Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
, theologian, and author. He is remembered for his interreligious lectures to the educated classes in India. His seminal work, ''The Christ of the Indian Road'' (), sold more than a million copies worldwide after its publication in 1925. As of 2018, three million copies of his books have been sold. He is the founder of the Christian ashram movement. In 1938, ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' called Jones "the world's greatest Christian missionary.".
Life
E. Stanley Jones was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 3, 1884. He was educated in Baltimore schools and studied law at City College before graduating from Asbury College, Wilmore,
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
in 1907. He was on the faculty of Asbury College when he was called to missionary service in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
in 1907 under the Board of Missions of the
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...
. He traveled to India and began working with the lowest castes, including
Dalits
Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for Untouchability, untouchables and Outcast (person), outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called ...
. He became a close friend of many leaders in the
Indian Independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
, and became known for his interfaith work. He said, “Peace is a by-product of conditions out of which peace naturally comes. If reconciliation is God’s chief business, it is ours - between man and God, between man and himself, and between man and man.”.
In 1911, he married fellow missionary Mabel Lossing, whom he met in India.Christian History Institute website, ''Christian History Timeline: E Stanley Jones'' /ref> Their only child, Eunice, was born in 1914.
According to his and other contemporary reports, his friendship for the cause of Indian self-determination allowed him to become a friend of leaders of the up-and-coming
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
party. He spent much time with
Mohandas K. Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...
and the
Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...
family. Gandhi challenged Jones and, through Jones' writing, the thousands of Western missionaries working there during the last decades of the
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
, to include greater respect for the mindset and strengths of the Indian character in their work.
In 1925, while home on furlough, he wrote a report of his years of service - what he had taught and what he had learned in India. It was published in a book released in 1926 titled "The Christ of the Indian Road" and became a best seller. It sold over a million copies. Other books followed and certain books or single chapters became required reading in various theological seminaries or in degree courses at government colleges in parts of the world.
His work became interdenominational and worldwide. He helped to re-establish the Indian “
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and Japanese leaders trying to avert war. Stranded in the United States during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
with his family in India (because the only overseas travel allowed was for the military), he transplanted the Christian Ashram in the United States and Canada, where it has become a strong spiritual growth ministry. During this time, Jones spent six months in North America, conducting citywide evangelistic missions, Christian Ashrams, and other spiritual life missions and the other six months overseas. He preached and held Christian Ashrams in almost every country of the world.
In 1947 in the United States, he launched the Crusade for a Federal Union of Churches. He conducted mass meetings from coast to coast and spoke in almost five hundred cities, towns and churches. He advocated a system through which denominations could unite as they were, each preserving its own distinctive emphasis and heritage, but accepting one another and working together in a kind of federal union patterned after the United States' system of federal union.
In 1950 Jones provided funds for India's first Christian psychiatric center and clinic, the now noted Nur Manzil Psychiatric Center and Medical Unit at Lucknow. The staff includes specialists from India, Asia, Africa, Europe, and America who had given up lucrative practices to serve in this Christian institution which serves thousands of patients.Sattal Christian Ashram website, ''Founders'' /ref>
In 1959 Jones was named “Missionary Extraordinary” by the Methodist missionary publication World Outlook.
In 1962, he was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
for his missionary work in India.
In 1963, Jones received the
Gandhi Peace Award
The Gandhi Peace Award is an award and cash prize presented annually since 1960 by Promoting Enduring Peace to individuals for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honor of Mohandas Kara ...
. Jones had become a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, and after Gandhi's assassination wrote a biography of his life. It is noted that later in time, Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
told Jones' daughter, Eunice Jones Mathews, that it was this biography that inspired him to "non-violence" in the Civil Rights Movement.
In December 1971, at the age of 88, while leading the Oklahoma Christian Ashram, Jones suffered a stroke that seriously impaired him physically, including his speech. In spite of that, he dictated onto a tape recorder his last book "The Divine Yes" and preached from his wheelchair at the First Christian Ashram World Congress in Jerusalem in June 1972.
He died January 25, 1973, in India. He was survived by Mabel, who died five years later.
Published works
These are the British publishers' titles; American titles may be different.
Some of his books, such as ''Victorious Living'' and ''Abundant Living'', were designed to be read either from beginning to end as a novel or as a "page-a-day" daily devotional.
In 2009 Lucknow Publishing published ''Living Upon The Way'', a 15-hour audio series of selected sermons.
In March and July 2010 Summerside Press published ''Victorious Living'' and ''Abundant Living'' in a new "ESJ Devotional Series" edited and expanded by Dean Merrill.
Books
* ''The Christ of the Indian Road'' (1925). German transl. ''Der Christus der indischen Landstraße. Jesu Nachfolge in Indien'' by Paul Gäbler (1928).
* ''Christ at the Round Table'' (1928). German tr. ''Christus am Runden Tisch. Offene Aussprachen unter Jesu Augen in Indien'' by Paul Gäbler (1930).
* ''The Christ of Every Road - A study in Pentecost'' (1930). German tr. by H inrichFellmann (1931)
* ''The Christ of the Mount - A Working Philosophy of Life'' (1931). German transl. by H inrichFellmann (1933)
* ''Christ and Human Suffering'' - Hodder & Stoughton, First English Edition, August 1933.
* ''Christ’s Alternative to Communism'' (1935) US title
* ''Christ and Communism'' (1935) UK titleGoodReads website, ''Eli Stanley Jones'' /ref>
* ''Victorious Living'' (1936) (devotional)
* ''The Choice Before Us'' (1937)
* ''Christ and Present World Issues'' (1937)
* ''Along the Indian Road'' (1939)
* ''Is the Kingdom of God Realism?'' (1940)
* ''Abundant Living'' (1942) (devotional)
* ''How to Pray'' (1943)
* ''The Christ of the American Road'' (1944)
* ''The Way'' (1946) (devotional)
* ''Mahatma Gandhi: An Interpretation'' (1948); 2nd ed.: ''Gandhi - Portrayal of a Friend'' (Abingdon, 1993)
* ''The Way to Power and Poise'' (1949) (devotional)
* ''How to be a Transformed Person'' (1951) (devotional)
* ''Growing Spiritually'' (1953) (devotional)
* ''Mastery (1953)'' (devotional)
* ''Christian Maturity'' (1957) (devotional)
* ''Conversion'' (1959)
* ''In Christ'' (1961) (devotional)
* ''The Word Became Flesh'' (1963) (devotional)
* ''Victory Through Surrender'' (1966)
* ''Song of Ascents'' (1968) (autobiography)
* ''The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person'' (1972)
* ''The Reconstruction of the Church - On what Pattern?'' (1970)
* ''The Divine Yes'' (1975) (posthumously)
Compilations
* ''Sayings of E Stanley Jones - A Treasury of Wisdom and Wit'' (1994) Compiled and edited by Whitney J Dough
* ''Selections from E Stanley Jones - Christ and Human Need'' Compiled by Eunice Jones Mathews and James K Mathews
References
Further reading
* ''The Missionary of the Indian Road'' (Bangalore, Theological Book Trust, 1996) by Paul A. J. Martin, (Based on a Cambridge University Thesis.)