle with.