Rufus Matthew Jones (January 25, 1863 – June 16, 1948) was an American religious leader, writer, magazine editor, philosopher, and college professor. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Haverford Emergency Unit (a precursor to the
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...
). One of the most influential Quakers of the 20th century, he was a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
historian and theologian as well as a philosopher. He is the only person to have delivered two
Swarthmore Lecture
Swarthmore Lecture is one of a series of lectures, started in 1908, addressed to Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
The preface to the very first lecture explains the purpose of the series.
“This book is t ...
s.
Early life and education
Jones was born into an old Quaker family in
South China, Maine
South China is a village in the town of China in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. It is one of five villages in the town. Located between Augusta and Waterville, South China sits along the shores of its namesake, China Lake. It is an ...
where he attended services at the
Pond Meeting House and then the newer
South China Meeting House. In 1885 he graduated from
Haverford College
Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...
in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, and stayed on to earn his M.A. there in 1886. From 1893 to 1912 he was the editor of the ''Friends' Review'' (later called ''The American Friend''); from this position he tried unsuccessfully to unite the divided body of Quakers. In 1901 Jones received another M. A., from
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He also began teaching philosophy and psychology at Haverford in 1893 and continued to do so until retiring in 1934. From 1898 to 1936 he served on the board of trustees of
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...
.
Career
In 1917 he helped found the American Friends Service Committee. In 1927 Jones took a trip to Asia at the invitation of the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
. His main purpose was to address missionaries in China, but he made stops in Japan, India, and Palestine as well. While in India, Jones visited
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and the birthplace of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
. This trip helped Jones formulate a new approach to mission – that of giving humanitarian aid to people while respecting other religions and not aggressively converting people to one's own religion. In 1938 he went with George Walton and
D. Robert Yarnall on a mission to Nazi Germany to try to help Jewish people there after the ''
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
''.
Jones worked hard at soothing some of the hurt from the
19th Century split among Friends and had some success. Jones wrote extensively on the topic of
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
, which is one of the chief aspects of the Quaker faith. In 1948, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D.) degree from
Whittier College
Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...
.
He distinguished between negating or negative mysticism (making contact with an impersonal force) and affirming or affirmative mysticism (making contact with a personal being). He upheld that God is a personal being with whom human beings could interact. He wrote in ''The Trail of Life in the Middle Years'', "The essential characteristic of
ysticismis the attainment of a personal conviction by an individual that the human spirit and the divine Spirit have met, have found each other, and are in mutual and reciprocal correspondence as spirit with Spirit." At the same time that he distinguished between negative and affirmative mysticism, he asserted that all negative mystics occasionally take the affirmative approach and that all affirmative mystics tread the negative path from time to time. He exerted a major influence on the life and work of theologian
Howard Thurman
Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements ...
, who studied with him from 1929–1930.
Jones was a member of the Laymen's Commission that toured mission fields in Asia and produced ''
Re-Thinking Missions: A Laymen's Inquiry after One Hundred Years'' (1932). The conclusions of this inquiry reflect his views as outlined above.
Jones died in 1948 at age 85, in
Haverford, Pennsylvania
Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) open ...
.
Bibliography
;Books
''Eli and Sybil Jones: Their Life and Work'' Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1889.
''Practical Christianity'' Philadelphia: John C. Winston & Co., 1899.
''The Society of Friends in Kennebec County, Maine'' New York: H.W. Blake & Co., 1892.
''A Dynamic Faith'' London: Headley Brothers, 1901.
Fourth edition London: Headley Brothers, 1920.
''Social Law in the Spiritual World: Studies in Human and Divine Inter-Relationship'' Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1904.
''Practical Christianity'' new and enlarged edition. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1905.
''The Double Search: Studies in Atonement and Prayer'' Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1906.
*''The Abundant Life'', 1908.
''Studies in Mystical Religion'' London: Macmillan and Co., 1909.
Second edition London: Macmillan and Co., 1919.
''Stories of Hebrew Heroes'' Illustrated by
George Soper
George Albert Soper II (2 February 1870 – 17 June 1948) was an American sanitation engineer. He was best known for discovering Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary, an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever.
Biography
Soper was the son of ...
. London: Headley Brothers, 1911.
''The Quakers in the American Colonies'' London: Macmillan and Co., 1911.
''A Boy's Religion from Memory'' Philadelphia: Ferris & Leach, 1913.
''Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries'' London: Macmillan and Co., 1914.
''The Inner Life'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916.
Second edition New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917.
''St. Paul the Hero'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917.
''The World Within'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1918.
''The Story of George Fox'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1919.
''A Service of Love in War Time: American Friends Relief Work in Europe, 1917-1919'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1920.
''The Remnant'' London: The Swarthmore Press, 1920.
*''The Later Periods of Quakerism'', 1921
*''Spiritual Energies in Daily Life'', 1922.
*''The Church's Debt to Heretics'', 1924?.
*''Finding the Trail of Life''. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926.
*''The Faith and Practice of the Quakers'', 1927.
''The Trail of Life in College'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1929.
*''Some Exponents of Mystical Religion'', 1930.
*''Pathways to the Reality of God'', 1931.
*''A Preface to Christian Faith In a New Age'', 1932.
''The Trail of Life in the Middle Years'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1934.
*''The Testimony of the Soul'', 1936.
*''The Eternal Gospel'', 1938.
*''The Flowering of Mysticism'', 1939.
*''Spirit in Man'', 1941.
*''A Small-Town Boy'', 1941.
*''The Radiant Life'', 1944.
*''The Luminous Trail'', 1947.
*''A Call to what is Vital'', 1948.
*''The Luminous Trail''
*''New Eyes for Invisibles''
;Articles, Lectures and Pamphlets
"Historical Sketches of Yearly Meetings, No. 1: Baltimore Yearly Meeting" ''The Friends Review'', November 30, 1893.
"The Message of Quakerism: Two Addresses."London: Headley Brothers, 1901.
"The Atonement."1905.
"Quakerism: A Religion of Life."The first Swarthmore Lecture, delivered May 18, 1908. London: Headley Brothers, 1908.
"Quakerism: A Religion of Life."Second edition. London: Headley Brothers, 1912.
"A More Excellent Way."New York: Association Press, 1916.
*"The Quakers." I
''The Religious History of New England: King's Chapel Lectures'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1917.
"Religion as Reality, Life and Power."William Penn Lectures. Philadelphia: Walter H. Jenkins, 1919.
"The Nature and Authority of Conscience."The Swarthmore Lecture, delivered August, 1920. London: The Swarthmore Press, 1920.
*"Mystical Experience." In ''
The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', May 1942.
;As Editor
''George Fox, an autobiography; edited with an introduction and notes by Rufus M. Jones.''Philadelphia: Ferris & Leach, 1903.
Second edition Philadelphia: Ferris & Leach, 1919.
''The Beginnings of Quakerism, by William C. Braithwaite; with an introduction by Rufus M. Jones.''London: Macmillan and Co., 1912.
''Selections from the Writings of Clement of Alexandria'' London: Headley Brothers, 1914.
''Present Day Papers: A Monthly Journal for the Presentation of Vital and Spiritual Christianity'' Volume 1. Haverford, PA, 1914.
''The Record of a Quaker Conscience: Cyrus Pringle's Diary; with an introduction by Rufus M. Jones'' New York: Macmillan, 1918.
See also
*
American philosophy
American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevert ...
*
List of American philosophers
This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States.
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Rufus M. Jones also authored "SOME PROBLEMS OF LIFE" Copyright MCMXXXVII. Set up, Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound By The Parthenon Press at Nashville Tennessee, U. S. A. Later reprinted by Cokesbury. Thank You Don J. Hewett, Pastor ret.
Online Books Page: Jones, Rufus Matthew (1863-1948).
Further reading
*Bernet, Claus: "Rufus Jones (1863-1948). Life and Bibliography of an American Scholar, Writer, and Social Activist. With a Foreword by Douglas Gwyn", New York 2009,
*Endy, Melvin B.: "The Interpretation of Quakerism. Rufus Jones and His Critics", in: Quaker History. The Bulletin of Friends’ Historical Association, 62, 1, 1981, 3-21
*Hedstrom, Matthews: "Rufus Jones and Mysticism for the Masses", in: ''Cross Currents,'' Summer 2004.
*Kent, Stephen: Psychological and Mystical Interpretations of Early Quakerism. William James and Rufus Jones. In: Religion. A Journal of Religion and Religions, 17, 1987, 251–274.
*Vining, Elizabeth Gray: Friend of Life. Philadelphia 1958. London 1959.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Profile at ''Quakers in the World''"The Trail of Life in the Middle Years," 1934a
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections*Rufus Matthew Jones material i
Jones-Cadbury family papersa
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rufus
1863 births
1948 deaths
19th-century Christian mystics
20th-century Christian mystics
American Quakers
American philosophers
American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Bryn Mawr College
Protestant mystics
Christian writers
Haverford College alumni
Harvard University alumni
Philosophy teachers
Psychology educators
People from China, Maine
Historians of Quakerism
Quaker theologians
Quaker writers
American magazine editors
da:Rufus Jones