Rufus M. Jones (Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948) | The Online Books Page

Rufus M. Jones (Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948) | The Online Books Page



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Rufus M. Jones
(Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948)

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Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Double Search: Studies in Atonement and Prayer (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1906) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948, ed.: George Fox, an Autobiography, by George Fox (HTML at CCEL)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Inner Life (New York: Macmillan, 1917) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Later Periods of Quakerism (2 volumes; London: Macmillan and Co., 1921)
Volume I: multiple formats at archive.org
Volume II: multiple formats at archive.org
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Nature and Authority of Conscience (London: Pub. for the Woodbrooke Extension Committee by the Swarthmore Press, 1920) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Quakerism: A Religion of Life (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Quakers in the American Colonies (London: Macmillan, 1911), also by Isaac Sharpless and Amelia M. Gummere (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948, ed.: The Record of a Quaker Conscience: Cyrus Pringle's Diary, by Cyrus G. Pringle
Gutenberg text
HTML at vermontcivilwar.org
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Remnant (London: The Swarthmore Press, c1920) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Social Law in the Spiritual World: Studies in Human and Divine Inter-Relationship (Philadelphia et al.: John C. Winston Co., c1904)
multiple formats at archive.org
page images at HathiTrust
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Spiritual Energies in Daily Life (New York: Macmillan, 1922) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries (Gutenberg text)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: St. Paul the Hero (New York: Macmillan, 1922) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Story of George Fox (New York: Macmillan, 1919) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Studies in Mystical Religion (London: Macmillan and Co., 1909) (multiple formats at archive.org)

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Additional books from the extended shelves:
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The double search; God's search for man and man's search for God, (Philadelphia, Chicago [etc.] The John C. Winston company, [c1937]) (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Eli and Sibyl Jones, Their Life and Work (Gutenberg ebook)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Eli and Sybil Jones: their life and work. (Philadelphia : Porter & Coates, [c1889]) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Fundamental ends of life / (New York : Macmillan, 1930, c1924) (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948, ed.: George Fox: An Autobiography, by George Fox (Gutenberg ebook)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: George Fox, an autobiography / (Philadelphia : Ferris & Leach, 1919, c1903), also by George Fox (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The inner life, (New York, The Macmillan company, 1916) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The later periods of Quakerism, (London, Macmillan and co., limited, 1921) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The message of Quakerism. Two addresses. (London, 1901) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The nature and authority of conscience / (London : Published for the Woodbrooke Extension Committee by the Swarthmore Press, 1920) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Quakerism : a religion of life / (London : Headley Brothers, 1912) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The Quakers in the American colonies, (London, Macmillan and Co., limited, 1911), also by Amelia M. Gummere and Isaac Sharpless (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The record of a Quaker conscience / (New York : Macmillan, 1918), also by Cyrus G. Pringle and Rufus Matthew Jones (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Religion as reality, life and power / (Philadelphia : W.H. Jenkins, 1919) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Social law in the spiritual world; studies in human and divine inter-relationship. ([London] The Swarthmore press ltd.; New York, George H. Doran company, [1923]) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Some exponents of mystical religion, (New York, Cincinnati [etc.] The Abingdon press, [c1930]) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Spiritual energies in daily life, (New York, The Macmillan Company, c1922) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Spiritual reformers in the 16th & 17th centuries, (London : Macmillan and Co., 1914) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: St. Paul the Hero (Gutenberg ebook)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Stories of Hebrew heroes, (London, Headley brothers, [1911]) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The story of George Fox / (New York : Macmillan, 1919), also by George Fox (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Studies in mystical religion, (London : Macmillan and co., limited, 1909) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: Studies in mystical religion / (London : Macmillan, 1923) (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The trail of life in college, (New York, The Macmillan company, 1929) (page images at HathiTrust)
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew), 1863-1948: The world within, (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1918) (page images at HathiTrust)

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The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition eBook: Thomas P. Slaughter: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition eBook: Thomas P. Slaughter: 

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The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition Kindle Edition
by Thomas P. Slaughter (Author)



3.5 out of 5 stars 7 customer reviews



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A biography of the famous eighteenth-century Quaker whose abolitionist fervor and spiritual practice made him a model for generations of Americans

John Woolman (1720–72) was perhaps the most significant American of his age, though he was not a famous politician, general, or man of letters, and never held public office. A humble Quaker tailor in New Jersey, he became a prophetic voice for the entire Anglo-American world when he denounced the evils of slavery in Quaker meetings, then in essays and his Journal, first published in 1774. In this illuminating new biography, Thomas P. Slaughter goes behind those famous texts to locate the sources of Woolman's political and spiritual power.

Slaughter's penetrating work shows how this plainspoken mystic transformed himself into a prophetic, unforgettable figure. Devoting himself to extremes of self-purification—dressing only in white, refusing to ride horses or in horse-drawn carriages—Woolman might briefly puzzle people; but his preaching against slavery, rum, tea, silver, forced labor, war taxes, and rampant consumerism was infused with a benign confidence that ordinary people could achieve spiritual perfection, and this goodness gave his message persuasive power and enduring influence. Placing Woolman in the full context of his times, Slaughter paints the portrait of a hero—and not just for the Quakers, social reformers, labor organizers, socialists, and peace advocates who have long admired him. He was an extraordinary original, an American for the ages.

Length: 469 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1401 KB
Print Length: 469 pages
Publisher: Hill and Wang; Reprint edition (13 October 2009)
Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B004UNCQXM
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Amazon.com: 3.5 out of 5 stars 7 reviews

R. M. Peterson
3.0 out of 5 starsA biography of a remarkable early American, but, alas, not for the general reader31 January 2009 - Published on Amazon.com
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Twenty years ago, in circumstances I no longer recall, I came across and bought a somewhat worn and battered volume in original calf binding of "The Works of John Woolman", published in Philadelphia in 1774. (According to the inscription at the front of my copy, it had been bought and was signed by Samuel Garrett on December 3, 1774.) But I did not know much about John Woolman until I bought and read this biography.

Woolman (1720-1772) was the grandson of English Quaker immigrants to the New World. He grew up on a farm near Mount Holly, New Jersey, and as an adult he made his livelihood as a storekeeper, a tailor, and a teacher. But the core of his life was his interior spiritual quest, and its outward manifestation was his ministry. In furtherance of that ministry, he went on numerous travels or missions in the English colonies, primarily to Quaker congregations but also, memorably, once to fractious Indians. His last mission was to England, during which he contracted smallpox and died.

The publication for which he is best known is his Journal, which is his "spiritual autobiography" and is a landmark of that genre. Two other noted writings are two essays on "keeping Negroes", which are landmarks in abolition literature. Indeed, today Woolman is best known as an early voice in America against slavery, one which was frequently cited by abolitionists and, later, by those in the civil rights movement.

Woolman's anti-slavery stance was based in part on an underlying belief in the equality of all creatures, something which he extended to (non-human) animals. He also is noted for his firm and well-reasoned anti-mercantilism and his critique of the drive to accumulate capital, as well as having advocated refusing to pay taxes that would be used to finance militia activities or war. Other themes in Woolman's writing and thought are "an abhorrence of violence, an ascetic sensibility, [and] a mystical temperament."

Thomas Slaughter writes that he had been interested in Woolman for over twenty years and, in a sense, worked on this biography for the same period of time. The result is extensively researched and obviously a labor of love. It includes much interesting (and necessary to an understanding of Woolman) background information about the Quakers and the religious, cultural, and societal milieu that gave rise to Woolman and in which he lived. In many respects THE BEAUTIFUL SOUL OF JOHN WOOLMAN is an admirable biography.

But it cannot be recommended, at least for the general reader. Part of the problem is Woolman. As Slaughter states: "The essential John Woolman, the meaningful core, was elusive in life; the man barely lived inside his skin. He has not gotten easier to find. He largely succeeded in detaching himself from material objects--things as well as people and himself--before he died. His trail was faint and got fainter." To fill out this biography, then, Slaughter had to engage in all sorts of empathetic speculation. Among other things, Slaughter has resorted to a detailed exegesis and interpretation of Woolman's dreams and visions (of which Woolman wrote about to great extent) -- a process that leaves me cold and somewhat incredulous.

The other, and perhaps biggest, part of the problem has to do with Slaughter as a writer. It is overly difficult to follow and track the flow of the book from topic to topic, largely because many shifts in topic -- as for example from biographical facts to background discussion of religious or cultural context -- are not signaled sufficiently clearly. Although on a gross, macro level the book proceeds chronologically, otherwise the organization is not transparent and there is too much needless repetition. There are patches of overly saccharine, precious, and labored writing, bordering on the truly bad. To top it off, Slaughter liberally inserts relatively lengthy quotes from Woolman's writings or other contemporary sources, the syntax and vocabulary of which are rather alien and trying.

I confess that mid-way through the book I began to skim it. To fully absorb the book, from beginning to end, requires some of the rare qualities of a John Woolman -- diligence, patience, self-denial, and even a little saintliness. It would be nice if there were a readable modern biography of John Woolman. This does not fill the bill.
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Miss Lickerish
5.0 out of 5 starsThoughtful, astounding book about an amazing & admirable man16 August 2010 - Published on Amazon.com
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What can I say. This book changed my life. It also gave me great background in colonial American history, the early history of slavery in the colonies/states, early Quakers in the colonies/states, and lots more. It is written in a very interesting, involving way. Woolman's spiritual, social, and political concerns and struggles are made clear and poignant. This is a labor of love for this author, with whom I'd love to talk!!!

3 people found this helpful

Lt Baker
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars19 October 2015 - Published on Amazon.com
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Lot of good info in this book about the man and his work


JayEm
1.0 out of 5 starsThe Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition - book22 April 2013 - Published on Amazon.com
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This is easily the worst book I ever read and could not discipline myself to finish this extremely boring true story.


Barry N. Bishop
4.0 out of 5 starsA Timeless Soul1 November 2013 - Published on Amazon.com


Thomas Slaughter's biography is sometimes too wordy and it sometimes wanders off into excessive background detail. At the same time it is a sympathetic treatment of a well-known Eighteenth-Century Quaker minister who may not be all that well understood even by those in the Religious Society of Friends. The book, presents a wide-ranging look at the societies of the United States and England at that time, including not only a growing awareness of the evils of slavery but also the internal and "inter-national" economic as well as social issues faced by the two societies, as well as growing conflicts between them. Therefore it presents a rather comprehensive context for understanding Woolman. Slaughter is an historian and the book is well-documented. He apparently is not a Quaker but he is sensitive to Friends' peculiar culture and ways of understanding their calling in the world around them. This book also, while not a hagiography of Woolman and while recognizing his idiosyncracies or "singularities", is a serious attempt to get inside the "beautiful soul" of a figure who struggled all his life with the problem of living in his world while not quite being of it. Slaughter avoids speculating freely about Woolman's thoughts or feelings, documenting instead what we can reasonably infer about these internal aspects of the man from what he wrote of himself as well as from observations of others who knew him and experienced his ministry. Questions may remain and probably are unresolvable, but the reader still develops a rather deep sense of this gentle and influential Quaker minister. In addition, many other historical figures of the time take on life, which adds to the portrait of Woolman and his world.

While the book is not exclusively about slavery, this issue was an obsessive concern for Woolman, motivating his many journeys around the colonies and ultimately to England, where he died. Therefore slavery and abolition figure throughout as a subordinate theme, as the title suggests. In addition, however, we learn much about the values and internal structure of the Society of Friends. The "testimonies" of the Friends--those corporately-held values and public declarations of these values to the world--figure prominently not only in who Woolman was but in in interactions with his fellow Quakers and others. The famous "peace testimony" emerges not only in Woolman's growing realization of the destructiveness of slavery but ultimately in his strong advocacy for the humane treatment of animals and even his concern for the treatment of plants. The "testimony on simplicity", which Quakers themselves still struggle to comprehend and articulate, leads Woolman to avoid partaking of certain products from the colonial economy, products which resulted from oppression (i.e. slave labor) and economic inequality: e.g. dyed cloth, silver, and travel by public conveyance. There is a clear demonstration of how an ethical critique of society has ramifications for how we must manage the economy, at least from a Quaker perspective.

It is touching to read how throughout his ministry Woolman, living by values related to human respect, avoids offending others even while he is driven to share with them his testimony of their moral failures. He gently chides the failure of his fellow Quakers to live by their own public testimonies before he preaches to those outside the Society of Friends. He struggles constantly to distinguish what God calls him to speak from his own personal opinions

This volume does not require of the reader to have a particular theological or moral perspective. At the same time it is a history of a man and his times that leaves one moved by his beautiful and timeless soul, even with his quirks and weaknesses. And perhaps Woolman asks us through his biographer whether or not we recognize the continuing validity of his testimonies.
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Quakerism; A Religion of Life (1908) eBook: Rufus Matthew Jones : Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Quakerism; A Religion of Life (1908) eBook: Rufus Matthew Jones : Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store
Rufus Matthew Jones (1863 – 1948) was an American religious leader, writer, magazine editor, philosopher, and college professor whose lecture "Quakerism; A Religion of Life" was published in book form in 1908.

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.

In "Quakerism; A Religion of Life" Jones writes:

"Spirit of Our Quakerism must, then, be nothing short of a religion of life, a real experiment in the application, the reproduction, of Christ s religion. Neither form nor the absence of form; neither creed nor the absence of creed will avail, but a kind of life which is Divinely begotten, inspired and fed from within. It is not 'views ' that are wanted, but the evidence that in the hush of our Meetings we find a living God, that in our human tasks Divine streams of Grace are raining into our lives, and currents of spiritual energy are coursing through our deeds and purposes. And withal we must go to our day s work with sunlight on our faces."

As a prolific author, Jones produced many popular works, including:

Practical Christianity, 1899.
Social law in the spiritual world; studies in human and divine inter-relationship, 1904.
The double search: studies in atonement and prayer, 1906.
The Abundant Life, 1908.
Studies in Mystical Religion, 1909.
The Quakers in the American Colonies, 1911
The Luminous Trail
New Eyes for Invisibles
The Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries, 1914.
The Inner Life, 1916.
A Service of Love in War Time: 1917-1919, 1920.
The Later Periods of Quakerism, 1921
Spiritual Energies in Daily Life, 1922.
The Church's Debt to Herectics, 1924
The Faith and Practice of the Quakers, 1927.
The Trail of Life in College, 1929.
Some Exponents of Mystical Religion, 1930.
Pathways to the Reality of God, 1931.
The Testimony of the Soul, 1936.
The Eternal Gospel, 1938.
The Flowering of Mysticism, 1939.
A Small-Town Boy, 1941
"Mystical Experience" in The Atlantic Monthly, May 1942.
The Radiant Life, 1944.
A Call to what is Vital, 1948













Rufus Matthew Jones

Quakerism; A Religion of Life (1908) Kindle Edition
by Jones , Rufus Matthew (Author)

Length: 50 pages
Word Wise: Enabled
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Amazon.com: 4.1 out of 5 stars 5 reviews



Suzanne Beaumont

4.0 out of 5 starsAn inspiring treatise for anyone who knows the Spirit within. A strong encouragement to move into the world actively bringing God's love in concrete ways so that all people
3 July 2018 - Published on Amazon.com
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that all may know they have the same Sprit within and all may work for the highest ideals of justice that we as a nation say we acclaim. While written many years sgo, the message stands true for today.



Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Book

8 May 2016 - Published on Amazon.com

Rufus Jones is a tremendous representative of the Quaker faith. His writings introduce people to the value of the Quaker way of life.




Grand4.5

4.0 out of 5 starsThe Quackers

25 May 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

Bought as a gift. Thought it was overpriced.





Poodentain


5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

23 September 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

great introduction to Quakerism for those seeking






Margaret Anderson


3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

12 August 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

It was fine though I didn't know it would be photocopies of the book.


Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars

Harvard Classics Volume 1: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; The Journal of John Woolman; Some Fruits of Solitude eBook: Benjamin Franklin, John Woolman, William Penn, Charles Eliot, Roy Pitchford: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Harvard Classics Volume 1: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; The Journal of John Woolman; Some Fruits of Solitude eBook: Benjamin Franklin, John Woolman, William Penn, Charles Eliot, Roy Pitchford: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Amazon Customer

4.0 out of 5 starsWorth it? Probably

25 January 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

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The main issue I have with the Harvard Classics library on Amazon is that it IS a public domain work, so you should not have to pay for it. However, all versions freely available don't display properly on the Kindle or Kindle fire. They're also loaded with a number of technical errors, flow issues, and very odd scan issues. Luckily or unluckily for us, Amazon has gone through the works and cleaned them up and created a package that is easily accessible and most importantly READABLE. For the list price of two dollars is well worth the work you would put in trying to deal with the number of errors and issues with the versions available on project Gutenberg and archive.org.

NOTE: This volume is pulled from the 1909 publishing of the series by PF Collier & Son.

The Journal of John Woolman - Enhanced Version eBook: John Woolman: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

The Journal of John Woolman - Enhanced Version eBook: John Woolman: Amazon.com.au: Kindle 

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The Journal of John Woolman - Enhanced Version Kindle Edition
by John Woolman (Author)



5.0 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews



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The Journal of John Woolman tells the encouraging and powerful story of John Woolman's life. John Woolman was a 17th century Quaker and abolitionist. His Journal focuses on his moral, spiritual, and intellectual development. In particular, it depicts Woolman's deep concern for equality and justice. His concern made him act as an agent of restoration towards those whom he saw as being oppressed in his time. He was an open advocate of abolition, and encouraged many to free their slaves. But his influence extended beyond the Quakers. His letters and journeys have impacted many different people; his Journal alone has been continuously published since 1774--a true testimony to the significance and impact of his life! Reading this powerful work will encourage one to be, following John Woolman's example, a positive force of justice, equality, and restoration in the world.

Tim Perrine
CCEL Staff Writer

This edition features an artistic cover, a new promotional introduction, an index of scripture references, links for scripture references to the appropriate passages, and a hierarchical table of contents which makes it possible to navigate to any part of the book with a minimum of page turns.

Length: 274 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled Language: English

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Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 395 KB
Print Length: 274 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Christian Classics Ethereal Library; 1.1 edition (14 July 2009)
Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B002HMCOH6
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Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars 2 reviews

Michael Foret
5.0 out of 5 starsAn American Saint's Too Little Recognized Classic14 July 2013 - Published on Amazon.com
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John Woolman is an overlooked voice for justice from the Quaker tradition during the late 1700s in colonial and early national America. In the pages of his journal Woolman tells us few details about his outer life, and those are brief and rather matter-of-fact, omitting a lot of details we would like to know. He does often allude to his inner life, which experienced many highs and lows of the spirit, always keen to know and to follow the promptings of the Spirit that comes from God.

Woolman traveled widely on his own and on God's business, and he had some of his writings published during his lifetime. I wish more people knew about him and his work for several reasons. 



First, he was a strong, early voice against slavery. There are some in the Religious Right who have put forward a revisionist view of history--to be polite about what they contend--that Christians were good slaveholders, that is, that they treated their slaves well and that slavery was thereby good for those slaves owned by Christians. Woolman puts forward a very strong personal witness against this blatantly erroneous viewpoint; his was only one of many prophetic voices against this historical canard.)

Second, and for me just as important, Woolman serves us as a model of the inner life, the spiritual life, of a serious, committed Christian. His prayer life clearly was modeled on Jesus' own, and like Jesus he was always concerned to be doing his Father's will. He often agonized over whether he was doing God's will or his own.

Third, John Woolman lived at the end of the age of mercantilism and the beginning of the age of capitalism, in what I have always thought of as pre-capitalism. This is very important, because we can see in his writings a great concern with social and economic justice that can in no way be traced to, imputed to, or connected in any way with Marxism. John Woolman knew enough about the economic system of his day to see it as a system, and he properly saw that his role as a consumer alone made him responsible, in some way, for the operations of those systems. He was as concerned for the rightness and wrongness of the treatment of indentured servants as he was for Africans and their descendents held in chattel slavery. He may not have used the language used by many legal scholar and theologians today, but he clearly saw that how we spend our money in such a system, and our patterns of consumption, are exercises of our value system. I don't think that he said outright that wearing dyed cloth was a sin--read the book to see why this was such a big issue for him--but he clearly struggled with discerning the will of God to know just what he could do in the marketplace without engaging in sin. Clearly, he believed that even participating in the system of chattel slavery as indirectly as writing wills or other instruments for the transfer of slaves from one owner to the next was against God's will and wish, and therefore a sin. He didn't know where other lines were, but he had discernment enough to know that he should be trying to learn where they were that he might live the gospel in his own walk home.

If you haven't read much writing from this period, it may take a while to become accustomed to language and style that is not quite King James English, but is not wholly modern either. Once you do adjust, you may find lots of other voices from this period to really enjoy beyond Woolman's.

I first read this book in a bare-bones PDF format, so I was happy to see this expanded Kindle version. The introductory essay by John Greenleaf Whittier tell us more about Woolman's life and works--that is, temporal and spiritual, so to speak--and his influence on his own day as well as on later generations. And I always appreciate an appendix with scriptural references delineated.
John Woolman's life and writings deserve to be much better known. I highly recommend this book.
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Lawrence
5.0 out of 5 starsA fascinating book about and by a powerfully spiritual and inspirational American and humble Quaker prophet26 August 2013 - Published on Amazon.com
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This is a very interesting and compelling book. John Woolman is an inspiration to anyone who labors with the notions of equality, love of fellow man, right use of resources, humility, grace, faith and any number of other spiritual concerns. His testimony to Quaker principles and beliefs is truly awesome, and his dedication and service remain extremely relevant and impactful to this day, more than two centuries after his passing.

2 people found this helpfulGo to Amazon.com to see all 2 reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars