Spiritual Siblings: The Function of New Religions in Peoples Temple Doctrine
For years after Peoples Temple ceased to exist, both scholars and the public debated the Temple's status as a new religious movement. These debates left out an important perspective: Jim Jones' own evaluation of the Temple's relation to new religions. This article uses Doug McAdam...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Californiarnia Press
[2018]
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| In: |
Nova religio
Year: 2018, Volume: 22, Issue: 2, Pages: 40-64 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jones, Jim 1931-1978
/ Peoples Temple
/ Teaching
/ New religion
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| RelBib Classification: | AZ New religious movements |
| Further subjects: | B
Peoples Temple
B spiritual kinship B Jonestown B Jim Jones B Doug McAdam |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | For years after Peoples Temple ceased to exist, both scholars and the public debated the Temple's status as a new religious movement. These debates left out an important perspective: Jim Jones' own evaluation of the Temple's relation to new religions. This article uses Doug McAdam's work on social movement formation to organize Jones' commentary on new religions. Expanding Stephen Kent's concept of spiritual kinship lineage, this article argues that Jones identified the same political changes as giving rise to, as well as contesting, both Peoples Temple and various new religious movements. By identifying this plethora of reactions to the same political cause, Jones legitimated the Temple's worldview and subsequent mobilization. Moreover, Jones leveraged this kinship to avail himself of the variety of strategies utilized by these groups while pointing out their doctrinal, organizational, and political flaws, thus asserting the Temple's superiority in the process. |
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| ISSN: | 1541-8480 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nova religio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1525/nr.2018.22.2.40 |