RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Mueller
of Latin in the Padagogium in Basel, 1828; in 1831, after taking his degree of licentiate, was appointed assistant teacher in the theological faculty; and in 1835 became professor.
He studied the works of Philo, of Josephus, and of the apostolic Fathers, as auxiliaries for his specialty, New-Testament exegesis and introduction; he published an edition of Philo's " Creation " (Berlin, 1841), and later Erklarung des Barnabasbrief es (Leipsic, 1869). In 1870 appeared a Program on Philo's messianic prophesies. His edition of Josephus' Apion was published by two of his colleagues, Riggenbach and Orelli (Basel, 1877). His most valued labor was done in his lectures on introduction to the New Testament. His other field was comparative religion. In his early study of the philosophy of religion, he was strongly opposed to a priori reasoning, sought solid historical foundation for his belief, and studied carefully the ethnic religions. Although there was no chair of comparative religion, Miiller continued to give lectures on the history of polytheistic religions, of which little was known at that time. His Geschichte der amerikanischen Urreligionen (Basel, 1855) is a product of this period. He also studied the ethnographical problem of the relation between the Semites and Hamites, and published a program in 1860, in which he asks: " Who are the Semites, and on what authority do we say, ' Semitic languages'? "; a second program, of 1864, treats of the nationality of the Hyksos and the Philistines; and in another at Gotha in 1872, Die Semiten in ihrem Verhaltniss zu Chamiten und Japhetiten, he tried to prove that " Semite " was the designation of a group of related peoples, and not a proper name for a class of languages, and that the so-called " Semitic " languages should be called " Hamitic." Miiller published an autobiographical sketch before his death. (Jacob Kundig.)
MUELLER, JULIUS: German Lutheran theologian; b. at Brieg (28 m. s.e. of Breslau) Apr. 10, 1801; d. at Halle Sept. 27, 1878. He studied jurisprudence and theology at the universities of Breslau (1819-20), Gottingen (1822-23), and Berlin (1823-24), gradually coming to feel more and more that his interests lay in theology rather than in law. In 1825 he was called to the pastorate of Schonbrunn. Here, however, he became involved in controversy, denying the right of the government to interfere in church affairs and refusing to use either the agenda or the union ritual. He was saved from deposition by a call to become university preacher at Gottingen in 1830. In the following year he became privat-docent, and in 1834 was appointed associate professor, and in the same year he was called to Marburg as professor of dogmatics. Here he was called to defend the point of view of a truly scientific and believing theology against the everincreasing onslaught of the anti-Christian philosophy of the times; and here, too, he wrote his chief theological work, his Christliche Lehre von der Siinde (2 vols., Breslau, 1839^4; Eng. transl., 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1877). The point of view is the Protestant tenet of unrestricted scientific investigation which recognizes no other authority than
the immutable basis of the Bible. At the same time Miiller sought to avoid all conflict between scientific thought and Christian feeling, insisting especially that reflection on sin must not lead to the annihilation of " religious awe." According to Miiller not only did the doctrine of sin hitherto in vogue rest on an antiquated metaphysics, but sin was neither adequately expressed nor sufficiently explained; nor could the antinomy, resulting from the view that sin could be committed only by free will, while no factor in the empirical development of the individual could bear the weight of such voluntary decision, be solved by the ecclesiastical doctrine of original sin. His solution was the assumption of an intelligible self-decision. But if the resolve to maintain the deepest truths justified seeking a better scientific foundation, nevertheless a theology truly revised on the basis of belief could be established only on a purer and profounder concept and foundation of Christian truth than was afforded by the teachings of the Church. In so far as a theology thus established on the great principles of general Protestant belief thrust into the background denominational differences, it necessarily implied the tendency to union which is clearly evident as a fundamental tenet of Muller's system of thought.
Muller's doctrine of sin not only conditioned his entire attitude toward theology and the Church, but also determined his subsequent career. His importance became ever more evident, and in 1839 he was called from Marburg to Halle. Seven years later he was a deputy of the faculty of Halle to the General Synod, where he earnestly advocated union, his early opposition to this movement being removed by the change in the policy of church government. Entirely disapproving the course hitherto taken for union of the Lutheran and Reformed, M tiller held that if uniformity in worship and in church government were to have any value, both must rest on uniformity of belief; and an adequate expression of this consensus he held was expressed in the new formula of ordination proposed by Nitzsch. Here his idea was to preserve the denominational characteristics of each congregation, for if ordination thus became the expression of the unionistic standpoint of the entire church, nevertheless denominational rights were expressly recognized in the calling of pastors. It is easy to see that Muller's peculiar attitude was not understood, even though he defended it in Die erste Generalsynode der evangelischen Landeskirche Preussens und die kirchlichen Bekenntnisse (Breslau, 1847). The confirmation and execution of the decisions of the synod dragged on until ended by the revolution of 1848; but the ensuing reaction in Church and State compelled him to resume the struggle. He now felt that he must defend the actual existence of the union, and besides a series of papers bearing on the problem he published an irenic statement of his views, designed to reconcile the moderate Lutherans, in Die evangelische Union, ihr Wesen und ihr gottliches Recht (Berlin, 1854). While the results of Muller's struggle for the union was successful in so far as the Reformed were placed on an equal footing with the Lutherans in Prussia (and more he had not hoped
Mueller Muenster