comparatively underutilized. Likewise, although
many Peoples Temple scholars have consulted
the tapes to describe or explain Peoples Temple,
few have engaged in close analysis of Jones’s
rhetoric in the tapes. This type of close analysis,
when it has happened, has mostly been confined
to examinations of Q 042,4 the tape recorded
during the mass murder/suicide in November
1978.5 To defend these claims about Jones’s
understanding of the messiah, I examined
recordings of Jones’s preaching in the United
States dating primarily from the 1970s.
Although it is important to take into
consideration the fact that Temple personnel
edited many of these recordings, the material
they contain comprises the doctrines of Peoples
Temple, either as Jones first presented them to
members or as Temple representatives wanted
the world to hear them. At the very least, the
audiotapes are faithful embodiments of Jones’s
doctrines because they do not contain
interpretations by secondary sources and
because their very presence shows at least some
interest in preserving “true” Temple teaching.
It should be noted that the cohesion with which
the speech excerpts used in this article fit
together should not be taken as evidence of a
systematic theology in Jones’s work. On one
hand, the sheer volume of audio material
generated by Peoples Temple resists the
possibility of creating a systematic or holistic
multifaceted community rather than allowing Jones to stand as its
lone figurehead.
4 For ease of reference, I refer to tape recordings according to the
letter-number designations given them by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Information pertaining to the location and date of
each recording is retrievable from the Index of Tape Transcripts
and Summaries found on the Alternative Considerations of
Jonestown and Peoples Temple website (Fielding McGehee III,
research director, http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/). All locating
information—date and place—has been extrapolated from the
recordings by individuals who have transcribed the tapes for the
website, and thus should be viewed as provisional. All
transcriptions in this article are my own.
5 See Twemlow and Hough (2008, pp. 226–230) as one example.
David Chidester’s Salvation and Suicide (2003 [1988]) stands as
perhaps the best example of a published scholarly monograph that
explicitly relies on the audiotapes to reconstruct the worldview of
the Temple. Moore (2011) provides a recent example of
scholarship that interweaves excerpts from the tapes with an
examination of violence in Peoples Temple.
theology spoken by Jones.6 On a second—and
more important—hand, Jones’s message evolved
as the Temple moved from Indiana to California
and Guyana.7 Initially a sort of Social Gospel
ideology couched in black-worship styling and
civil-rights concerns,8 Jones’s message diverged
from mainline Protestant Christianity as the
Temple became ever more secretive about its
practices, taking on apocalyptic overtones and
incorporating Jones’s interpretation of socialist
rhetoric. By the time Jones took up permanent
residence in Guyana, his preaching was all but
devoid of Christian content and focused almost
entirely on socialism and international politics.
Moreover, Jones’s preaching—like that of many
extemporaneous speakers—could be highly
tangential and contradictory depending on his
topic and context. All of this is to say that Jones
did not found Peoples Temple on a fully
developed ideology that remained unchanged
from the group’s beginnings in the 1950s to its
end in the late 1970s. It is nonetheless possible
to identify key areas of concern that Jones
continually returned to. In this article, rather
than to defend fine doctrinal points, my use of
excerpts is intended to reveal two such areas of
concern: the measurement of virtuous conduct
by its social outcome, and the equation of
socialism with some form of divinity. Although
my article addresses these concerns in the
6 Hall (2001 [1987]) noted a similar methodological problem in his
analysis of the Temple: “I do not claim … that there is only one
correct history [that is, the history Hall presents]… The available
information is so voluminous that some practices of selection must
be involved in the construction of the narrative” (p. 313). In this
article, my “practices of selection” involved identifying those
biblical, political, or theological themes that Jones most often
returned to and that varied least during his American preaching
period.
7 Maaga (1998) describes the changing nature of the Temple and
its concerns throughout its existence in Indiana, California, and
Guyana. Her argument that Peoples Temple was essentially three
groups in one—a Protestant sect, a new religious movement, and a
black church—helps contextualize Jones’s message and the
Temple’s activities in light of mid-twentieth century American
religious trends (Maaga, 1998, pp. 74–86). It is appropriate to add
a fourth category—Peoples Temple as a socialist group—to
Maaga’s schema since her model does not situate the Temple
particularly well within its Cold War political climate.
8 Both Taylor (2013) and Smith (2004) attribute the growth of the
Temple in California to the Temple’s Social Gospel-style outreach.
As I show in this article, Jones himself was well aware of the
relative lack of social assistance offered by Christian churches in
late-1960s and early-1970s San Francisco.
International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015 35
many Peoples Temple scholars have consulted
the tapes to describe or explain Peoples Temple,
few have engaged in close analysis of Jones’s
rhetoric in the tapes. This type of close analysis,
when it has happened, has mostly been confined
to examinations of Q 042,4 the tape recorded
during the mass murder/suicide in November
1978.5 To defend these claims about Jones’s
understanding of the messiah, I examined
recordings of Jones’s preaching in the United
States dating primarily from the 1970s.
Although it is important to take into
consideration the fact that Temple personnel
edited many of these recordings, the material
they contain comprises the doctrines of Peoples
Temple, either as Jones first presented them to
members or as Temple representatives wanted
the world to hear them. At the very least, the
audiotapes are faithful embodiments of Jones’s
doctrines because they do not contain
interpretations by secondary sources and
because their very presence shows at least some
interest in preserving “true” Temple teaching.
It should be noted that the cohesion with which
the speech excerpts used in this article fit
together should not be taken as evidence of a
systematic theology in Jones’s work. On one
hand, the sheer volume of audio material
generated by Peoples Temple resists the
possibility of creating a systematic or holistic
multifaceted community rather than allowing Jones to stand as its
lone figurehead.
4 For ease of reference, I refer to tape recordings according to the
letter-number designations given them by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Information pertaining to the location and date of
each recording is retrievable from the Index of Tape Transcripts
and Summaries found on the Alternative Considerations of
Jonestown and Peoples Temple website (Fielding McGehee III,
research director, http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/). All locating
information—date and place—has been extrapolated from the
recordings by individuals who have transcribed the tapes for the
website, and thus should be viewed as provisional. All
transcriptions in this article are my own.
5 See Twemlow and Hough (2008, pp. 226–230) as one example.
David Chidester’s Salvation and Suicide (2003 [1988]) stands as
perhaps the best example of a published scholarly monograph that
explicitly relies on the audiotapes to reconstruct the worldview of
the Temple. Moore (2011) provides a recent example of
scholarship that interweaves excerpts from the tapes with an
examination of violence in Peoples Temple.
theology spoken by Jones.6 On a second—and
more important—hand, Jones’s message evolved
as the Temple moved from Indiana to California
and Guyana.7 Initially a sort of Social Gospel
ideology couched in black-worship styling and
civil-rights concerns,8 Jones’s message diverged
from mainline Protestant Christianity as the
Temple became ever more secretive about its
practices, taking on apocalyptic overtones and
incorporating Jones’s interpretation of socialist
rhetoric. By the time Jones took up permanent
residence in Guyana, his preaching was all but
devoid of Christian content and focused almost
entirely on socialism and international politics.
Moreover, Jones’s preaching—like that of many
extemporaneous speakers—could be highly
tangential and contradictory depending on his
topic and context. All of this is to say that Jones
did not found Peoples Temple on a fully
developed ideology that remained unchanged
from the group’s beginnings in the 1950s to its
end in the late 1970s. It is nonetheless possible
to identify key areas of concern that Jones
continually returned to. In this article, rather
than to defend fine doctrinal points, my use of
excerpts is intended to reveal two such areas of
concern: the measurement of virtuous conduct
by its social outcome, and the equation of
socialism with some form of divinity. Although
my article addresses these concerns in the
6 Hall (2001 [1987]) noted a similar methodological problem in his
analysis of the Temple: “I do not claim … that there is only one
correct history [that is, the history Hall presents]… The available
information is so voluminous that some practices of selection must
be involved in the construction of the narrative” (p. 313). In this
article, my “practices of selection” involved identifying those
biblical, political, or theological themes that Jones most often
returned to and that varied least during his American preaching
period.
7 Maaga (1998) describes the changing nature of the Temple and
its concerns throughout its existence in Indiana, California, and
Guyana. Her argument that Peoples Temple was essentially three
groups in one—a Protestant sect, a new religious movement, and a
black church—helps contextualize Jones’s message and the
Temple’s activities in light of mid-twentieth century American
religious trends (Maaga, 1998, pp. 74–86). It is appropriate to add
a fourth category—Peoples Temple as a socialist group—to
Maaga’s schema since her model does not situate the Temple
particularly well within its Cold War political climate.
8 Both Taylor (2013) and Smith (2004) attribute the growth of the
Temple in California to the Temple’s Social Gospel-style outreach.
As I show in this article, Jones himself was well aware of the
relative lack of social assistance offered by Christian churches in
late-1960s and early-1970s San Francisco.
International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015 35
