- Addresses about South China, 1955
- The American Friends in France, 1917-1919, 1943
- The Boy Jesus and His Companions, 1922
- A Boy’s Religion from Memory, 1904
- A Call to What is Vital, 1948
- The Church’s Debt to Heretics, 1925
- The Double Search : God’s Search For Man And Man’s Search For God : Studies In Atonement And Prayer, 1937
- A Dynamic Faith, 1906
- Eli And Sybil Jones: Their Life And Work, 1889
- The Eternal Gospel, 1938
- The Evolution Of The Soul, 1943
- The Faith And Practice Of The Quakers, 1927, 1938
- Finding The Trail Of Life, 1926
- The Flowering Of Mysticism : The Friends Of God In The Fourteenth Century , 1939
- Fundamental Ends Of Life, 1924
- George Fox : Seeker And Friend, 1930
- A Great Experiment, 1942
- Haverford College : A History And An Interpretation, 1933
- The Inner Life, 1916
- Jewish Mysticism, 1943
- The Later Periods Of Quakerism, 1921
- The Life Of Christ, 1926
- Little Book Of Selections From The Children Of The Light, 1909
- The Luminous Trail, 1947
- Mysticism and Democracy in the English Commonwealth, 1932
- New Eyes For Invisibles, 1943
- The New Quest, 1928
- New Studies in Mystical Religion , 1928
- Pathways To The Reality Of God, 1931
- Practical Christianity : Essays On The Practice Of Religion, 1905
- A Preface To Christian Faith In A New Age, 1932
- The Quaker Conception Of The Church, 1918
- The Quakers In The American Colonies, 1923
- The Radiant Life,1944
- Re-Thinking Religious Liberalism, 1935
- The Remnant, 1920
- Rethinking Quaker Principles, 1940
- Selections From The Writings Of Clement Of Alexandria, 1914
- A Service Of Love In War Time : American Friends Relief Work In Europe, 1917-1919 , 1920
- The Shepherd Who Missed The Manger, 1941
- A Small-Town Boy, 1941
- Social Law In The Spiritual World : Studies In Human And Divine Inter-Relationship , 1923
- The Society Of Friends In Kennebec County, Maine, 1892
- Some Exponents Of Mystical Religion, 1930
- Some Problems Of Life, 1937
- Spirit In Man, 1941
- Spiritual Energies In Daily Life, 1936
- Spiritual Reformers In The 16th & 17th Centuries, 1914
- St. Paul, The Hero, 1917
- Stories Of Hebrew Heroes, 1928
- The Story Of George Fox, 1919
- Studies In Mystical Religion, 1909
- Studies In Mystical Religion, 1936
- The Trail Of Life In College, 1929
- The Trail Of Life In The Middle Years, 1934
- The World Within, 1918
Rufus Matthew Jones (1863-1948) was born in South China on January 25, 1863 into a Quaker family that lived on a small farm worked by his parents with help from the children. The hard working family was also deeply religious, attending “Meeting” twice a week, giving thanks at every meal, and receiving visits from other Quakers on a regular basis.
Rufus Jones’ Birthplace (2004)
Jones’ formal education began at four and a half in the one-room village school. At thirteen he moved on to other schools in the area, including the Weeks Mill School, which involved a three-mile walk each way. At fifteen he attended Oak Grove Seminary in Vassalboro. In the latter two schools he was exposed to science, mathematics, and Latin, all of which prepared him well.
Barn at Rufus Jones’ Birthplace (2004)
In 1879 Rufus Jones, with a scholarship from the Providence Friends School, traveled to the city to begin a radically different life in a co-educational boarding school. He entered Haverford College as a sophomore in 1882, one of seventy-one students at that small institution, most of them Quakers.
His first paying job, in 1885, was teaching at Oakwood Seminary in Duchess County, New York. By 1893 be began his long tenure at Haverford College, teaching philosophy and psychology until 1934. Jones edited Quaker publications and traveled widely in the United States and abroad, lecturing at many colleges and universities.
His biographer Hinshaw observed,
Quaker though he was to the core, his teachings and his life’s work extended far beyond Quakerism and he became a zealous advocate of a way of life that replaces hate with kindness, suspicion with trust and fairness. He measured his service to his Creator with the yardstick of his service to his fellow man.
Additional Resources
Brinton, Howard H. Children of Light, in Honor of Rufus M. Jones. New York. The Macmillan Company. 1938.
Hinshaw, David. Rufus Jones: Master Quaker. New York. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1951.
Moore, J. Floyd. Rufus Jones: Luminous Friend. Greensboro, N.C. Guilford College. 1958. [University of Maine, Raymond H. Fogler Library, Special Collections]
Vining, Elizabeth Gray. Friend Of Life: The Biography of Rufus M. Jones. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company. 1958.
Whitten, James M. The Political and Social Views of Rufus M. Jones. 1955. (Thesis (M.A.) in History–University of Maine, 1955.) [University of Maine, Raymond H. Fogler Library, Special Collections]