Q648 Summary

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.

To read the Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1, Pt. 2).
To read the Annotated Tape Transcript, click here.
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 FBI Catalogue:           Jones Speaking

FBI preliminary tape identification note: One TDK/ Three Healings by Pastor Jim

Date cues on tape:     Approximately 1970 (Jones makes reference to being in sanctuary for five years,  and Temple migrated from Indiana in 1965)

People named:

Bible verses cited:

(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.)

“Remember meekness is what will inherit the earth. That means to be gentle, patient and mild.” (Psalm 37:11, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Also, Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”)

“The righteous shall dwell in the land forever.” (Psalm 37:29, “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.”)

“Matthew 1, the first chapter of Matthew, the sixteenth verse, in Luke, the third chapter, and the twenty-third verse, … [give] the history of Jesus But Matthew and Luke disagree as to who Jesus’ grandfather is. One says it’s Heli, the other says it’s Jacob. One says his great-grandfather is Matthan, the other says Matthot.” (Matthew 1:15-16, “And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Compared to Luke 3:23-24, “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph.”)

“[Jesus] said, these things shall you do, even Jesus, and greater things, because I go to the Father.” (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.”)

“All that believe together (unintelligible), and they parted every man.” (Acts 2:44-45, “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”)

“And tonight, those that did not know God in me will be sick, because they discern not the Lord’s body.” (I Corinthians, 11:29, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”)

“I want you to study closely the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 3: The Letter Killeth. The Bible kills.… The Bible kills but the spirit makes alive. I’m just Americanizing it. Love makes alive. The Bible kills, but love makes alive. That’s what caused that man to be so evil.… That’s what caused that man to stand up. It was the letter. It kills. I want you to move the letter, and now I’m going to give you the spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”)

“[Y]ou’ll find that you didn’t have the Holy Ghost, through prophecy, pastors, teachers and prophets, to lead you to perfection, edifying the word …, to perfect you.” (Hebrews 6:1-5)

Summary:

(Note: This tape was transcribed by Vicki Perry. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)

(Note: This tape was one of the 53 tapes initially withheld from public disclosure.)

In this undated faith healing service, Jones heals several people. As he does in other such services, he reveals details about the personal lives of those whom he is about to heal, to “build your faith,” before removing the cancer or straightening the paralyzed limb.

In the two cancer healings, the women suffering from cancer are escorted to the bathroom to expel the “bloody mass.” In both cases, they return with the cancers cradled in towels, which are passed through the congregation while the newly-cured dance on the stage or hug the members of Peoples Temple.

The healings are familiar to most Temple members, and so are Jones’ claims to have raised the dead. “[N]one of our people have died and there’s never been a casket roll through Peoples Temple,” he declares during the celebration following one miracle healing, “Twenty-four times in this year… they’ve brought the dead in the door and they’ve gone out alive.”

Unique to this recording, though, is Jones’ admonition to his followers to join in the applause as one celebration gets underway. “You better shout with her while you can,” he calls, “because that growth is looking for a house, that alien spirit is looking for a place to rest.”

Even though there are some recording problems on this tape – two tracks were overdubbed on each other for the first ten minutes, and the opening segments of the tape are repeated at the end of side 2 – the service seems to have been recorded for public consumption. An announcer with a professional-sounding radio voice narrates the scene as events unfold, and several segments fade to silence instead of being cut off abruptly, as most of these tapes do. Even less common are several tape edits within the segments that include the more-professional fade-outs.

FBI Summary:

Date of transcription: 6/20/79

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 March 7, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B47-93. This tape was found to contain the following:

Various recordings of “sermon” and “revival” type meetings.

Differences with FBI Summary:

The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.

Tape originally posted March 2010