RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Myconius Myrtle
in certain regards. In the first Helvetic Confession, drawn up in 1536, he accordingly termed the Lord's Supper a mystic meal, and spoke of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ not as perishable physical food but as nourishing eternal life. He sought, moreover, to reconcile Luther and Zwingli in their eucharistic views, and pursued a similar course in the Osiandrian controversies. The most distinguished pupil of Myconius was Theodor Bibliander (q.v.), to whose edition of the letters of (Ecolampadius and Zwingli (Basel, 1536) Myconius contributed a first brief life of Zwingli (printed in the Vitce quatuor reformatorum, ed. Neander, Berin, 1841). (Emil EoLif.)
Bibliography: His correspondence with Zwingli is printed in the Opera of the latter, vols, vii.— viii. Biographies are by M. Kirchofer, Zurich, 1813; and K. R. Hagenbach, Elberfeld, 1859 (contains also the principal minor writings of Myconius) . Further notices will be found in the literature dealing with the Reformation in Switzerland, also in the biographies of Bullinger, (Ecolampadius, and Zwingli. Consult: Schaff, Christian Church, vii. 215 sqq.; T. and F. Platter, Siltengeschichle des 16. Jahrhunderts, ed. H. Boos, Leipsic, 1878; S. M. Jackson, Huldreich Zwingli, passim, New York, 1903.
MYNSTER, min'ster, JAKOB PETER: Danish bishop; b. at Copenhagen Nov. 8, 1775; d. there Jan. 30, 1854. He studied theology at the university of his native city, and became pastor at Spjellerup, on the island of Zealand, in 1802; first chaplain at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen in 1812; privat-docent in psychology in the theological seminary at Copenhagen in 1813, and court preacher in 1826. During his career in the Danish metropolis he published a volume of Kleine Theologische Schriften (in German, Copenhagen, 1825), which gives evidence of his knowledge of esthetic and philosophical literature, as well as of church history. In 1834 he was appointed bishop of Zealand, in which capacity he officiated until his death. During his incumbency of the bishopric the religious movement caused by the appearance of Grundtvig (q.v.) agitated the Danish Church, and Mynster, who had no sympathy with the former's ideas of religious liberty, became one of his most ardent opponents. Grundtvig, however, succeeded in preventing the introduction of a revised ritual proposed by Mynster, and as the teachings promulgated by the former found more and more adherents the old bishop found it impossible to stem the tide of liberalism, and he gradually gave up the struggle, devoting himself to literary pursuits. He published numerous collections of sermons, and a work entitled " Thoughts on Christian Dogmas " (2 vols., Germ, transl., Hamburg, 1840), which for a long time remained popular both in Denmark and Germany. A collection of his writings in 6 vols, appeared at Copenhagen in 1852-57; collections of his letters in 1860-66; an autobiography in 1854 (2d ed., 1898) ; and a volume of sermons, 1875. (F. NiELSENf.)
Bibliography: Besides the autobiography and letters named above, consult: C. L. N. Mynster, ".Reminiscences," Copenhagen, 1877. Further literature in Danish is given in Hauck-Herzog, RE, xiii. 609.
MYRBERG, OTTO FERDINAND: Swedish theologian; b. in Gothenburg Apr. 26, 1824; d. at Upsala Mar. 22, 1899. He received his education at the VIII.— 5
University of Upsala (B.A., 1841; Ph.D. and candidate in theology, 1851); was appointed professor of exegesis there 1866, and resigned 1892. He was an able and independent exegete of the Biblical-theological school, being influenced by J. T. Beck and by Soren Kierkegaard (qq.v.). For him faith received its justifying power as the most profound ethical act; justification is gained not by imputation but by man's appropriating it; and he stressed not Christ's suffering and death but his personality, which was perfected through suffering and death. He assailed the Lutheran doctrine of atonement and justification, and took part in the controversy called out by the teaching of Waldenstrom (q.v.) on the atonement which was diffused throughout Sweden and entered the United States. Among his works are Den ignellska theologien (1862) ; Bidrag til en bibelsk theologi (1863); Inledning til Romarebrefvet (1868); Om aposteln Petrus och den dldsta kyrkans falska gnosis (1865); Pauli href til Romarena (1871); Den hel. Skrifts lara om forsoningen (1874); Salomos Ordsprak (1875); De paulinska brefven (2d ed., 1883); De apostoliska brefven af Jakob, Petrus, Judas och Johannes (1883) ; during 1864-69 he edited the periodical Vittnet, and after 1884 Bibelforskaren, which among other things contains his admirable translation of Isaiah, and his interesting commentary on Revelation.
John O. Evjen. MYRRH: The fragrant gum of Balsamodendron myrrha, a tree or shrub growing chiefly in Arabia and Ethiopia, but not in Palestine, where its use was a luxury (cf. Matt. ii. 11). The gum, at first oily and then fluid, is primarily a yellowish white; but it hardens into reddish drops or kernels with a peculiar balsam smell and bitter taste. The best kind flows partly of itself. Generally the bark of the tree was incised to obtain the myrrh, which was exported from Arabia to the West especially by Nabatseans and Phenicians, who frequently adulterated it and doubtless sometimes substituted similar gums from other trees. Myrrh was used as incense (Cant. iii. 6), to perfume clothing and beds (Ps. xlv. 8; Prov. vii. 17; Cant. i. 13), as an unguent (Ex. xxx. 23; Esther ii. 12; Cant. v. 5), and in pulverized form for embalming (John xix. 39), whence most of the Church Fathers interpreted the myrrh of Matt. ii. 11 as a symbol of the suffering and death of Christ. Myrrh was also mingled with wine to impart to it an aromatic flavor and to render it less intoxicating; but the " wine mingled with myrrh " of Mark xv. 23 was probably the sour wine of the Roman soldiers mingled with some bitter ingredient to produce stupefaction (cf. Matt, xxvii. 34). (R- Kittbl.)
Bibliography: See under Myrtle.
MYRTLE: A tree about ten feet high, growing in the valleys and on the shores, as well as on heights not altogether devoid of moisture (cf. Neh. viii. 15), in Asia, whence it was transplanted to Greece and Italy. Its perfume and beauty, enhanced by its smooth, evergreen leaves and white flowers, made it a favorite adornment of gardens (cf. Isa. xli. 19, lv. 13), though it also grew wild in Palestine (Neh., ut sup.). Oil and a sort of wine
Mystagogical Theology