Salvation and suicide : an interpretation of Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown / David Chidester.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chidester, David.

Series:

Religion in North America.

Religion in North America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jones, Jim, 1931-1978.

Jones, Jim.

Peoples Temple.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (222 pages).

Edition:

Revised edition.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2003]

Summary:

Praise for the first edition: "[This] ambitious and courageous book [is a] benchmark of theology by which questions about the meaningful history of the Peoples Temple may be measured." -Journal of the American Academy of Religion Re-issued in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the mass suicides at Jonestown, this revised edition of David Chidester's pathbreaking book features a new prologue that considers the meaning of the tragedy for a post-Waco, post-9/11 world. For Chidester, Jonestown recalls the American religious commitment to redemptive sacrifice, which for Jim Jones meant saving his followers from the evils of capitalist society. "Jonestown is ancient history," writes Chidester, but it does provide us with an opportunity "to reflect upon the strangeness of familiar... promises of redemption through sacrifice.".

Contents:

Introduction: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown

Perspectives on an event

The classification of persons

Orientation in space

Orientation in time

Salvation and suicide.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-185) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786612075698

9780253003225

0253003229

9780253343246

0253343240

9780585244990

0585244995

9781282075696

1282075691

9780253112743

0253112745

OCLC:

666925035

Publisher Number:

2027/heb30771 hdl