Critical Perspectives: Faith in a Box: Christianity on Television

Christopher J. Anderson PhD Candidate Drew University Madison, NJ

Christian television serves as a looking-glass through which to view the faith and practices of both the broadcaster and the viewer at home. Understanding the reasons why some people tune in to televised Christian programming helps us make sense of the faith practice and personal interests of these viewers.

Some viewers tune in to Christian television to find programming which is appropriate for their children and which matches their particular -family values.These programs offer viewers a selection of broadcasts devoid of violence, profanity, sexual innuendos, and adult themes. Some Christian broadcast stations such as SafeTV and the Guardian Television Network offer viewers programs like Kaye's Quilting Friends and Doc starring country musician Billy Ray Cyrus as well as children's programming. Thus, concerned parents can breathe easier knowing that their children will not be bombarded with inappropriate themes and visual images on screen.

Other viewers tune into Christian television because of their loyalties and attraction to televangelist personalities. TV ministers such as Robert Schuller, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, and John Hagee purchase broadcast time to invite viewers into their mega-churches every week to watch a sermon, sing gospel hymns, and hear the faith testimony of an occasional celebrity guest. Each televangelist has a unique look, preaching style and message which resonates with regular viewers of their programs.

For Christians who are homebound these televised services offer an opportunity to participate in a weekly church service. For those who are able to attend church, the televised sermons and songs reinforce the messages heard on Sunday throughout the week. While some viewers understand the television minister as their own personal minister, others are able to have two ministers, one in the flesh at their local church, the other broadcasting from the box in their living room available (and removable) with the click of the remote.

Yet, Christian television did not always operate in this way. The advent of television in the 1940s sparked a flurry of interest by Christians who, like advocates using religious radio, believed television could function as a medium to broadcast Christianity directly into the homes of Americans. By the late 1940s, Christian television hit the airwaves as viewers tuned into programs such as Lamp Unto My Feet (1948).

In 1950, Protestant denominations affiliated with the National Council of Churches of Christ formed the Broadcasting and Film Commission, a national religious broadcasting agency which helped to create and promote Protestant television programming across the United States. By the 1960s, viewers could tune into the healing broadcasts of televangelist Oral Roberts. Roberts regularly asked viewers desiring to be healed of physical infirmities to place their hands on the television set and expect a miracle. Viewers not interested in healing services could change channels and tune in to the broadcasts of Life is Worth Living, sent into living rooms across America by an energetic Catholic televangelist named Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.

By the 1970s, some televangelists designed their sanctuaries and broadcast studios to accommodate television cameras and sound equipment. Evangelist Rex Humbard, who dubbed himself a TV Pastor, built a rotating stage in his Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio. In the 1980s, televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, incorporated a talk show style format inviting viewers from home into their television studios of PTL Ministries. Television ministers Jerry Falwell and Jimmy Swaggart also became quite adept at drawing and keeping Christian audiences transfixed to the television.

But televangelism also had its down side. The scandals surrounding the Bakkers and Swaggart during the late 1980s saw TV ministers losing much of their popularity (and credibility). Today, however, religious broadcasters have managed to remain an important part of the lives of viewers who watch SkyAngel on satellite or the cable broadcasts of Mother Angelica's Eternal Word Television Network, Paul Crouch's Trinity Broadcasting Network, and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network.

The influence that these televangelists can wield is not to be underestimated. Reverend Pat Robertson has made national news by suggesting that the U.S. consider assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and also by implying that the city of Dover, PA should not expect future intervention on the part of God due to the controversial school board decision concerning the teaching of intelligent design in public schools!

More recently Robertson articulated through a reading of the Old Testament that Israeli leader Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke because he attempted to divide the Holy Land. Robertson is not the first to use television to broadcast a particular interpretation of the Bible or to act as a self-proclaimed mouthpiece for the role of religion in the public realm, and he certainly will not be the last.

Christian television continues to work as a public medium allowing viewers the opportunity to practice their faith privately and broadcasters to air their private views publicly. Christian TV stations will often broadcast public events such as revivals and healing services. Yet, station's home. Viewers then can contribute money toward the evangelization efforts of some of these televangelists, and practice their faith in a private way with only themselves, the television, and God in the living room. Rather than sit in the pews or seats of a sanctuary, the viewer can sit in an easy chair, flip to another channel during a commercial, and consume beverages and food in their home sanctuary. In this way, the viewer has control on how much she or he watches or participates in their faith tradition.

Christian television has a checkered history filled with both committed Christians interested in the soul of the viewer as well as charlatans seeking money to fill their own private coffers. Still, many Christians today continue to get up early on Sunday morning, put on their church clothes, and head to their respective communities of faith. Interestingly, others practice their faith in front of a box comfortably positioned upon an easy chair while holding a large helping of scrambled eggs and a warm mug of fresh coffee.

 

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