Forgiven

The man: the puzzle of Jim Bakker, the enigmatic youngest son of a machinist -- he rose from college dropout to the enthusiastic host of the "700 Club" for Pat Robertson, and finally to president of the ill-fated PTL ministry. The money: Bakker's "Lifetime Partnerships" became a $160-million engine that propelled his ministry into national prominence. Simultaneously, his moral and management failures veered PTL toward financial collapse, setting the stage for indictment and criminal trial. The faithful: Hundreds of thousands of trusting, charismatic, and Pentecostal Christians found in…