Salvation and Suicide

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.

• FOREWORD BY CATHERINE L. ALBANESE AND STEPHEN J. STEINPREFACEIntroduction: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and JonestownI. PERSPECTIVES ON AN EVENT1. Death and Rituals of Exclusion and Inclusion2. Cognitive Distancing3. Religiohistorical InterpretationII. THE CLASSIFICATION OF PERSONS1. Superhuman2. Subhuman3. HumanIII. ORIENTATION IN SPACE1. Cosmic Space2. Geographic Space3. Body SpaceIV. ORIENTATION IN TIME1. Cosmic Time2. Historical Time3. Body TimeV. SALVATION AND SUICIDE1. Religious Suicide2. White Nights3. The EndEpilogueNOTESINDEX

Praise for the first edition: "[This] ambitious and courageous book...offers an important benchmark of theology by which questions about the meaningful history of the Peoples Temple may be measured." Journal of the American Academy of Religion "Fascinating... Perhaps this book will bring a sense of humanity, and of respect, for the dreams and ambitions of the people who died [at Jonestown]." San Francisco Chronicle "An impressive tour de force." Religious Studies Review