Salvation and suicide
Subtitle: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown
By: David Chidester.
Edition: Rev. ed.
Series: Religion in North America
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Bloomington, Ind
Language: eng
Number of pages: 190
Subjects: Jones, Jim, 1931-1978.; Peoples Temple.
Description: Book Description: 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-185) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown; title: Perspectives on an event; title: The classification of persons; title: Orientation in space; title: Orientation in time; title: Salvation and suicide.