An edition of Salvation and suicide (1988)
Salvation and suicide
an interpretation of Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown
By David Chidester
Publish Date
1988
Publisher
Indiana University Press
Language
eng
Pages
190
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."