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Francis of Assisi lived over 800 years ago, but he's one of the hottest names in publishing today. In the last year, about 20 books have been published reflecting on this medieval man, with dozens more in the last few years. Most are written by and for Roman Catholics, but Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today magazine and former editor of Christian History, believes Francis has much to teach evangelical Protestants as well. Galli's latest book, Francis of Assisi and His World, is part of the IVP Histories series published by InterVarsity Press.

What are some themes from the life of Francis that are timely for the evangelical church today?

One of the things that most fascinated me about him was that he was a radical reformer of the church. He clearly saw every single thing that was wrong with the church—how materialistic it was, how worldly it was, how hypocritical so many of the priests were—yet at the same time, he was absolutely devoted and loyal to it.

Most reformers today despise the church. You can tell they're angry with it, and there's no loyalty or love for it. There are other people who love the church and are loyal to it, but they can't seem to see any faults with it. One of Francis's geniuses was to do both.

What was the nature of that genius?

One thing is that he was what I'd call a God-intoxicated person. He was absolutely committed and taken with the vision of who God is and what that means day to day. When you compare the beatific vision of God in his greatness with any human enterprise, that human enterprise is going to come in for some hard talk.

At the same time, he recognized that this great God of love uses certain institutions or certain movements in history to accomplish and communicate his will. So he saw clearly that the church, for all its flaws, was in fact founded by Christ and was intended to communicate the good news of the gospel. So, at the same time that it needed reform, it was something to be honored and respected.

What was Francis like as a young man?

Francis would have been the most popular guy on campus. He was a natural leader of people. He had a reputation as somewhat of a carouser and party animal. He was the son of a cloth merchant, and that was a time in medieval history when cloth merchants were beginning to make a name for themselves and a fair amount of money. And so he was the son of a rich man. He had that sort of playboy, party animal reputation about him.

Francis had aspirations of being a knight, but failed miserably. A key turning point was when he ended up in prison. This is the first time he starts to rethink his life focus.

He gets out and he starts thinking and meditating on his life. He starts spending more time in prayer, and he wanders the countryside. Near Assisi is a chapel called San Damiano. He goes in there to pray one day, and as he steps in there and kneels before the crucifix, he senses that the crucifix is talking to him: "Repair my church, for you can see it lies in great ruin."

Francis was absolutely stunned by this and felt that it was Jesus speaking to him directly. He was absolutely captivated by the idea. But he was captivated at a very literal level. He thought the message meant repair this particular church.

How did he intend to do that?

He goes begging for supplies, money, or stones or brick in the neighborhood. He also raises money by going into his father's shop, taking a bunch of fine cloth and the family horse, and goes off to the market. He sells the cloth, sells the horse, and uses the money to rebuild the chapel.

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May (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47