Editing Peoples Temple (section)

===Apostolic Socialism===
Jones developed a theology that was significantly influenced by the teachings of the Latter Rain movement, William Branham, Father Divine, and infused with Jones's personal communist worldview.{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=52}}{{sfn|Collins|2017|p=182}} Jones referred to his belief as "[[Apostolic succession|Apostolic]] Socialism".{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=60}} Following the relocation of Peoples Temple to California, Jones began to gradually introduce the concepts to his followers.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=i,97}}{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=60}} According to [[religious studies]] professor [[Catherine Wessinger]], Jones always spoke of the [[Social Gospel]]'s virtues, but chose to conceal that his gospel was communist until he began to do so in sermons at the Temple in the late 1960s.{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|pp=32–37}}

Jones taught that "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment", which he defined as socialism.{{sfn|Layton|1998|p=53}} Jones asserted that traditional Christianity had an incorrect view of God. By the early 1970s, Jones began deriding traditional [[Christianity]] as "fly away religion", rejecting the [[Bible]] as being a tool to oppress women and non-whites.{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=37}} Jones referred to traditional Christianity's view of God as a "[[Sky deity|Sky God]]" who was "no God at all".{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=37}} Instead, Jones claimed to be following the true God who created all things.{{sfn|Chidester|2004|pp=56–57}}

Jones taught that ultimate reality was called the "Divine Principle", and this principle was the true God. Jones equated the principle with love, and he equated love with socialism. Jones asserted he was a savior sent by the true God, to rescue humanity from their sufferings.{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=37}}{{sfn|Chidester|2004|pp=53–56}} Jones insisted that accepting the "Divine Principle" was equivalent to being "[[Crucifixion of Jesus#Christology of the crucifixion|crucified with Christ]]".{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=61}}

Jones increasingly promoted the idea of his own divinity, going so far as to tell his congregation that "I am come as God Socialist."{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=i,97}}{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=60}} Jones carefully avoided claiming divinity outside of Peoples Temple, but he expected to be acknowledged as god-like among his followers. Former Temple member Hue Fortson Jr. quoted him as saying:

<blockquote>What you need to believe in is what you can see.... If you see me as your friend, I'll be your friend. As you see me as your father, I'll be your father, for those of you that don't have a father.... If you see me as your savior, I'll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I'll be your God.<ref name="pbs.org">{{cite news|year= 2007|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jonestown/|title= Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple|location= US|publisher= [[PBS]] [[American Experience]]|access-date=2020-06-20}}</ref></blockquote>

Further attacking traditional Christianity, Jones authored and circulated a tract entitled "The Letter Killeth", criticizing the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]], and dismissing [[James VI and I|King James]] as a slave owner and a [[capitalism|capitalist]] who was responsible for the corrupt translation of scripture. Jones claimed he was sent to share the true meaning of the gospel which had been hidden by corrupt leaders.{{sfn|Chidester|2004|pp=65–67}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Jones, Jim|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=14110|title= The Letter Killeth (original material reprint)|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple|publisher= San Diego State University|year=2018}}</ref>

Jones rejected even the few required tenets of the Disciples of Christ denomination. Instead of implementing the [[sacraments]] as prescribed by the Disciples, Jones followed Father Divine's [[holy communion]] practices. Jones created his own [[baptism]]al formula, baptizing his converts "in the holy name of Socialism".{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=126}}

While in the United States, Jones remained fearful of the public discovering the full extent of his communist views.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=132}} He believed that if the true nature of his views became widely known, he would quickly lose the support of political leaders and even face the possibility of Peoples Temple being ejected from the Disciples of Christ. Jones also feared losing the church's tax-exempt status and having to report his financial dealings to the [[Internal Revenue Service]].{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=132}} Jones took care to always couch his socialist views in religious terms, such as "apostolic social justice".{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=132}} "Living the Acts of the Apostles" was his euphemism for living a communal lifestyle.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=133}}

Jones frequently warned his followers of an imminent apocalyptic genocidal race war and nuclear war. He claimed that Nazi [[fascist]]s and white supremacists would put people of color into concentration camps. Jones said he was a messiah sent to save people by giving them a place of refuge in his church. Drawing on a prophecy in the [[Book of Revelation]], he taught that American capitalist culture was irredeemable "[[Whore of Babylon|Babylon]]".{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=33}}{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=59}} Explaining the nature of sin, Jones stated, "If you're born in capitalist America, [[Racism in the United States|racist]] America, fascist America, then you're born in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin."<ref name="q1053">{{cite web|author=Jones, Jim|year= 1999|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27318|title= Q1053-4 Transcript|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple|location=US|publisher=San Diego State University}}</ref> He taught his followers the only way to escape the supposed imminent catastrophe was to accept his teachings, and that after the apocalypse was over, they would emerge to establish a perfect communist society.{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=33}}{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=59}}

Historians are divided over whether Jones actually believed his own teachings, or was just using them to manipulate people.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|pp=123–124}} Jeff Guinn said, "It is impossible to know whether Jones gradually came to think he was God's earthly vessel, or whether he came to that convenient conclusion" to enhance his authority over his followers.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|pp=123–124}} In a 1976 phone conversation with John Maher, Jones admitted to be an [[Agnosticism|agnostic]] and an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref name="jonestown.sdsu.edu">{{cite web|author=Jones, Jim|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27498|title=Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 622|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple|publisher=San Diego State University|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205062545/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q622.html |archive-date=February 5, 2011}}</ref> Marceline admitted in a 1977 ''New York Times'' interview that Jones was trying to promote Marxism in the U.S. by mobilizing people through religion, citing Mao Zedong as his inspiration: "Jim used religion to try to get some people out of the opiate of religion."<ref name="NYT1126" /> She told the reporter that Jones had once slammed the Bible on the table yelling "I've got to destroy this paper idol!"<ref name="NYT1126" /> Jones taught his followers that the ends justify the means and authorized them to achieve his vision by any means necessary.{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=61}} Outsiders would later point to this aspect of Jones's teachings to allege that he did not genuinely believe in his own teachings and that he was "morally bankrupt" and only manipulating religion and other elements of society "to achieve his own selfish ends".{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=56}}