goals were attainable because socialist principle
revealed itself not on some lofty plane beyond
human comprehension, but in human history.
Jones preached that
principle speaks on a lower plane….
Jesus said, “these things shall you do
and greater” … so we’re living in a
greater time of compassion, a greater
time of love, a greater time of
miracles—and there are no such things
as miracles, only supernormal,
supernatural, [only] above what we
consider to be natural events. (Q 1023)
Thus the mighty deeds done by Jesus were not
supernatural in the sense that human beings
could not replicate them. Rather, anyone could
achieve them who believed in the principle that
Jesus’s words and deeds pointed to. This idea
that belief and acceptance fostered ability led to
a justification of Jones’s own (alleged) miracle-
working abilities.19 One recording begins with
Temple members giving testimonies of how
Jones had worked miraculous deeds in their
lives. The first speaker stated the connection
between Jesus’s power and Jones’s abilities:
That same Christ that’s working through
pastor Jim Jones have [sic] saved me of
many heart attacks, many, many strokes,
saved my daughter from being raped,
and I am very grateful for the Christ
that’s working through pastor Jim Jones.
(Q 987)
Such an understanding does not necessarily
resonate with Jones’s interpretation of John
14:12. Although the above statement does affirm
that Jones’s followers linked his alleged abilities
as a healer to the Jesus of the Bible, it holds up
Jesus as a source of power rather than one who,
like Jones, tapped into divine socialism as a
source of power. In the same sermon, Jones
explained that
19 Jones’s best-known “miracles” were staged faith healings
(involving clandestine observation and sleight of hand), modeled
after Pentecostal and African-American worship patterns. See
Reiterman and Jacobs (2008 [1982], pp. 44–46) for an account of
Jones’s first forays into faith healing. See Mills (1979, pp. 123–
124) for a participant’s description of one of Jones’s healings. See
Chidester (2003 [1988], pp. 72–78) for a reflection on “healing
theatre” in Peoples Temple.
if people will get their mind and their
hearts, their love and their devotion, in
the right place, then the same power—I
don’t mean some power, but the same
power—that was in the early church can
be in our church, but in a greater day, in
a greater degree! (Q 987)
Jesus was not physically present as a human
being in the early church or in Peoples Temple,
but the power his message pointed to persisted.
Jones offered examples of this power present in
his own life by asking the congregation to
remember miracles they had witnessed: “I have
walked right across the waves when we went to
Mexico…. We’ve stopped the rain all across the
[cross-country] trip—we would just lift our
hand—we’ve stopped the snow when we were
snowbound in Chicago” (Q 987). Moreover,
Jones asked,
How many, through the anointing, have
I raised from the dead in this room?
How many have been healed of
blindness? … How many have I healed
of rheumatoid or arthritic crippling
conditions? How many have I healed of
cancer, the incurable disease? (Q 987)
These amazing feats and wondrous signs, Jones
stated, were possible because of the Christ
principle of socialism that was found within
him. The power that allowed such miracles to
occur, however, was conditional. In electrical
terms, Jones explained,
If you want the power to work through
you, you’d better get the right kind of
circuit…. We’ve got flimsy little toy
switches…. But if you want the power,
you’d better get the dynamo, and the
dynamo is God, is love, and love is
socialism and that will give you power.
(Q 987)
In this explanation of miraculous power, Jones
moves quickly from God through love to
socialism. As mentioned previously, John 14:12
indicates Jesus’s Father as the source of
miraculous power. Here, Jones clarifies to some
extent his rightful claim to power despite his
ridicule of the Skygod. For Jones, God the
Father was not the ultimate truth of Jesus’s
42 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
revealed itself not on some lofty plane beyond
human comprehension, but in human history.
Jones preached that
principle speaks on a lower plane….
Jesus said, “these things shall you do
and greater” … so we’re living in a
greater time of compassion, a greater
time of love, a greater time of
miracles—and there are no such things
as miracles, only supernormal,
supernatural, [only] above what we
consider to be natural events. (Q 1023)
Thus the mighty deeds done by Jesus were not
supernatural in the sense that human beings
could not replicate them. Rather, anyone could
achieve them who believed in the principle that
Jesus’s words and deeds pointed to. This idea
that belief and acceptance fostered ability led to
a justification of Jones’s own (alleged) miracle-
working abilities.19 One recording begins with
Temple members giving testimonies of how
Jones had worked miraculous deeds in their
lives. The first speaker stated the connection
between Jesus’s power and Jones’s abilities:
That same Christ that’s working through
pastor Jim Jones have [sic] saved me of
many heart attacks, many, many strokes,
saved my daughter from being raped,
and I am very grateful for the Christ
that’s working through pastor Jim Jones.
(Q 987)
Such an understanding does not necessarily
resonate with Jones’s interpretation of John
14:12. Although the above statement does affirm
that Jones’s followers linked his alleged abilities
as a healer to the Jesus of the Bible, it holds up
Jesus as a source of power rather than one who,
like Jones, tapped into divine socialism as a
source of power. In the same sermon, Jones
explained that
19 Jones’s best-known “miracles” were staged faith healings
(involving clandestine observation and sleight of hand), modeled
after Pentecostal and African-American worship patterns. See
Reiterman and Jacobs (2008 [1982], pp. 44–46) for an account of
Jones’s first forays into faith healing. See Mills (1979, pp. 123–
124) for a participant’s description of one of Jones’s healings. See
Chidester (2003 [1988], pp. 72–78) for a reflection on “healing
theatre” in Peoples Temple.
if people will get their mind and their
hearts, their love and their devotion, in
the right place, then the same power—I
don’t mean some power, but the same
power—that was in the early church can
be in our church, but in a greater day, in
a greater degree! (Q 987)
Jesus was not physically present as a human
being in the early church or in Peoples Temple,
but the power his message pointed to persisted.
Jones offered examples of this power present in
his own life by asking the congregation to
remember miracles they had witnessed: “I have
walked right across the waves when we went to
Mexico…. We’ve stopped the rain all across the
[cross-country] trip—we would just lift our
hand—we’ve stopped the snow when we were
snowbound in Chicago” (Q 987). Moreover,
Jones asked,
How many, through the anointing, have
I raised from the dead in this room?
How many have been healed of
blindness? … How many have I healed
of rheumatoid or arthritic crippling
conditions? How many have I healed of
cancer, the incurable disease? (Q 987)
These amazing feats and wondrous signs, Jones
stated, were possible because of the Christ
principle of socialism that was found within
him. The power that allowed such miracles to
occur, however, was conditional. In electrical
terms, Jones explained,
If you want the power to work through
you, you’d better get the right kind of
circuit…. We’ve got flimsy little toy
switches…. But if you want the power,
you’d better get the dynamo, and the
dynamo is God, is love, and love is
socialism and that will give you power.
(Q 987)
In this explanation of miraculous power, Jones
moves quickly from God through love to
socialism. As mentioned previously, John 14:12
indicates Jesus’s Father as the source of
miraculous power. Here, Jones clarifies to some
extent his rightful claim to power despite his
ridicule of the Skygod. For Jones, God the
Father was not the ultimate truth of Jesus’s
42 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
