Salvation and Suicide: An Interpretation of Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown (Religion in North America) [Paperback]

David Chidester (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 025321632X | ISBN-13: 978-0253216328 | Publication Date: October 16, 2003 | Edition: Revised

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."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the first edition: "[This] ambitious and courageous book...offers an important benchmark of theology by which questions about the meaningful history of the Peoples Temple may be measured." Journal of the American Academy of Religion "Fascinating... Perhaps this book will bring a sense of humanity, and of respect, for the dreams and ambitions of the people who died [at Jonestown]." San Francisco Chronicle "An impressive tour de force." Religious Studies Review

About the Author

David Chidester is Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town and author or editor of 20 books, including American Sacred Space (IUP, 1995), edited with Edward T. Linenthal, and Christianity: A Global History.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press; Revised edition (October 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025321632X
• ISBN-13: 978-0253216328
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Religious View of Jonestown, Jim Jones and the People's Temple!, November 14, 2008

By 

Sylviastel - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Salvation and Suicide: An Interpretation of Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown (Religion in North America) (Paperback)

This book is not about true crime but about the religious outlook and theory regarding about revolutionary suicide, cults, and Jim Jones' religious teachings. It's not about the mass murder that occurred in Jonestown but about the author's research into the religious aspect of Jonestown. I wished the author had placed some pictures besides the one on the book. The horrible, tragic mass murder that occurred on November 18, 1978 was not the first white night which were mass suicide drills. This time, it was real for everybody. There was poison in their drinks and Jim Jones was not joking that this was it. But why did he think this way? Where did this theology come from in the first place? The book attempts to answer the questions about the event's religious impact. I read about revolutionary suicide which I did not know before. As the years pass, the Jonestown Holocaust slowly goes unnoticed except for the few documentaries and visits. Jonestown was not just about Jim Jones but about the socialism, communism, and collective lives there in Guyana which went horribly wrong. I encourage anybody interested in reading about Jonestown, the People's Temple, and Jim Jones beyond the criminal acts and the governments' failures in preventing this tragedy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars interesting, but incomplete, August 1, 2011

By 

jenna randolph (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Salvation and Suicide: An Interpretation of Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown (Religion in North America) (Paperback)

In a way, it is odd that the People's Agricultural Church (name of the "church") is treated as a religious "cult" at all, given the many overlaps with political players that have always been mentioned, and the fact that the leader was on record many times as denying God and saying it was a socialist "church without God." The wife ensured that the Jones assets would be sent to Soviet Union, with a signed will before she died at the scene. Rarely is the socialist aspect delved into, to a degree that would tie together these activities with political use of the cult--- such as in the Muscone election. Would suggest this, but maybe some of the other books, and the real live tapes of his sermons, so one can hear just how little it was any kind of church. Many did not seem to see it so, and the move to Guyana involved the socialist aspect (a communist country that would be friendly and with whom Jim Jones had relations with higher ups.) No one seems to have minded, and social security type payments went there for 65,000 dollars a month for the elderly people. It's a story that continues to fascinate and more to be written.