Jailed Bakker Renounces Gospel-Of-Riches History

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Writing to friends from his Minnesota prison cell, Jim Bakker has denounced the riches-through-faith creed that fueled the rise and fall of his PTL empire.

Fifteen years after founding the religious/entertainment complex near Fort Mill, S.C., and three years after going to prison for defrauding many of his followers, Bakker now admits God doesn't just bless the rich.

"If that be the case," Bakker wrote recently, "then gambling casino owners and drug kingpins and movie stars are blessed of God. . . . I have asked God to forgive me and I ask all who have sat under my ministry to forgive me for preaching a gospel emphasizing earthly prosperity."

Lawyer Jim Toms of Hendersonville, N.C., said Wednesday the letter was the first public sign of the new Jim Bakker. The former televangelist convicted of bilking followers out of millions of dollars has apologized only for hurting those who trusted him. Now, said Toms, Bakker is saying he's sorry for the philosophy that led him to do wrong.

Toms also said his client - who once owned Mercedes sedans, a 58-foot houseboat and a vacation home in Gatlinburg, Tenn. - isn't just turning over a new leaf for an upcoming hearing to get his 18-year sentence reduced.

"This is the first time he's really expressing it in written form," said Toms. "He isn't writing it to the judge. He's writing what's on his mind and heart."

Bakker earns 12 cents an hour helping clean his unit at the

Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., where he's imprisoned for bilking PTL followers out of about $150 million. He's taking psychology and computer courses toward a college degree and continuing to study the Bible.

"I have spent months reading every word Jesus spoke," wrote Bakker, 52. "I wrote them out over and over, and I read them over and over and over again. There is no way if you take the whole counsel of God's Word, that you can equate riches or material things as a sign of God's blessing.

"If we equate earthly possessions and earthly relationships with God's favor," wrote Bakker, "what do we tell the billions of those living in poverty, or what do you do if depression hits, or what do you say to those who lose a loved one?"

Toms said losing PTL, going to prison and divorcing Tammy Bakker after 30 years has affected his client: "One thing we're seeing now in everything Jim Bakker does is, `That's him.' He's stripped away to the basics."

Bakker has refused to grant any interviews from prison. Family, friends and even one Bakker critic said they were glad to see apparent changes in attitude from the televangelist who once bragged on national TV of drawing 6 million visitors to PTL in 1986.

"Money came so easy for him," said Bakker's 85-year-old father, Raleigh, who lives on the grounds of the 2,200-acre PTL complex now run by Malaysian businessmen. "I'm sure he's going to be content with whatever he has when he gets back into circulation."

When Bakker's letter came in the mail, Fort Mill's Henry Harrison made copies and circulated it to friends.

University of Virginia sociology Professor Jeffrey Hadden said he's gotten past his initial cynicism.

"This is the first thing that has come out of Bakker's mouth that you'd like to believe," said Hadden, who has written two books on TV evangelism. "If he wasn't too repentant before, the combination of prison and losing the woman he loved probably shook him pretty hard."

Toms and Charlotte lawyer Harold Bender will ask U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen to reduce Bakker's sentence at a hearing this fall. The date has not been set. Toms said he was seeking a second reduction based on Bakker's conduct in prison, rehabilitation and family situation.

Bakker's original 45-year sentence was reduced last year after an appeals court dismissed it, saying Judge Robert Potter's remarks about "money-grubbing preachers" were "too intemperate to be ignored."