Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.
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FBI Catalogue Jones Speaking
FBI preliminary tape identification note: None
Date cues on tape: late summer/early fall 1974 (reference to Nelson Rockefeller’s nomination as Vice President, which was August 20, and an upcoming Temple fundraiser on November 1)
People named:
Edith Cordell
Ever Rejoicing (speaks)
Archie Ijames, associate minister (speaks)
Jim Jones Jr., adopted son of Jim and Marceline Jones (by reference)
Marceline Jones
Stephan Jones, son of Jim and Marceline Jones (by reference)
Marceline LeTourneau
Mike Prokes (by reference)
William Purifoy
Robert Rankin
Tim Stoen
Grace (likely Grace Stoen)
Sister Jeffery (likely Margrette Jeffery)
Miss Mollett [phonetic]
Sly [either Neva or Don Sly]
Sister Young (speaks)
Richard Nixon, recently-resigned U.S. President
Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford’s nominee to be vice president
Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State
E. Howard Hunt, CIA intelligence officer, Watergate “plumber” (by reference)
Dorothy Hunt, wife of E. Howard Hunt, killed in plane crash
Mr. Van Dusen [phonetic], federal administrator of drug rehabilitation programs
Ronald Reagan, California governor
Karl Marx, German economist
Forbes Burnham, Guyana Prime Minister (by reference)
Francois Duvalier, President of Haiti
Thomas Paine, pamphleteer in American Revolution
Angela Davis, University professor, member of Communist Party
Billy Graham, American evangelist
C. Northcote Parkinson, originator of Parkinson’s Law
Mark Twain, American writer
Walter Baldwin, Marceline Jones’ father (by reference)
Mr. Heddy, rancher and Temple neighbor in Ukiah
Bishop Cleaver, first name unknown, recent murder victim
Lester Kinsolving, religion reporter for San Francisco Examiner (by reference)
Bible verses cited: None
(Editor’s note: The verses below appear in order of biblical reference, not as they appear in Jim Jones’ address. For a complete scriptural index to the sermons of Jim Jones, click here.)
“And then the most beautiful angel turned out to be the devil that led a third of his angels astray.” (Lucifer fall from heaven in Isaiah 14; one-third reference is post-biblical)
“Even the ancestry of Jesus is wrong.” (Matthew 1:1-16 compared with Luke 3:23-24)
“I’ll tell you, when you do that outside, and cast those pearls outside, you are on an ego trip.” (Matthew 7:6, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”)
“But what’re you going to do with these people who start coming to church, just for the loaves and fishes, and we cannot offer them the same thing that we offer the rest.” (Reference to miracle of loaves and fishes: Matthew 14:13-21; Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:10-17; and John 6:5-15)
“Why do you suppose Jesus said, Go tell no man. [He] Said I’m the only God there is. But he said, go tell no man.” (Matthew 17:9, “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” See also: Matthew 8:4, Matthew 16:20; Mark 7:36, Mark 8:30, Mark 9:9; Luke 5:14, Luke 8:56, and Luke 9:21.)
“I think Jesus must have had something when he throwed the money-changers out.” (Matthew 21:12, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.” See also Mark 11:15)
“Jesus cursed the fig tree.” (Matthew 21:20-21, “And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.”)
“And Jesus said, that’s the only way to worship me. He said feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take in the stranger, release those that are in captivity. That’s what Jesus said. In that you do it unto the least of these, you do it to me. He didn’t want anybody to worship him or to build some shrine to an unknown God. He said he’ll separate the sheep from the goats, based on whether you feed the hungry.” (Matthew 25:31-40)
“You quote that silly scripture, the poor will be with you always, and it isn’t even in the original Bible.” (Matthew 26:11, “For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.” See also, Mark 14:7 and John 12:8)
“Jesus said, worship what you see.” (John 4:22, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.”)
“Ye all are gods.… And all God meant was Jesus said, when they took him away to crucify him, he said, ye all are gods… He said, why do you stone me? He didn’t know why. He said, why do you do it? For what good work. [They] Said, none. Because you being a man make yourself god. [He] Said it is written, ye all are gods.” (John 10:32-34, “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?”)
“[T]hese things shall you do and greater, because I go to the Father, or I return into life or into energy… [H]e said, this is a greater day than his, he said, after he went away, these things shall you do and greater. He said, everybody after him would be greater.” (John 14:12, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”)
“Paul told you not to worship an unknown god… Why do you do, as Paul said, why are you so superstitious, that you worship an unknown God?” (Acts 17:22-23, “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”)
“You don’t even read your Bible, because it says you are only reconciled. He did that to reconcile the old myths. You’re reconciled by the blood, it says, and saved by the life.” (Romans 5:9-10, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”)
“Paul used “dung,” the worse word in the whole Hebrew language for bowel movement. It’s much dirtier a word than the word we don’t like, “s,” ends with “t” and uh, Paul said, I count it all dung.” (Philippians 3:8, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”).
“The whole book, the New Testament— This is the thing that will lead us back into slavery. It says, ‘Slaves, obey your masters.’” (Colossians 3:22, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.” See also, Ephesians 6:5, Titus 2:9.)
Summary:
(This tape was transcribed by Georgiana Mamlakah. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)
The first two-thirds of this tape is a duplicate of the last two-thirds of Q 1053 (Part I).
The continuation of the tapes reinforces this gathering of the congregation of Peoples Temple as less of a service and more of a business meeting. Members of the Temple are solicited to ask questions and offer their views on several issues before them, including – principally – whether they should limit the number of services that guests wishing to visit the Temple may attend.
Jones returns to the request that his followers not refer to him as God, with the additional reasoning that there are a number of self-styled preachers and gurus on the university campus at Berkeley who refer to themselves as God, and he doesn’t want to be lumped together with those “freaks.”
There are only a few times that Jones’ voice raises above a conversational level and his words take on a ministerial cadence.
FBI Summary:
Date of transcription: 6/5/79
In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.
On May 28, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B70-4. This tape was found to contain the following:
JIM JONES talking before an audience about God and his church.
Differences with FBI Summary:
The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.
Tape originally posted January 2020.