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Peoples Temple Collection; Box 28, Virtual Item 12, Q1056 - Part 2, Portions of two sermons (undated, likely 1975)

 Digital Record
Identifier: ms-0183_28.20 Part 2

Dates

  • Digitized: 1975

Creator

Summary Note

This tape consists of segments of two different sermons. The first, and probably latter of the two, is much more overtly religious, even as he makes a claim for his own divinity. It begins – as do many of these tapes – in mid-sentence, with no indication of how long the address has lasted to this point. He speaks with some apparent pride about the ministers in the community who do not know how to deal with Jim Jones. Their churches are losing members to Peoples Temple because of its message and mission, but what really bothers the clergy is that they aren’t like him, a man with no car or adornments, a man who wears used clothing and shoes, a man who does not put himself above his people. It’s a familiar theme in Jones’ addresses, appearing also – for example – on the second sermon on this tape. One difference between the two, though, is that the first segment includes Jones’ use of scripture to show who is in his church. This church is where God is, Jones says, and because of that, he can do things for his people that other ministers can only envy. “You’ve never met a man like this man before. A man who doth not have any future. A man who doth not have any past. A man who has nothing but the actual presence, the ever present, the actual personal present tense of God in a body.” Full summary of the recording available at Alternative Considerations of Jonestown website, along with the tape website, along with the tape transcript.

Rights Statement Note

The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.  Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

Physical Description Note

Original audio cassette tape recording digitized and made available as .mp3 audio file.

Publisher Note

Publisher: The Jonestown Institute

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections & University Archives Repository

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