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Dr. Rufus M. Jones
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...view moreRufus 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). One of the most influential Quakers of the 20th century, he was a Quaker historian and theologian as well as a philosopher. He is the only person to have delivered two Swarthmore Lectures.
Jones was born into an old Quaker family in South China, Maine. In 1885 he graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and earned his M.A. there in 1886. From 1893-1912 he was the editor of the Friends’ Review (later called The American Friend). In 1901 he received another M.A., from Harvard. He began teaching philosophy and psychology at Haverford in 1893 until retiring in 1934. From 1898-1936 he served on the board of trustees of Bryn Mawr College.
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, he visited Mahatma Gandhi and the birthplace of the Buddha, which helped Jones formulate the new approach to missions of giving humanitarian aid to people while respecting other religions. In 1938 he went on a mission to Germany to try to find a peaceful way of dealing with the Nazis.
Jones wrote extensively on the topic of mysticism, which is one of the chief aspects of the Quaker faith.
He 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).
Jones died in 1948 at age 85, in Haverford, Pennsylvania.view less