Pat Robertson was born in 1930, served in the US Marine Corps during the Korean War (earning three battle stars) and pursued a Law Degree from Yale, desiring to become a lawyer before undergoing a religious conversion and instead attending seminary school in the 1950's.
Ordained as a Southern Baptist Minister in 1961, he founded the Christian Bible Network in 1960 after purchasing a defunct radio station that operated in Portsmouth, Virginia. Within a decade, the network of radio stations that featured not just religious discussion but also Christian music and teachings spread across multiple states and abroad (and included the founding of the first Christian Evangelical radio station in Colombia in 1968). Initially sustained by small individual and church donations, the network soon grew so much that it soon founded a Cable Channel in 1977 and was the first satellite television channel in the United States. The business eventually grew so lucrative that it eventually could no longer be a nonprofit charity.
Also in 1977 he founded Regent University (originally CBN University) a private Christian University that consistently scored high in its academics as well as the charity Operation Blessing International, which helped provide access to medical care to people in third world countries.
His most influential impact however was still through being a media mogul. He helped develop Christian broadcasting on radio and more importantly on television, helped develop and grow the Evangelical Christian movement and also created a Christian Coalition which influenced the 'Culture Wars' and American politics. It's anchor show The 700 Club was an iconic Christian talk show for decades which Pat Robertson co-hosted (before being replaced by his son Gordon after a stroke in 2018). It was also the source of many of the 'controversial' statements Pat Robertson had made over the years.
In 1988 he ran for President on the Republican ticket but was unsuccessful in the primaries. Soonafter he helped found the Christian Coalition, a Christian organization that mostly campaigned on behalf of Conservative candidates. A year later in 1990 he also founded the American Center for Law & Justice, a Christian based law firm that pursued constitutional and Christian ideals in the Court of Law.
www.christianitytoday.com
Pat Robertson died of a stroke. He's survived by two sons, two daughters, fourteen grandchildren and twenty three great grandchildren.
Ordained as a Southern Baptist Minister in 1961, he founded the Christian Bible Network in 1960 after purchasing a defunct radio station that operated in Portsmouth, Virginia. Within a decade, the network of radio stations that featured not just religious discussion but also Christian music and teachings spread across multiple states and abroad (and included the founding of the first Christian Evangelical radio station in Colombia in 1968). Initially sustained by small individual and church donations, the network soon grew so much that it soon founded a Cable Channel in 1977 and was the first satellite television channel in the United States. The business eventually grew so lucrative that it eventually could no longer be a nonprofit charity.
Also in 1977 he founded Regent University (originally CBN University) a private Christian University that consistently scored high in its academics as well as the charity Operation Blessing International, which helped provide access to medical care to people in third world countries.
His most influential impact however was still through being a media mogul. He helped develop Christian broadcasting on radio and more importantly on television, helped develop and grow the Evangelical Christian movement and also created a Christian Coalition which influenced the 'Culture Wars' and American politics. It's anchor show The 700 Club was an iconic Christian talk show for decades which Pat Robertson co-hosted (before being replaced by his son Gordon after a stroke in 2018). It was also the source of many of the 'controversial' statements Pat Robertson had made over the years.
In 1988 he ran for President on the Republican ticket but was unsuccessful in the primaries. Soonafter he helped found the Christian Coalition, a Christian organization that mostly campaigned on behalf of Conservative candidates. A year later in 1990 he also founded the American Center for Law & Justice, a Christian based law firm that pursued constitutional and Christian ideals in the Court of Law.
Died: Pat Robertson, Broadcast Pioneer Who Brought Christian TV to the Mainstream
With CBN, “The 700 Club,” Regent, the Christian Coalition, and a run for president, he changed evangelicals’ place in public life.
www.christianitytoday.com
Pat Robertson died of a stroke. He's survived by two sons, two daughters, fourteen grandchildren and twenty three great grandchildren.
