Essay on Jim Jones as a Prophet

Five missionaries, one plane, the Bible, and the Ecuadorian jungle;Elisabeth Elliot’s biography Through Gates of Splendor shows Jim Elliot’s experience in the Ecuadorian jungle. Jim and his four friends venture into the jungles of Ecuador to preach the bible to the fierce tribe of the Aucas. they manage to win the hearts of the Aucas and they preach the bible and manage to win some souls and baptize some Aucas. Unfortunately, not all Aucas believed what they were doing was right and they killed the missionaries. Elisabeth’s book Through Gates of Splendor teaches that in order to be a missionary, oneself needs or should have dedication and patience.

Jim Jones made himself appear as he had special powers (with help from the higher ranked). Jones presented himself as great pastor who was psychic and a great healer. A good example was that Jones could remove cancer tumors which he did at his healing sessions, however

Jim Elliot’s life and death influenced people to spread the gospel. God used his death to bring salvation to many Auca Indians and inspiration to thousands of believers worldwide. His death had an impact on people to go to other countries and share the love of Jesus. After his death, the mission to spread the gospel to the Auca Indians did not end. Two years after Jim Elliot’s death, his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Valerie, moved into the Auca village. Many Aucas became Christians and many missionaries still live with the Aucas today.

A man by the name, Victor Houteff was “defellowshipped from a Los Angeles Seventh- day Adventists church” (CRI) in 1929 and 1930. Due to his unforeseen spiritual movement, Waco Texas in 1993 experienced a 51 day biblical event like never before seen or experienced since the first coming of Christ. The Branch Davidians along with the infamous David Koresh came to be because of Houteff “sharing his “Divergent Views” with other church members” (CRI). It was five years after he was ostracized from the church that Houteff along with twelve others who believed that the Holy Ghost proclaimed him to be the Lamb of God, went to Mt. Carmel Texas. Their purpose was to have a location in which “144,000” could gather in order to fulfill requirements

“Prior to the 9/11 attack, the tragedy at Jonestown marked the single largest loss of U.S. civilian lives in a non-natural disaster”(Jonestown Massacre 2). Jim Jones, a cult leader of the Peoples Temple, was responsible for the loss of the 900+ people that died in Guyana on November 18, 1978. Before all of this Jim Jones was a normal man living a life as a preacher who preached against racism. Throughout his life he was very popular by “currying favor with public officials and the media, donated money to numerous charitable causes and delivered votes for various politicians at election times”(History Staff). Jim Jones was a cult leader that preached to 900+ people of the Peoples Temple, made hundreds of people commit suicide, and made history of the biggest loss of U.S. civilians before 9/11.

It was after several moves starting in the Midwest and ending in the Westcoast that Jones decided that the Peoples Temple needed to emigrate from San Francisco to Guyana in order to escape what he believed to be creeping fascism in the United States. Jones was a Marxist after all so there was always that need to rebel against America and its capitalistic ideas (Russell 39). And the communist utopia that Jones and the Peoples Temple had created (Jonestown) began to flourish. It had seemed that the utopia Jones had always envisioned was now reality. The members of the Peoples Temple began to feel at home because it was a place where anyone no matter what race, gender, or even age could live in perfect harmony with one another. In fact during its first phase of existence it could actually be considered a proper socialist community from the point of view of a true political scientist (Latson). And it was not until the late 1970s that Jim Jones and Jonestown began to crumble which could only be explained by Jones’ unusual metamorphosis. Nobody really knows for sure what happened to him when he and the Peoples Temple had left the United States to build their community in Guyana, but it would be something that would end up destroying not only himself but everything he and the Peoples Temple had created.

People who joined the People’s Temple wanted a place where they felt like they belonged. Jim Jones recruited people who were vulnerable.

The settlement is remembered as an attempt to fix what its followers found wrong in their world. In Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple, the life of Jim Jones, the leading charismatic figure of the movement, is detailed from his poor childhood to his embrace of revivals as a source of inspiration and community. He preached a church of

The Lord called prophets to speak for Him to the people regarding their sinful behavior. The prophets were God’s “spokesmen,” who were called by God, held accountable by God, and empowered by God to deliver His messages. Idolatry, social injustice, and religious ritualism had become prevalent in Israel and Judah and is rampant in today’s society as well.

One of the stories that caught my attention was the Helzer brothers’ story because it happened locally. The older of the two Helzer brothers, Glenn (a.k.a. Taylor) Helzer, was the one that was in charge. He attended a “brainwashing” seminar known as “Harmony” training. After the training, he “decided that God had put him on earth to take over the Mormon church and become its true prophet” (Rich 32). Then he convinced Dawn Godman to attend a “Harmony” training. To illustrate, Dawn Godman, who was a roommate of the Helzer brothers, was “… a depressive, overweight woman …” (Rich 32). Godman was in a depressive state, which made her vulnerable and seeking a sense of purpose, which led to Taylor controlling her psychologically. The Helzer brothers and Godman abducted an elderly couple for money and killed them; in addition, killed several other people. Godman continued to follow the Helzer brothers and commit these heinous crimes because her life had purpose which was being a “disciple” to Taylor. Later, David Sullivan, an investigator, took part in the “Harmony” trainings to gain Godman’s trust. During Godman’s hearing, Sullivan showed her a hand signal which meant “… he was a trusted, heart connection” (Rich 36). Sullivan helped Godman finally realize that Taylor was not a prophet and her purpose was not to be his “disciple.” Godman, herself, ultimately, came back to reality and testified against the

Some symptoms include Jim’s lack of enthusiasm or interest in activities that previously brought him satisfaction, such as Jim’s excellence in school, as he eventually became uninterested in attending his college classes. Instead he would watch TV all day and not come out of his room. He believed he had “special powers” and that he could control the behavior of the characters on TV with his mind. As the book describes, this no longer was a feeling but Jim seriously concluded that he had underwent some type of transformation that gave him the ability to control peoples’ behaviors and feelings. This even caused him to stare at people in public to provoke such reactions. He also concluded that he was God like and contained a “life force” in his breathing, which only caused him to breath on people, because he had “heard” God’s angels tell him that he was now the Messiah. Jim also became paranoid that others were constantly talking about his powers and trying to take them, which caused him anxiety, and led to him leaving the house less and less. He also smoked marijuana in large quantities because “it reduces oxygen in the breath and that reduces its effect.” When his mother asked how he was, Jim could only mumble about angels and the life force, out of severe confusion. Jim hardly talked or socialized with anyone, and when he did, it was only with his family. He did not stick to his prescribed medication, and thus his hallucinations anxiety, and confusion only increased. These

Jim Jones was a young preacher that believed he was the “son of god” and convinced the people from church he was their only salvation. After the US government began investigated more into Jones “church” he moved his church yo Ghana in where JOnestown was founded. On November 18, 1978 America faced the most horrific tragedy in Jonestown GUyana. Cult leader Jim Jones and 909 members of the Peoples temple died from poisoning , in a “revolutionary suicide”. Jim Jones convinced everyone that the end was bear and order everyone of his loyal followers to drink poisoned kool-aid , however those who did not followed orders were forced to drink, in the end JIm JOnes took his own life as

Jones grew up in Indiana with his mother and disabled, alcoholic father in a small shack with no plumbing. His parents held very opposite views of race that would come to influence Jones later in life. His father was said to be associated with the Ku Klux Klan, while his mother was in support forward progress politics; Jones would come to side with the latter. As a child, Jones studied Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, and Adolf Hitler (Reiterman, 1982). He would pick out the strength of each person and this is where he gained his knowledge that led him to be in support of socialism. Jones was obsessed with religion as a child and would often perform funerals for deceased animals; one of these animals came from when he stabbed a cat to death. Jones showed many signs of intelligence; one being when he graduated from high school early with honors (Jones, 2002).

As we look back over history we see a group of people fleeing England to come to America, which was only inhabited by a few Indians and natives, to gain religious freedom. In the 1830’s a man by the name of William Miller began studying the time, times, and half a time prophecy and began to preach about it, soon there was a movement all across the United State, as well as the world, preaching this gospel. At this time a girl named Ellen G. White began having dreams and visions, she went on to become a prophetess for the Seventh-day Adventist church and had over 2000 visions. Ellen White also passes all the tests for a true prophet (you will have to read her yourself to prove it). This movement also kept all of the Ten Commandments, including the 4th one.

In U.S history class, we did an assignment about past reformers and how they altered history. It was a randomized topic and Grecia got Joseph Smith. We were talking about what topic really stood out in history and we started think of a person who could have possibly stood up for history. Grecia remembered doing a reformer project about Joseph Smith and from then on we knew he was the best topic. Joseph Smith’s contribution to history really struck our interest and it became one of our topics. His contribution to changing the way people look at religion. A religion that started from him made people changed the way they look at life. The movement Joseph Smith affected individuals on how they view life. The history of religions would not be the