Introduction
INTRODUCTION
In 1971, my parents, Eunice Jones Mathews and James K. Mathews, compiled Selections from E. Stanley Jones: Christ and Human Need, drawing upon passages from Jones’s sixteen non-devotional books. My parents fully intended to create a companion book using material from my grandfather’s ten devotionals, and wrote in their introduction to Selections from E. Stanley Jones that “the devotionals require separate treatment and at a later time we intend to compile a selection of the best passages from them.” However, they were not able to complete that task, and I have stepped in to finish it for them.
This book is organized into chapters that focus on deep matters of faith and on the “how” of living a life following Jesus. Beginning with Christ includes topics relating to The Faith Journey, with selections from Jones addressing belief, faith, and surrender; Christian Practices, about love, prayer, forgiveness, witness and evangelism; Theology, which shares Jones’s thoughts about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the kingdom of God; Challenges, exploring Jones’s writings on evil, human suffering, war, and worry; and Engaging with Our World, including his writing on the relationship between faith and science, freedom, health, justice, and poverty, to name just a few.
My parents realized an introduction to the life and writings of E. Stanley Jones would benefit a new generation and so created their Selections from E. Stanley Jones in the hope of engaging new readers in Jones’ unique ministry and timeless message. They wrote:
In rereading his non-devotional books we were constantly amazed by their continuing vitality and freshness. For the most part Jones reads with an astonishingly contemporary flavor. The themes are in no sense passé; rather the church has not yet caught up with some of his perspectives. Hardly a topic of current interest fails to find expression in one fashion or another. Jones was ecumenical before most people had heard of the term. Race relations is a theme of most of his books and war and peace is repeatedly and inescapably dealt with. Jones’ topics cluster around deep matters of faith—including the meaning of Christ today, the kingdom of God, evangelism, discipleship and the inner life. It is all here.
Those observations were written fifty years ago and still ring true in this new volume. Jones’s words continue to be used in the spiritual awakening and nurture of literally thousands of persons. His insights bring hope and refreshment to multitudes all over the world—as ordinary persons become extraordinary as they are transformed into new persons through Jesus Christ.
During his long career, Stanley Jones was a witness: an evangelist—the bearer of good news. Very early in Jones’s ministry, a wise friend told him: “You are not a theologian; you are a dowsing rod. You tell us where there is water beneath—remember your function.” The all-embracing compass of the gospel has been set forth unwaveringly in a more effective manner by Jones than by another evangelist, past or present.
My experience in selecting passages was similar to that of my parents. We both came to understand that choosing one passage meant leaving another out, one that was also meaningful and addressed an important human need. I hope the selections in this volume will be invitations to the reader, rather than mere instructions. Jones-the-evangelist spent his life inviting response, participation, and involvement in new life in Christ.
The ten devotionals that provide the material for this book were published by Abingdon Press over a twenty-seven year period. Selections appearing in Beginning with Christ are arranged in chronological order according to publication date: Victorious Living (1936); Abundant Living (1941); The Way (1946); The Way to Power and Poise (1949); How to Be a Transformed Person (1951); Growing Spiritually (1953); Mastery (1955); Christian Maturity (1957); In Christ (1961); and The Word Became Flesh (1963). Several of these books are available in updated editions.
I am grateful to Adam Hamilton for the beautiful foreword to this book. I am also grateful to Abingdon Press and in particular to the late Mary Catherine Dean for her support on a range of efforts to introduce E. Stanley Jones to a new generation of readers and for a plan between Abingdon Press and the E. Stanley Jones Foundation to have all of Jones’s writings back in print by 2025. Jones’s first book, The Christ of the Indian Road, was published by the Methodist Publishing House in 1925. In 2025, Abingdon Press will have had books by E. Stanley Jones continually in print for a century. Surely they will remain an invitation to new generations to experience the transforming power of a life lived in Jesus Christ.
— Anne Mathews-Younes
President, E. Stanley Jones Foundation