Rufus (Matthew) Jones

Philosopher, historian, and social reformer, born in South China, Maine, USA. The child of devout Quaker parents, he attended Haverford College (1885 BA; 1886 MA) and chose to devote himself to understanding and promoting Quakerism. He taught at Quaker preparatory schools before returning to join the faculty of Haverford to teach philosophy (1893–1933). From 1890 he was a minister of the Society of Friends, and was much in demand as a preacher and speaker. He founded and edited the Quaker periodical American Friend (1893–1912), among several others. A prolific writer, he was best known for the four volumes he published (1905–21) on the history of Quakerism and related religions. Also a militant pacifist, he became widely admired for his work with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which he helped found in 1917, and was the first chairman (1917–28, 1935–44.) He succeeded in having overseas service with the AFSC count as an alternative to American military service, and directed the AFSC's many projects in the years between the World Wars, helping refugees, sufferers from famine, and those caught up in revolutions. The AFSC was one of the few non-Jewish organizations that intervened to help Jewish victims of the Nazis and Jones himself went to Germany (1938) to obtain some co-operation from the Gestapo. During World War 2 he directed the AFSC's many activities on behalf of refugees, and for this work the AFSC shared (with its British counterpart) the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947. By the end of his career he had effectively reinvigorated the American Quaker community through his activities and intellectual efforts.

Rufus Matthew Jones (January 25, 1863-June 16, 1948) was an American writer, journal editor, and college professor.

Jones was born into an old Quaker family in South China, Maine. From 1893 to 1912 he was the editor of the Friends' Review (later called The American Friend); In 1901 Jones received another M.

In 1917 he helped found the American Friends Service Committee. In 1927 Jones took a trip to Asia at the invitation of the YMCA. While in India Jones visited Mahatma Gandhi and visited the birthplace of the Buddha. This trip helped Jones formulate a new approach to missions--that of giving humanitarian aid to people while respecting other religions and not aggressively converting people to one's own religion.

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, which is one of the chief aspects of the Quaker faith.

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 wrote in The Trail of Life in the Middle Years, "The essential characteristic of [mysticism] is 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.

Jones died in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

Books and Articles by Rufus M. (Full text available at the Digital Quaker Collection.) The double search: studies in atonement and prayer, 1906. (Full text available at the Digital Quaker Collection.) The Abundant Life, 1908. A Service of Love in War Time: American Friends Relief Work in Europe, 1917-1919, 1920.

Books and Articles About Rufus M. "Rufus Jones and Mysticism for the Masses" by Matthew S.