Salvation and Suicide

by Chidester, David

• ISBN13: 9780253216328
• ISBN10: 025321632X
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: Ingram Book Co

Summary

Re-issued in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the mass suicides at Jonestown, this revised edition of David Chidester's path-breaking 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."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.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD BY CATHERINE L. ALBANESE AND STEPHEN J. STEIN	ix
PREFACE	xi
PROLOGUE (2003)	xvii
Introduction: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown	1	(11)
1. Perspectives on an Event	12	(39)
2. The Classification of Persons	51	(28)
3. Orientation in Space	79	(26)
4. Orientation in Time	105	(24)
5. Salvation and Suicide	129	(31)
Epilogue	160	(11)
NOTES	171	(15)
INDEX	186