FRIEND OF LIFE

by Elizabeth Gray Vining ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 24, 1958

A true labor of love, this book by the Quaker author of Windows for the Crown Prince should stand as the definitive biography of the great American Quaker mystic and philosopher, Rufus M. Jones, organizer of the American Friends Service Commission, whose teachings influenced religious thought throughout the world. Born in 1863 in South China, Maine, of solid Quaker stock, educated in Quaker schools and the Quaker college, Haverford, Jones was early fascinated by religious mysticism and as a young man experienced a mystical revelation which colored his whole life. In 1893 he became editor of The Friends Review, bringing to the journal a broad spiritual outlook not always valued by staid and orthodox Friends; a dedicated, witty and inspired teacher, he lectured for years in Haverford, where the Chair of Philosophy was created for him, and in Bryn Mawr. In World War I he founded the American Friends Service Commission, for non-combatant field work, remaining Chairman of the famous organization until 1944; in 1938 he went to Germany in an abortive effort to save the Jews from Nazi persecution. Known and beloved the world over, the friend of men great and small, he died in 1948 at the age of 85. Long, detailed, necessarily overburdened with religious comment, the book will appeal to philosophers, teachers and students of religious thought, and to those interested in modern humanitarian movements; it is not for the casual reader or those who like their biographies diluted with fiction.

Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION