30. Benny Hinn Earnings Go Up To $42 Million
Toufik Benedictus “Benny” Hinn was born in Jaffa, in the then newly established state of Israel, he was raised in Canada where he converted to Pentecostalism and then moved to the United States. In 1983, in Orlando, Florida, Hinn founded the Orlando Christian Center and began holding healing services proclaiming himself as a miracle healer called by God. Televangelist teachings are Evangelical with a focus on financial prosperity and he is best known for his regular “Miracle Crusades”, events usually held in stadiums in major cities and broadcast worldwide on his television show This Is Your Day. In 2001, HBO aired the documentary A Question Of Miracles focusing on Hinn and German minister Reinhard Bonnke, and following seven cases of “miracle healings”. The director of the movie, Antony Thomas, told CNN and The New York Times that they did not find any cases where people were actually healed by Hinn and stated, “If I had seen miracles I would have been happy to trumpet it…but in retrospect, I think they do more damage to Christianity than the most committed atheist”. On CBC Television show The Fifth Estate, with the aid of hidden cameras and crusade witnesses, the producers of the program exposed Hinn’s misappropriation of funds, his fabrication of the truth, and the way in which his staff chose crusade audience members to come on stage to proclaim their miracle healings.
