Jesus, Thou art nearest to my soul and dearest

Author: Johann Franck

Johann Franck (b. Guben, Brandenburg, Germany, 1618; d. Guben, 1677) was a law student at the University of Köningsberg and practiced law during the Thirty Years' War. He held several positions in civil service, including councillor and mayor of Guben. A significant poet, second only to Paul Gerhardt in his day, Franck wrote some 110 hymns, many of which were published by his friend Johann Crüger in various editions of the Praxis Pietatis melica. All were included in the first part of Franck’s Teutsche Gedichte bestehend im geistliche Sion (1672). Bert Polman… Go to person page >

Translator: M. Woolsey Stryker

Stryker, Melancthon Woolsey, D.D., son of the Rev. Isaac Pierson Stryker, was born at Vernon, New York, Jan. 7, 1851, and educated at Hamilton College (1872) and Auburn Theological Seminary (1876). In 1876 he entered the Presbyterian ministry as Pastor at Auburn, New York. In 1878 he removed to Ithaca, N. Y.; in 1883 to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and in 1885 to Chicago, Illinois. He received his degree of D.D. from Hamilton College in 1889. He has edited Christian Chorals, 1885 ; New Alleluia, 1880-86; and Church Song, 1889. He was also joint editor with H. P. Main of The Church Praise Book, 1882. He has also published Hymns and Verses, 1883, and Song of Miriam, and Other Hymns and Verses, 1888. To two of these works which have been design… Go to person page >