George Muller

George Muller, or Müller or Mueller^[1]^ (1805-1898), a Prussian-born English evangelist and philanthropist. Especially known for his work in establishing orphanages in Bristol and founding the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad in 1834 to provide practical support for missionaries. Muller was an early leader of the Open Brethren movement, a branch of the Plymouth Brethren.^[2]^

Multimedia

As John Piper recalls, "He saw the great awakening of 1859 which he said led to the conversion of hundreds of thousands. He did follow up work for D. L. Moody, preached for Charles Spurgeon, and inspired the missionary faith of Hudson Taylor. . . He spent most of his life in Bristol, England and pastored the same church there for over sixty-six years — a kind of independent, premillennial, Calvinistic Baptist church that celebrated the Lord's supper weekly and admitted non-baptized people into membership. If this sounds unconventional, that would be accurate." ^ [3]^

Reflecting on the Calvinistic doctrines of grace, Muller wrote his diary (1829) the following:

"Before this period I had been much opposed to the doctrines of election, particular redemption, and final persevering grace; so much so that, a few days after my arrival at Teignmouth, I called election a devilish doctrine. I did not believe that I had brought myself to the Lord, for that was too manifestly false; but yet I held, that I might have resisted finally. And further, I knew nothing about the choice of God's people, and did not believe that the child of God, when once made so, was safe for ever. In my fleshly mind I had repeatedly said, If once I could prove that I am a child of God for ever, I might go back into the world for a year or two, and then return to the Lord, and at last be saved. But now I was brought to examine these precious truths by the word of God. Being made willing to have no glory of my own in the conversion of sinners, but to consider myself merely as an instrument; and being made willing to receive what the Scriptures said; I went to the Word, reading the New Testament from the beginning, with a particular reference to these truths. To my great astonishment I found that the passages which speak decidedly for election and persevering grace, were about four times as many as those which speak apparently against these truths; and even those few, shortly after, when I had examined and understood them, served to confirm me in the above doctrines." ^[4]^

Notes

  1. ? Biographer, A. T. Pierson, spells his last name as Muller. It may also appear as Müller, using the letter ü with a diaeresis. It is often americanized into Mueller.
  2. ? Tim Grass, Gathering to His Name: The Story of Open Brethren in Britain and Ireland, Milton Keynes, U.K.: Paternoster, 2006. In book review by Richard E. Wood.
  3. ? George Mueller's Strategy for Showing God, by John Piper
  4. ? A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings with George Müller - Part 1 excerpt

Resources

  • Pierson, Arthur T. George Muller of Bristol. Echo Library, 2009. ISBN 978-1406893755.
  • The Autobiography of George Muller, Whitaker House, 1984. ISBN 978-0883681596.
  • Geoff Benge and Janet Benge, George Mueller: The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans, YWAM Publishing, 1999. ISBN 978-1576581452.

  • Basil Miller, George Muller: Man of Faith and Miracles, Bethany House,

    1. ISBN 978-0871231826.