The Jonestown Trilogy gathers three landmark works by Jeff Hood into a single volume - a sustained, unflinching theological descent into one of the darkest events of the twentieth century.On November 18, 1978, over nine hundred people died in the Guyanese jungle under the command of Jim Jones. For most, Jonestown is shorthand for fanaticism, a punchline, a cautionary tale. For Hood, it is something else entirely: a site of profound theological confrontation, a place where sin and death are laid bare - and where, he dares to argue, God was present nonetheless.Five Visions of Jim Jones / Jonestown, Systematic Theology/Shit: Revelations from Jonestown, and The Slaughter of God: Theologies from Jonestown each approach this darkness from a different angle - through healing and resurrection, through mystical wrestling with God's hiddenness, and through the raw words of the death tape itself. Together they form a trilogy that refuses easy answers, refuses closure, and refuses to let Jonestown be forgotten.This is not apologetics for Jim Jones. It is not sensationalism. It is the work of a theologian who believes that any hope worth holding must be large enough to include the worst of what human beings have done to one another - and that a God who cannot be found in the valley of death is no God at all. 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.
