(September 27, 2017 at 2:09 pm)Crossless2.0 Wrote: On a side note, it amuses me no end that Jones was assisted in getting his ministry off the ground by none other than Huggy's beloved William Branham (he of the "Holy Spirit floating over his head" picture):
From the Wikipedia article on Jones:
In 1951, Jones began attending gatherings of the Communist Party USA in Indianapolis.[1] He became flustered with harassment he received during the McCarthy Hearings,[1] particularly regarding an event he attended with his mother focusing on Paul Robeson, after which she was harassed by the FBI in front of her co-workers for attending.[2] He also became frustrated with ostracism of open communists in the United States, especially during the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.[16] This frustration, among other things, provoked a seminal moment for Jones in which he asked himself, "How can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church."[1][2]
Jones was surprised when a Methodist superintendent helped him get a start in the church even though he knew Jones to be a communist and Jones did not meet him through the Communist Party USA.[16] In 1952, he became a student pastor in Sommerset Southside Methodist Church, but claimed he left that church because its leaders barred him from integrating blacks into his congregation.[1] Around this time, Jones witnessed a faith-healing service at a Seventh Day Baptist Church.[1] He observed that it attracted people and their money and concluded that, with financial resources from such healings, he could help accomplish his social goals.[1]
Jones organized a mammoth religious convention to take place on June 11 through June 15, 1956, in a cavernous Indianapolis hall called Cadle Tabernacle. To draw the crowds, Jim needed a religious headliner, and so he arranged to share the pulpit with Rev. William M. Branham, a healing evangelist and religious author who at the time was as highly revered as Oral Roberts.[6] Following the convention, Jones was able to launch his own church, which changed names until it became the Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel.[1] The Peoples Temple was initially made as an inter-racial mission.
Is that all you got? Trying to make a case for guilt by association (from 1956 no less)? William Branham traveled all over the world and spoke at many different pastors churches of all denominations.
These are the sermons and cities Branham preached at just from 1956
I'm pretty sure he ran across lots of people.
