Customer Reviews

T.D. Jakes: America's New Preacher

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Almost a decade ago a classic book called The Black Church in the African American Experience warned us about a fast growing Neo-Pentecostal movement threatening the traditional black church. It's about time someone picked up their mantle and let us know what Neo-Pentecostalism is all about!

This book is the best work on the black church since Lincoln and Mamiya's classic study back in 1990. Lee picks up right where they left off and provides us with probably the most lucid explanation of how what he calls a "Neo-Pentecostal revolution" is a dominant force in contemporary American religion by using Jakes as its powerful general. The author argues that Jakes is part of a "faith industry" that turns spiritual gifts into "valuable commodities" (in other words, cash cows). Lee uses Jakes to diagnose and forecast the changing American religious landscape in it's hypercapitalist, postmodern form. This book is a must read (and easy read too) for religion scholars and average people (like me) who have been wondering for years why Jakes is so popular. I have a new respect for Jakes and yet Lee raises new concerns as well.

I normally don't read books on religion and I had never even heard of T.D. Jakes. A colleague of mine urged me to read it because of my proficiency in postmodern theory. I was pleasantly surprised at Lee's discussion on Jakes as a contemporary pomo figure.

Lee's work confirms my longstanding hunch that we need to stop pandering French theorists for cues on what postmodernism is all about. He showed how Jakes (and American Popular Religion) is theologically conservative but pomo in flash, style, ability to draw from many traditions and willingness turn spiritual gifts into religious commodities. Postmodernism will take a different form in America and so we need more theorists to examine our country's unique way of adopting those sensibilities while maintaining faith in objective reality.

Anyone who wants a clear and concise understanding of how pomo cultural changes affect religion and America should check this book out. My only gripe is that Lee should have been a lot more upfront about his contributions to pomo theory. Lee is really on to something and kind of dropped the ball by not being more aggressive in taking on the pomo canon. I still think this will go down as a pomo classic.

This is a fair book that deal with a complex subject and man. There will be some that think that any analysis of Bishop Jakes written by a secular writer will be slanted, but the author does a great job of presenting a balance picture. Dr. Lee is not a Jakes partisan , but he is not a hater. He explores how Bishop Jakes enter the national spotlight and what he has done to stay there. One thing that was missing from the book was a meaningful discussion on how people like Bishop Jakes and other "Super Pastors" are impacting religion and faith in this country and overseas. But this book is a good start

This book takes a look at one of the strongest emerging religious leaders of this country. I was fortunate enough to have taken a couple of classes with Professor Shayne. The book was about Shayne's research of the life of Bishop T.D. Jakes. From a variety of angles, Shayne demonstrates how Jakes was able to comodify religion and become successful with it by integrating it with pop culture and by blurring the lines that once divided people of different denominations. I greatly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Before reading this book, I often dismissed T.D. Jakes (who I would mock as "T.D. Takes" and "T.D. Fakes") as a rank hustler who pimped the emotions and pocketbooks of desperate women and who exploited the Black family crisis for his personal gain.

This unauthorized biography is neither a kiss-up volume or a bash session. It is a well-balanced view of how Thomas Dexter Jakes raised himself up from poverty in West Virginia coal country to become all but the heir apparent of Billy Graham in today's culture.

The good and bad are shown here. The ghostwritten books, the skullduggery with other preachers, his ruthless treatment of tenats on his property are mixed with the good he has done to and for many people (including his family) and others who are searching for answers at a time when stable families are in far too short supply.

So while it is not likely that I will spend any money on any of Jakes' books or campaigns, I have a smidgen of a bit more respect for what good he does while aware of his flaws, which is true of most human beings.

It lays bare the facts and lets the reader decide.

I am enjoying your book extremely and I love that it is on a subject that I
would otherwise probably never look to learn about or that even really I would
think, interest me. I never knew the breadth and extent of the vast
televangelist market, and the work of ministers such as Jakes, not only as men
of God but as businessmen. Although I personally am not religious, this
"updating" of the religious industry is completely fascinating. I especially
enjoyed(just as the cynic I am), all of the hypocrisies and oxymorons offered
by men such as Jakes. He is not very different, in fact, from someone like
Paris Hilton, who has made her success by marketing everything she can, and
successfully I might add! Its interesting especially because you want to both
love him and hate him all at the same time. ALthough many of his methods and
lavish lifestyle are controversial, it is important to acknowledge not only his
brilliance as a marketing machine and businessman, but in the end he does offer
a certain hope and message which (though I may not agree with it per se) does
in fact speak to hundreds of thousands.

In the words of one of America's most popular preachers: "Get ready! Get ready! Get ready" for Shayne Lee's T.D. Jakes: America's New Preacher. Lee's book is an invitation that calls you out of your comfort zone and into a wide open space that provides as he writes, "clarity and context" to Jakes as a man, minister and mogul. So take a deep breath, open your mind, lay your expectations aside, and bookmark any conclusions until you read the final page of what I believe is one of the most informative, insightful, and entertaining books I have read all year.

What I discovered while reading Lee's book is that it neither celebrates nor condemns Jakes for the choices he has made. It does, however, carefully examine the complex layers of an African American man with West Virginia roots and humble beginnings decorated with life struggles dripping in human pain that gave birth to a spirit of self-determination which masterfully thrives in capitalism. This book is a road map for understanding the complicated nature of a human being who embodies paradoxes and contradictions ranging from "compassionate minister," "ferocious self-promoter, "feminist," to "sexist," "liberationist," "conservative capitalist," "old fashioned preacher," and "sensual dramatist."

Learning about these eight archetypes humanized Jakes in a way that I have resisted knowing since I reached my own conclusions about his mixed message to women in Woman, Thou Art Loosed!: Healing the Wounds of the Past and The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord. Both books were given to me to read several years ago when I was grieving the loss of my career identity as an investment banker. At first, I thought that Jakes' words ministered to the pain that I was feeling. As I moved through my pain and reread his books, the feminist/womanist/lawyer in me detected a hidden agenda that emphasized gender in ways that supported patriarchy 101 principles. From that moment on, I carefully monitored any contact I had with Jakes' ministry, books, films, and other business ventures. Because of Lee's pioneering effort to share the first in-depth analysis of Jakes, I now see why a country preacher has become an "American phenomen." Don't get it twisted! That doesn't mean that I have stopped monitoring my contact with Jakes' ministry and enterprises. It does mean that Lee gave me the gift of more awareness about why Jakes is the person that he is and his "rapid rise and far reaching renown."

You should know that Lee is a wizard with words. His style of writing pierced the veil of bull that I sometimes get trapped in while trying to understand American popular culture. He skillfully guided me through the history of the American/Black church and introduced me to intriguing concepts such as "commercialized spirituality" and "new post modern evangelical preacher."

I really enjoyed reading about Jakes' humble beginnings and his relationship with his parents. His life experiences that cultivated his deep sense of compassion and connection to human pain were enlightening. The journey that he and his wife struggled through to become who they are today was inspiring. I admire his faith, courage, tenacity, and business acumen. However, I wonder how he spiritually navigates the intense and complicated marriage he has entered into with his ministry and enterprises.

This author defends the Michael Vick, saying that killing dogs in the cruel useless manner in which Vick did equates to eating beef. He is nothing but a sensationalist using his audience for his personal gain.