MY MENTOR: AUGUST FRANCKE
Steven J. Cole
April 1, 1987
Last week, if you had happened by my office during one of those rare moments between appointments and meeting the weekly deadlines, you would have found me nose-deep in Charles Hodge's three-volume Systematic Theology. Since in seminary I adroitly avoided all but the minimum reading requirements in theology, why am I now spending discretionary time reading theology, something I once considered a soporific? The blame (or credit) goes to my mentor, August Francke, who convinced me that as a pastor, I'm in the idea business. In case you don't know him, I'd like to introduce you to Francke. He's not a celebrity, but he changed my ministry. I remember when I first met him. I groaned as I read the assignment for my seminary course "Church History from 1500-1800": "A twenty-five-page paper on some aspect of this period." "Another boring paper," I grumbled. "If only I could find an interesting person to write about." George Mller, the man with the exemplary prayer life, was the only name that came to mind. But I discovered Mller wasn't born until 1805. Rats! Mller would have to wait till next semester. Then I recalled from Mller's biography that he had been influenced by someone named August Francke. Maybe I could write on him. I soon discovered there weren't any decent biographies in English. I had to rely on a microfilm of an obscure dissertation for source material. Furthermore, Francke was known as a founder of Pietism. In seminary, I knew how disreputable that label was. Calling someone a "Pietist" was no compliment. It was only a shorter way of saying, "You anti-intellectual, socially uninvolved excuse for a Christian!" But in Francke, I discovered a man who has since helped shape my ministry. Francke and his times
In Francke's native ...
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