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THE COLLECTED SERMONS OF JIM JONES, VOLUME VI: THE 1973 SERMONS, PART ONE The 1973 sermons of Jim Jones stand at a hinge point in history. The Temple was ascendant. The darkness was gathering. And yet the full horror of what would come - the compound in the jungle, the death tape, the 918 - was still years away. In this sixth volume of The Collected Sermons of Jim Jones, theologian and activist Jeff Hood presents thirteen sermons from 1973, drawn from the federal archive catalogued after the Jonestown massacre. Arranged by their FBI Q numbers and accompanied by Hood's signature theological commentary, these sermons document Jones in motion: a preacher of extraordinary power and malevolent vision, transforming love into bondage and freedom into slavery. Hood is not here to excuse. He is here to witness. As he has written, ""Theology that cannot descend into hell is not theology."" These pages descend. Through sermons on congressional power, ownership, heaven, defiance, and the deconstruction of Christ himself, readers encounter Jones at the precise moment his vision was crystallizing - and are invited into the unsettling question that haunts all of Hood's Jonestown work: can God be sought even in the valley of death? This volume includes Hood's 2026 introduction wrestling with universal reconciliation, a note on the Q numbering system and its origins in federal evidence collection, and a dedication to Rebecca Moore and Fielding McGehee of the Jonestown Institute, whose archival ministry ensures the victims will not be forgotten.

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The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a Catholic Priest (Old Catholic) and nationally recognized theologian and spiritual advisor to death row inmates nationwide. He has accompanied eleven men to their executions, including the first and eighth nitrogen hypoxia executions. Widely regarded as the leading spiritual voice on the death penalty, his work has been profiled in outlets ranging from the New York Times to a Rolling Stone documentary, The Spiritual Advisor. For his service and scholarship, he was nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Hood holds degrees from Auburn University (BA), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv), Emory University's Candler School of Theology (ThM), the University of Alabama (MA), Creighton University (MS), Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University (DMin), and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the American Institute of Metaphysics. His primary interest has always been the power of spirituality to bring about liberation. Ordained to ministry in 2006, Dr. Hood was incardinated into the priesthood of the Old Catholic Church in 2022. The author of over 100 books - including The Courage to Be Queer, named one of the best religion books of 2016 at the Independent Publishers Book Awards - he regularly partners with men on death row to co-produce original works of theology. On July 7, 2016, Dr. Hood organized and led a Dallas rally against police brutality that ended in the shooting deaths of five police officers. He saved lives by using the cross he was carrying to force people away from the gunfire. The Dallas Public Library honored his role in that event and his wider work by opening the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood Collection in its archives. In January 2024, Dr. Hood became the first spiritual advisor present in an execution chamber for a nitrogen hypoxia execution. Amid the international media attention that followed, he kept the memory of Kenneth Smith at the center of the story while demanding that such an execution never be repeated. No other spiritual advisor in the country has been present in the execution chamber for as many executions. Believing that traditional theological education is increasingly inadequate, Dr. Hood founded The New Theology School, where he serves as Dean and as the Rev. Charles Moore Professor of Prophetic Theology. With many arrests and assaults, he is not afraid to give his body to the struggle for justice.

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