Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America

by Rebecca Moore (Editor), Anthony B. Pinn (Editor), Mary R. Sawyer (Editor)

Overview

The Peoples Temple movement ended on November 18, 1978, when more than
900 men, women, and children died in a ritual of murder and suicide in their
utopianist community of Jonestown, Guyana. Only a handful lived to tell their story.
As is well known, Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, was white, but most of
his followers were black. Despite that, little has been written about Peoples Temple
in the context of black religion in America. In 10 essays, writers from various
disciplines address this gap in the scholarship. Twenty-five years after the tragedy
at Jonestown, they assess the impact of the black religious experience on Peoples
Temple.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253110831
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	03/11/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	936 KB

About the Author

Rebecca Moore, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at San Diego
State University, has published widely on Peoples Temple and Jonestown and maintains
a website on Peoples Temple. Anthony B. Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of
Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, and is the author
of Varieties of African American Religious Experience. Mary R. Sawyer is Professor
of Religious Studies at Iowa State University, and the author of Black Ecumenism:
Implementing the Demands of Justice.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Peoples Temple as Black Religion:
Re-Imagining the Contours of Black Religious Studies Anthony B. Pinn2. Daddy Jones
and Father Divine: The Cult as Political Religion C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence
Mamiya3. An Interpretation of the Peoples Temple and Jonestown: Implications for the
Black Church Archie Smith, Jr.4. Demographics and the Black Religious Culture of
People Temple Rebecca Moore5. Peoples Temple and Housing Politics in San Francisco
Tanya M. Hollis6. To Die for the Peoples Temple: Religion and Revolution after Black
Power Duchess Harris and Adam John Waterman7. Jim Jones and Black Worship Traditions
Milmon Harrison8. Breaking the Silence: Reflections of a Black Pastor J. Alfred
Smith9. America Was Not Hard to Find Muhammed Isaiah Kenyatta10. The Church in
Peoples Temple Mary R. SawyerContributorsIndex

What People are Saying About This

"Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America is an insightful, provocative and useful assemblage of essays, a vital contribution to the literature in its own right. One hopes that, in addition, the book will have the happy effect of generating still more scholarship and—not least of all—making way for the voices of more survivors, especially African Americans, to find their way into print."

The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History

Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America is an insightful, provocative and useful assemblage of essays, a vital contribution to the literature in its own right. One hopes that, in addition, the book will have the happy effect of generating still more scholarship and—not least of all—making way for the voices of more survivors, especially African Americans, to find their way into print.

The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History

…Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America is an insightful, provocative and useful assemblage of essays, a vital contribution to the literature in its own right. One hopes that, in addition, the book will have the happy effect of generating still more scholarship and—not least of all—making way for the voices of more survivors, especially African Americans, to find their way into print.

Editorial Reviews

"Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America is an insightful, provocative and useful assemblage of essays, a vital contribution to the literature in its own right. One hopes that, in addition, the book will have the happy effect of generating still more scholarship and—not least of all—making way for the voices of more survivors, especially African Americans, to find their way into print."—The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History

From the Publisher