Jones's initial popularity arose from his joint campaign appearances with the movements' prominent leaders, William Branham and Joseph Mattsson-Boze, and their endorsement of his ministry. He was ordained as a Christian minister in the Independent Assemblies of God, attracting his first group of followers while participating in the Pentecostal Latter Rain movement and the Healing Revival during the 1950s. Jones and the events that occurred at Jonestown have had a defining influence on society's perception of cults.Īs a child, Jones developed an affinity for Pentecostalism and a desire to preach.

In what he termed 'revolutionary suicide', a term he took from the novel by the same name by Huey Newton, Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978.

James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American mass murderer and cult leader who led the Peoples Temple between 19.

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