"Mystical union with the divine, according to Jones, was not a privilege reserved only for the great spiritual athletes. But Jones did not just theorize — he also popularized. His willingness to market himself to the masses was a critical stimulus towards the popular embrace of a mystical emphasis in liberal Protestant spirituality, both because of his own direct influence and because of his influence on even more popular writers such as Howard Thurman and Harry Emerson Fosdick. This middlebrowing of mysticism paved the way for the success of a wide range of mystical writers to come, starting with Thomas Merton and lasting into the New Age."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Matthew S. Hedstrom, in "Rufus Jones and Mysticism for the Masses" in Cross Currents, Vol. 54, No 2 (Summer 2004)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rufus_Jones_(writer)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Rufus Jones (writer)
Rufus Matthew Jones (25 January 1863 – 16 June 1948) was an American writer, magazine editor, philosopher, historian and theologian who was one of the most influential Quakers of the 20th century. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Haverford Emergency Unit (a precursor to the American Friends Service Committee), and the only person to give two Swarthmore Lectures, the first of them all, in 1908, and his second in 1920.
15 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Rufus Jones (writer) →
Related Quotes
"There is very great need to have the unique aspect of spirit in man and its relation to the divine spirit in the univ…"
"There has always been in the Society of Friends a group of persons pledged unswervingly to the ideal. To those who fo…"
"If we are to prove that Fox really struck a jet of living water, we ourselves must tap that same fountain."
"Mysticism has been for the most part sporadic. It has found an exponent now here, now there, but it has shown little …"
"No person can ever hope to gain an adequate idea of the religious movement which has been called by the name of Quake…"
"The Inner Light is the doctrine that there is something Divine, "something of God," in the human soul. Five words are…"
"The Society of Friends is not a yearly meeting, not a Five Years Meeting, not an occasional conference, not a central…"
"I want to make perfectly clear the act that the world is in the fringe, in the penumbra, of a tremendous Revolution, …"
"There is a dearth of genuine philosophy of life and of a convincing interpretation of spiritual reality. It may well …"
"Most persons are awakened and set on their new track of life through the quickening and kindling power of some person…"