Augustine as Mentor: A Model for Preparing Spiritual Leaders By Edward L. Smither's Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2008, 264 pp, $ 17.99
softcover.
Dr. Edward L. Smither is an assistant professor of Church History and Intercultural Studies at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. He has written a helpful book for those in Christian leadership today on mentoring focusing mainly on the early church bishop Augustine of Hippo (354 -430) entitled Augustine as Mentor:Model for Preparing Spiritual Leaders.
Today, people are often in such a hurry to get from one appointment to another, shopping, work, children, church and more. The busyness of life leaves people with little time to focus on learning from others and teaching others themselves. This is especially true in many churches today. Smither points out through many early church fathers that this, historically speaking, has not always been the case in the Christian Church and does not have to be the status quo for today. The main thesis in Smither’s book is, “That Augustine effectively mentored spiritual leaders and set them apart for needed ministries in the church and that many aspects of his mentoring will serve as instructive for the modern mentor.”[1]
Smither starts by describing discipleship and mentorship as not something that was exclusive to Jesus and the disciples but was common before Christ in the sect called the Pharisees.[2] The main practice of Jesus was to disciple through a group. He had twelve men whom he discipled. These men shared in the tasks of eating, visiting, traveling, and living with Jesus. These disciples also were committed to the teaching of Jesus. They learned from his life. Smith says that “The apostles and evangelists who came after Jesus also seemed to follow this pattern of teaching.”[3] Mentoring and discipleship were continued on after Christ by such men as Barnabus who mentoring Paul and Paul mentoring Timothy.
The main themes that run throughout the book seem to answer the question of the “How” of mentoring. What was passed on? How was it accomplished? Smither points out that the pattern of mentoring from Christ to Cyprian, Basil, Ambrose, and finally climaxing with Augustine was found in these five general areas.
First, mentoring was accomplished through groups. The groups functioned for mutual prayer, encouragement, study, and support. As Christianity continued to spread and develop monasteries were developed to focus on this idea of group and peer mentoring. The groups and monasteries were overseen by a theologian, teacher, or bishop. Also, an outworking of group mentoring came the idea and focus on church councils which started with Cyprian. He organized the councils to “deal with church matters.”[4] These councils were a way to teach other bishops and also to defend against increasing heresy in the church. After Cyprian, Pachomius developed houses or monasteries to train, mentor, and grow monks and clergy. These were further developed as full-fledge training institutions by Augustine in the spiritual disciplines and clerical life.
Second, was the mentor as disciple initiative. Among all the main church leaders Smither writes about, they all were mentored and some mentoring for many years into their ministry. Cyprian was mentored by Caecilian. Augustine was mainly mentored by Monica his mother, Simplicianus and Valerius. Mentoring is not just a giving process but also learning from others.
Third, was the use of dialogue. Augustine used this greatly and was also enhanced by the monastic community and was even encouraged among the many councils also. Dialoguing over spiritual issues, prayer, theological and Scriptural issues was very important in these times.
Fourth, was the issue of writing letters and books. Smither points out that from Apostle Paul to Augustine, that communicating through writing for the purposes of mentoring and teaching was very popular. These gave the writers the opportunity to deal with false teaching, encouragement, theological issues, doctrinal issues, and proper interpretation of Scripture as was seen in the continued dialogue of letters between Jerome and Augustine. Smither’s also stated that “Ambrose believed that letters to fellow clergy were a means of making his presence know though he was personally distant.”[5] This would have been a very important way to communicate in those times as they would not have had internet and phone systems along with the fact that travel would have taken a great amount of time and effort. Writing was one of the best forms of communication with such distances.
Lastly, Smither points out that there is a heritage from Jesus to Augustine of the commitment to the importance of Scriptures and sound teaching. An example from Augustine’s life is pointed out by Smith, “He believed that as soon as he learned something in the Scriptures, he should quickly pass it on for the edification of the church.”[6] The Scripture was real and was meant to teach the mentor and the mentored. Within the context of the monasteries, Scripture reading, teaching and memorization were a foundation to the education of all who attended. The monasteries ended up producing many clergy over time because of the quality of education. Smither also mentions that they, “spent time each day reading the Scriptures and other spiritually oriented books from their library.[7]
The life of Augustine is truly an amazing study. His passion for mentoring is seen in all that he accomplished. Smither’s says, “His most significant legacy was ‘numerous clergy.’”[8] Because of the numerous monasteries that Augustine organized this helped the church and there were many people ordained to the ministry for years to come. This proves Smither’s thesis that Augustine was an effective mentor.
Overall, this book is a very informative book on mentorship. Many of the disciplines that helped the church grow and continue even up until this century have been based on these principles. Discipleship and mentorship are just as important today as they were in Augustine’s time. Unfortunately, mentorship is becoming a lost art in Western Church culture today because of the hectic and busy lives people lead. The church must recapture the importance of mentorship today. Church today has many books and writings today, some having no value, others more. However, this book helps the Christian to look into Church history and see what worked before and causes rethinking approaches to mentoring. Such as the mentor, being mentored. Group discipleship and encouragement. Real, honest dialogue in the Christian community. The great importance of the Christian community. Finally, the awesome responsibility of Christians is to live and breathe the word of God.
Finally, though the preceding chapters leading up to Augustine’s life were helpful, it can be somewhat disappointing to the reader who is expecting to learn from Augustine to have to wait till halfway through the book to start to learn from his life. However, the material about mentoring from such men as Cyprian, Basil, and Ambrose is valuable for the reader and leader today. This will require taking some time out of a busy schedule.
[1] Edward L. Smither, Augustine as Mentor (Nashville Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2008), 2.
[2] Ibid, 5.
[3] Ibid, 9.
[4] Ibid, 28.
[5] Ibid, 77.
[6] Ibid, 128.
[7] Ibid, 149.
[8] Ibid, 156.
