ByQuotes

E. Stanley Jones Quotes

Powerful E. Stanley Jones for Daily Growth

About E. Stanley Jones

E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) was an influential American Christian missionary, author, and theologian, known for his deep understanding of Eastern religions and their synthesis with Christianity. Born on July 5, 1884, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Jones grew up in a devout Methodist family. His early life experiences sparked his interest in religion and spirituality, leading him to enroll at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. After graduation, Jones felt a divine call to serve as a missionary in India. In 1906, he was appointed by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Board of Missions and set sail for Bombay (now Mumbai). His years spent in India, immersed in Indian culture, would profoundly shape his life and work. Jones's first major book, "The Christ of the Indian Road" (1920), was an attempt to explain the essence of Christianity using Hindu concepts. This groundbreaking work established him as a leading figure in interfaith dialogue and earned him the nickname 'John the Baptist of the East.' In 1938, he published "The Religion of Mahatma Gandhi," which offered insights into the philosophies that drove the Indian leader's nonviolent resistance. Jones maintained a close friendship with Gandhi and was one of the few Westerners allowed to attend Gandhi's cremation in 1948. Throughout his life, Jones traveled extensively across India, Asia, Europe, and North America, delivering speeches, writing books, and promoting interfaith understanding. His works include "A Buddhist-Christian Dialogue" (1953), "The Living Christ in the World Today" (1960), and "Stalking the Wild Awake" (1964). Jones's influence extended beyond religion, as he was also a key figure in the Indian independence movement. He passed away on June 7, 1973, leaving behind a rich legacy that continues to inspire interfaith dialogue and religious harmony.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"To love a person is to see all of a person, including their potential."

This quote by E. Stanley Jones emphasizes the profound nature of love as it transcends superficial perceptions and acknowledges the inherent potential within each individual. By loving someone, one recognizes not only their current state but also their capabilities for growth and development. Love, in this sense, is a powerful tool that encourages personal flourishing and fosters positive change.

"Jesus did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive."

This quote by E. Stanley Jones suggests that Jesus' mission is not just about correcting moral flaws or improving behavior in people, but rather about a profound transformation - going from being spiritually dead (lacking connection with God) to living a life filled with spiritual vitality and purpose. It implies that salvation transcends mere improvement, it is a resurrection to a new life.

"The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance."

E. Stanley Jones' quote highlights that the journey towards change begins with self-awareness, which involves acknowledging one's current state or situation. Once we become conscious of our shortcomings or the need for transformation, the next crucial step is acceptance – accepting ourselves as we are and recognizing the necessity for personal growth or change. With this understanding, we can then embark on making meaningful adjustments in our lives.

"The only thing that ultimately defeats evil is good for it brings love into the world."

This quote by E. Stanley Jones suggests that the most effective means to overcome or defeat evil is through the power of good, as it introduces love into the world. In other words, love, kindness, compassion, and acts of goodness have the ability to counterbalance negative forces and promote positive change. By fostering a culture of love, we can transform hearts and minds, ultimately overcoming adversity and fostering a more harmonious society.

"The more I live, the more I find myself coming back to the simple truth: love wins."

This quote by E. Stanley Jones suggests that as one experiences more of life's complexities, they come to understand that love - in its purest and broadest sense - is the ultimate victor. It implies that love transcends challenges, conquers adversity, and persists in all aspects of life, eventually emerging triumphant. This profound statement reminds us that kindness, understanding, and compassion, when applied consistently, can bring about positive change, healing, and unity among people.

In conversion you are not attached primarily to an order, nor to an institution, nor a movement, nor a set of beliefs, nor a code of action - you are attached primarily to a Person, and secondarily to these other things.

- E. Stanley Jones

Other, Code, Set, Attached

Prayer is commitment. We don't merely co-operate with God with certain things held back within. We, the total person, co-operate. This means that co-operation equals committment.

- E. Stanley Jones

Means, Certain Things, Held, Co-Operation

Continuing a Lenten series on prayer: Prayer is co-operation with God. It is the purest exercise of the faculties God has given us - an exercise that links these faculties with the Maker to work out the intentions He had in mind in their creation.

- E. Stanley Jones

Mind, Easter, Given, Co-Operation

Some have said that the power of a Redeemer would depend upon two things: first, upon the richness of the self that was given; and second, upon the depths of the giving. Friend and foe alike are agreed on the question of the character of Jesus Christ.

- E. Stanley Jones

Giving, Depend, Some, Depths

When the depths are upheld by the Holy Spirit, then the reaction is Christian.

- E. Stanley Jones

Reaction, Holy, Upheld, Depths

Being born in a Christian home does not make you a Christian.

- E. Stanley Jones

Christian, Born, Does, Christian Home

Prayer is commission. Out of the quietness with God, power is generated that turns the spiritual machinery of the world. When you pray, you begin to feel the sense of being sent, that the divine compulsion is upon you.

- E. Stanley Jones

Feel, Sense, Compulsion, Quietness

The conscious mind determines the actions, the unconscious mind determines the reactions; and the reactions are just as important as the actions.

- E. Stanley Jones

Mind, Important, Unconscious, Reactions

Here he tells us that the new birth is first of all 'not of blood'. You don't get it through the blood stream, through heredity. Your parents can give you much, but they cannot give you this.

- E. Stanley Jones

New, Through, Here, Heredity

At the cross God wrapped his heart in flesh and blood and let it be nailed to the cross for our redemption.

- E. Stanley Jones

God, Redemption, His, Flesh

Whatever our creed, we stand with admiration before the sublime character of Jesus.

- E. Stanley Jones

Character, Admiration, Jesus, Creed

We are personalities in the making, limited, and grappling with things too high for us. Obviously we, at very best, will make many mistakes, but these mistakes need not be sins.

- E. Stanley Jones

Making, Very, Limited, Personalities

God, to redeem us at the deepest portion of our nature - the urge to love and be loved - must reveal His nature in an incredible and impossible way. He must reveal it at a cross.

- E. Stanley Jones

Love, Nature, Reveal, Redeem

Life is supplied with a basic adequacy.

- E. Stanley Jones

Life, Adequacy, Basic, Supplied

If the Holy Spirit can take over the subconscious with our consent and cooperation, then we have almighty Power working at the basis of our lives, then we can do anything we ought to do, go anywhere we ought to go, and be anything we ought to be.

- E. Stanley Jones

Over, Holy, Lives, Ought

In the ordinary church, it is suppressed by respectability, by a desire to appear better than we really are.

- E. Stanley Jones

Desire, Better, Appear, Suppressed

Prayer is aligning ourselves with the purposes of God.

- E. Stanley Jones

Prayer, Religion, Ourselves, Purposes

Victorious living does not mean freedom from temptation, nor does it mean freedom from mistakes.

- E. Stanley Jones

Freedom, Living, Nor, Victorious

The action carries a sense of incompleteness and frustration, but not of guilt. Victorious living does not mean perfect living in the sense of living without flaw, but it does mean adequate living, and that can be consistent with many mistakes.

- E. Stanley Jones

Guilt, Living, Perfect, Victorious

Our intentions may be very good, but, because the intelligence is limited, the action may turn out to be a mistake - a mistake, but not necessarily a sin, for sin comes out of a wrong intention.

- E. Stanley Jones

Mistake, May, Very, Intention

You cease to move into yourself, away from others. You give up your antagonism. You begin to move toward others in love. God moved toward you in gracious, outgoing love, and you move toward others in that same outgoing love.

- E. Stanley Jones

Love, Give, Outgoing, Gracious

To pass from estrangement from God to be a son of God is the basic fact of conversion. That altered relationship with God gives you an altered relationship with yourself, with your brother man, with nature, with the universe.

- E. Stanley Jones

Nature, Fact, Pass, Basic

Prayer means that the total you is praying. Your whole being reaches out to God, and God reaches down to you.

- E. Stanley Jones

Prayer, Means, Total, Praying

Our actions are the results of our intentions and our intelligence.

- E. Stanley Jones

Results, Actions, Our, Intentions

Character is supreme in life, hence Jesus stood supreme in the supreme thing - so supreme that, when we think of the ideal, we do not add virtue to virtue, but think of Jesus Christ, so that the standard of human life is no longer a code but a character.

- E. Stanley Jones

Think, Add, Standard, Hence

When we think of the ideal, we do not add virtue to virtue, but think of Jesus Christ, so that the standard of human life is no longer a code, but a character.

- E. Stanley Jones

Think, Add, Standard, Human Life

We grow small trying to be great.

- E. Stanley Jones

Great, Small, Grow, Trying

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.