In the 1960s my grandmother was a big believer in faith-healer (and later prosperity-preacher) Oral Roberts. Like many millions of others, she watched him on television and listened to him on radio, fully convinced he had the power of God to heal the sick.
My father was dubious and found her faith a bit frustrating. He asked her, “Mom, if you think he can heal you, why don’t you go get healed?” She had very serious rheumatoid arthritis and was confined to a chair for the last seven years of her life. I never heard her respond.
But even as a boy I thought my dad had a reasonable point. Roberts claimed even to be able to heal people long distance – just touch the TV screen or put your hand over your hearts while I pray for you. Newspapers claimed instances of incredible success. She could have been healed in the privacy of her own living room.
As with many other Pentecostal faith healers in the early and mid-20th century, Roberts eventually shifted his focus from health to wealth – healing poverty as well as illness. At heart, they involve the same principle. God loves people; he wants them to succeed; he is deeply invested in their well-being; he has promised to help when things are not going well; illness and poverty are high on the list of human suffering; he can provide both health and wealth; and those who trust him will receive both. Wealth in abundance.
Roberts 1970 book The Miracle of Seed-Faith was his first major foray into the prosperity realm, and
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