Jim Jones

James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the American founder of the People's Temple church that developed into a group with cult-like beliefs, power structures and practices. On November 18, 1978, most of Peoples Temple's members followed Jones' advice to commit collective suicide by drinking poison in their isolated intentional community called Jonestown, located in the jungle of Guyana. Jones was found dead with a shot in his head among the 914 corpses there.

Early life and founding of Temple

Jones was born in Crete, Indiana, near Lynn, Indiana and was the son of James Thurman Jones and Lynetta. He became a preacher in 1950s and founded a church with the name "Wings of deliverance" that he renamed "People's Temple Full Gospel Church", located in Indianapolis. He gained respectability when he became an ordained minister in 1964 in the mainstream christian denomination Disciples of Christ. The church was exceptional for its equal treatment of African Americans and many of them became members of the church. He started a struggle for racial equality and social justice, which he dubbed apostolic socialism. He claimed to be an incarnation of Jesus, Akhenaten, the Buddha, Lenin, and Father Divine and performed supposed miracle healings to attract new members. Members of Jones' Peoples Temple called Jones "Dad" and believed that their movement was the solution to the problems of society and many did not distinguish Jones from the movement. The group gradually moved away from mainstream Christianity towards advocating social justice.

Related Topics:
Crete, Indiana - Lynn, Indiana - 1950s - Indianapolis - 1964 - Christian denomination - Disciples of Christ - African American - Apostolic socialism - Jesus - Akhenaten - Buddha - Lenin - Father Divine - Miracle healings - Peoples Temple - Christianity - Social justice

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George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco appointed Reverend Jim Jones to the city's Housing Commission.

Related Topics:
George Moscone - San Francisco

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