Biography – Is This What You Are Looking For?

May 15, 2011

Ever had one of those days?

Ok, so I got up this morning and the church van wouldn’t start, sound system didn’t work, direct box died, battery out in a guitar, some setup people out, so I unloaded and reloaded everything and transported it all in my truck with expired tags and then after church came out, we went to leave and Lori’s car didn’t start and had to jump it. Resting now. That was tough!!!!! Did some things today that kicked it up a notch. Came home and someone took my gas can I had been using and Lori broke one of her favorite plates. Just one of those days. However, the service blew the roof off! And we had great fellowships going on in two different areas! Cannot wait to see what’s next.

April 28, 2007

William Tyndale, 1494-1536, Bible Translator

William Tyndale 1494-1536 Bible translator and reformer. William Tyndale was ordained as a priest in 1521, having studied Greek diligently at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, specifically the Textus Receptus. He conferred with Luther in Germany, and stayed on the Continent, translating the Bible from Greek into English and smuggling New Testaments into England.

Tyndale, who was betrayed by a friend and arrested in Brussels, Belgium, was found guilty of treason and heresy against the Church. He was strangled in the courtyard of the prison and then burned at the stake.

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April 28, 2007

William Farel: Fiery Evangelist of the Reformation

Introduction

We who are of the Calvin Reformation rightly honor John Calvin as the great Reformer of Geneva and the spiritual father of Calvinistic churches throughout the world. But it is not an exaggeration to say that Calvin’s work would not have been possible without the intrepid labors of another Reformer, William Farel, who hacked away the undergrowth of Roman Catholic superstition and plowed the soil of Switzerland so that the seeds of Calvin could be sown and bear their fruit.

Schaff writes of him:

Farel’s work was destructive rather than constructive. He could pull down, but not build up. He was a conqueror, but not an organizer of his conquests; a man of action, not a man of letters; an intrepid preacher, not a theologian. He felt his defects, and handed his work over to the mighty genius of his young friend Calvin. In the spirit of genuine humility and self-denial, he was willing to decrease that Calvin might increase. This is the finest trait in his character.

The character which God gave him, forceful and belligerent, admirably suited him for the work of the Reformation and the unique place in the Reformation which he occupied. The work was important, for without it other Reformers could not have accomplished what they did.

Early Life

William Farel was born near Gap in Dauphiny, in the mountainous regions of the Alps, in the southeastern part of France. This part of France had at one time been under the influence of the Waldensians, but they had been all but destroyed in France through the horrors of the inquisition. He was the oldest of seven children, born from a family which belonged to the nobility, but which had fallen on bad times and was very poor. He was baptized with the name Guillaume, the approximate French equivalent of William. He was born five years after Luther and Zwingli and twenty years before John Calvin. He belongs, therefore, to the first generation of reformers.

Paris, the center of Roman Catholic studies, beckoned him and, in his studies there, he concentrated on philosophy, theology, and the ancient languages, including Hebrew. He had, at this time, very little religious conviction, although he was zealous for Rome and was, in his own words, “more popish than popery.”

But God used these very studies to bring him to faith in the truths of Scripture as set forth by the Reformation. Even in Paris Luther’s thoughts were being circulated and discussed, and Farel was brought under the influence of Jacques Lefèvre d’ Étaples. Lefèvre was one of those shadowy figures in the Reformation who himself was convinced of the great truth of justification by faith, but who never could summon the courage to break with Rome and join the Protestant cause. It was Lefèvre who said to the young Farel: “My son, God will renew the world, and you will witness it.”

From that point on Farel immersed himself in the Scriptures and was soon (1521) sent to Meaux in France, where he received authority to preach.

It was in his preaching that his character began to become apparent.

We are told by his contemporaries that he was rather short, always carrying about a gaunt look, and possessing a red and somewhat unkempt beard. He reminded those who saw him of the rough appearance of an Elijah. He was fiery and forceful, not given to the use of tact, impulsive in his actions and preaching, and one who roared against papal abuses. As zealous as he had once been for Romish practices, so zealous and fierce did he become as a promoter of Reformation causes. He was a man who prepared the way for others, for he could break down, but lacked the gifts to build up. He was no theologian, and he left no significant works which contributed to Reformation thought; he was rather the man who with mighty blows tore down the imposing structure of Roman Catholicism.

He was a man of unsurpassed energy who traveled incessantly until, old and worn, he died; always on the move, full of fire and courage, as fearless as Luther, but even more radical than the Wittenburg Reformer. His close friend and fellow Reformer, Oecolampadius wrote to him: “Your mission is to evangelize, not to curse. Prove yourself to be an evangelist, not a tyrannical legislator.” And Zwingli, shortly before his death, admonished him not to labor rashly, but to keep himself for God’s work.

Farel hated the pope with a passion and despised all papal ceremonies. His mission in life, as he conceived it, was to destroy every remnant of popery in images, ceremonies, and rituals, which were the standard diet of those held in Rome’s chains.

His strength was in his preaching. That is, it was not so much in his careful preparation of sermons, for he mostly preached without preparation, and none of his sermons have come down to us. His strength was in his powerful delivery. Schaff writes:

He turned every stump and stone into a pulpit, every house, street, and market-place into a church; provoked the wrath of monks, priests, and bigoted women; was abused, called ‘heretic’ and ‘devil,’ insulted, spit upon, and more than once threatened with death . . . . Wherever he went he stirred up all the forces of the people, and made them take sides for or against the new gospel.”

But Schaff also writes: “No one could hear his thunder without trembling, or listen to his most fervent prayers without being almost carried up to heaven.”

Evangelist

To understand this part of his labors we must try to put Farel in the setting of his times.

Although the views of Luther especially, (as also those of the Swiss theologians) were being circulated, read, and studied in many places, the common people had not as yet heard them. Darkness still covered the land where Farel worked. The Reformation was just beginning in France, Southern Germany, and Switzerland. The people were hypnotized as yet by the priests, bishops, and monks who promoted with zeal the superstitions of Rome. The darkness of corrupt Roman Catholic domination held the people in slavery.

Influenced by Lefèvre, Farel had come to love the truths of the Reformation and had devoted his life to promote them through his fiery preaching.

William Farel was never officially ordained to the ministry, although he had been licensed to preach when he first came to Meaux. He believed that his call came from God, as that call had come to the prophets in the old dispensation. Nor did he ever stay long in one place, but traveled about in Switzerland, Eastern France, and Southern Germany, bringing his powerful word. No one has been able to compute the miles he traveled. But in all kinds of weather, through the dangers of robbers, brigands, and Romish clerics who hated him, he rode his horse or traveled on foot to areas where the true gospel had not yet been heard.

He aroused the hatred of Romish prelates wherever he went, but drew huge crowds by the fire of his oratory.

To trace his frequent travels would involve us in lengthy lessons in geography. But everywhere he went, his preaching did not permit that town or village or city to remain the same. We can only tell of some of his work and recall with amazement the troubles from which, by God’s providential hand, he escaped.

Already in Meaux, France, where Farel began his preaching, he was soon in trouble for his zealous proclamation of Biblical doctrine. It was a time in France when persecution of Protestants was beginning and those who had given him permission to preach were nonplussed by his sudden proclamation of Biblical truth. He was soon forced to flee for his life, narrowly escaping those who hated him.

In Basel, Switzerland he was instrumental in the conversion of the great Pelican, who later was professor of Greek and Hebrew in the University of Zurich and became a brilliant Reformation scholar. It was in this city that he visited the great Swiss Reformers: Oecolampadius, Myconius, Haller, and Zwingli.

But it was also in Basel that he ran afoul of the humanist Erasmus who still had sufficient influence to run Farel out of the city. It seems that Farel, in rather typical fashion, called Erasmus “a Balaam,” something the learned Erasmus could not forgive. Erasmus wrote the council: “You have in your neighborhood the new evangelist Farel, than whom I never saw a man more false, more virulent, more seditious.”

After a short sojourn in Strassburg, where he made the acquaintance of Martin Bucer, Farel was found in 1525 back in France in Montéliard, where he preached in his usual violent manner. On a procession day he pulled the image of St. Anthony out of a priest’s hand and threw it from a bridge into a river. He barely escaped being pulled in pieces by a mob.

Not only was Farel fearless, but he refused to be swayed by the approval of men. In Neuchâtel of Switzerland he publicly rebuked a noble woman who had left her husband. When she refused to return to him, Farel roared against her and her supporters from the pulpit and created such a riot that he was only saved by a vote of the council, which was moved by his vast energy.

He once interrupted a priest who was urging the people to worship Mary more zealously, and became the victim of a mob of women who were bent on tearing him to shreds.

In Metz he preached in a Dominican cemetery, booming out his message over the ringing of the convent bells, which were rung furiously in an attempt to drown his voice.

While celebrating the Lord’s Supper on Easter, he and those with him were attacked by an armed band. Many were killed or wounded. Farel himself, though wounded, found refuge in a castle and escaped the city by leaving in disguise.

At 72 years old, still preaching, he was thrown into prison, rescued by friends, and, like Paul, saved in a basket let down from the walls.

Into the darkness of popery Farel would burst, roaring like a bull, flinging about without regard for personal safety the great truths of Scripture which he had learned to love. He appeared on the scene as a meteor, smashing by his oratory and preaching all the carefully fashioned practices of the false church with which he had broken.

While we can, if we choose, criticize Farel for his vehemence and tactlessness (as his contemporaries often did), one wonders sometimes whether the times in which we live do not require preachers of equal courage. His trust was in His God, and he was intent on doing the Lord’s work with no regard for himself.

His greatest labors, however, were the work he performed as a co-worker of Calvin.

Contact With The Waldensians

Before we begin to describe his work in what was to become the center of Calvinism, it is not inappropriate to mention that Farel, more than any other Reformer, was instrumental in leading many of the Waldensians, those God-fearing and horribly persecuted pre-reformers, into the fold of Calvinism.

We noted earlier that Farel was born in a region which had once been the stronghold of Waldensian thought. His contact with the Waldensians must have left its mark on him, for he maintained contact with them throughout his ministry.

In fact, in 1531 Farel was sent with A. Saunier to the Waldensian Synod which was being held in Chanforans. There he explained to these people the Reformation truths, and there he persuaded many of the great work of God which was being done on behalf of the pure gospel. This influence with the Waldensians he was never to lose. And, if Farel is remembered for nothing more than for his work among these people, it would be enough to engrave forever his name in the memories of all those who love the Reformation.

Work With Calvin

But we must turn to Geneva.

Geneva, at this time, was under the rule of Berne, a neighboring canton in Switzerland. It was a thoroughly Roman Catholic city where every vice was openly practiced and where the foul rituals of Rome were a staple in the spiritual diet of the citizens.

His first stay in Geneva was not a long one. He came in 1532, when about 43 years old. The city was full of religious strife and tottered at the brink of chaos. Within that city, however, were a few who had been touched by the truths of the Reformation, and Farel limited his preaching to private worship in the homes of these few faithful. But his preaching was too successful to be kept secret, and soon he was forced by circumstances to begin public proclamation of the gospel.

This practice could not last long in this citadel of Romish thought. He was soon summoned before a furious episcopal council which saw his preaching as a threat to Rome’s authority. Farel produced his credentials from Berne; and, although they made some impression, he was treated with insolence. One of the clerics present shouted to him: “Come thou, filthy devil. Art thou baptized? Who invited you hither? Who gave you authority to preach?”

Farel’s response was: “I have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and am not a devil. I go about preaching Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification. Whoever believes in him will be saved; unbelievers will be lost. I am sent by God as a messenger of Christ, and am bound to preach him to all who will hear me. I am ready to dispute with you, and to give an account of my faith and ministry. Elijah said to King Ahab, ‘It is thou, and not I, who disturbest Israel.’ So I say, it is you and yours, who trouble the world by your traditions, your human inventions, and your dissolute lives.”

When another shouted, “He has blasphemed; we need no further evidence; he deserves to die,” Farel responded, “Speak the words of God, and not of Caiaphas.”

In response to this, the council could no longer contain its rage. It taunted him, spit on him, chased him with clubs; and, as he was leaving, one member shot at him. Even that could not frighten the dauntless Reformer. He turned to the one who attempted his murder with the words: “Your shots do not frighten me.” But it was only with difficulty that he escaped, and his first labors in Geneva came to an end.

He sent Froment and Olivetan, two fellow Reformers, to continue the work which he had begun; and he himself returned in 1533. Still under the protection of Berne, he labored with courage and zeal in times of great peril and danger.

Gradually the city was turned from its superstitions and many were brought by God to the faith. Gradually the Roman Catholics began to leave, and on August 27, 1535, the Great Council of Two Hundred in Geneva passed a formal decision that Geneva was to become Protestant.

The mass was abolished and forbidden. The people took the images and relics from the churches. The citizens pledged to live according to the gospel and established a school which became the forerunner of Calvin’s famous Academy. A hospital was built, financed by the revenues from older hospitals. The palace of the bishop, with fine irony, became a prison. Ministers, elders, and deacons were appointed. Daily sermons were preached. The sacraments were administered according to the Scriptures. All shops were closed on the Lord’s Day.

Nevertheless, the city was far from a Reformed city. Troubles continued, and the work of reformation was far from over.

It was into this situation that Calvin came on an evening. He had no intention of staying in the city, but sought a night’s lodging in his travels. When Farel heard that Calvin was in the city, he immediately sought out this man whom he had never met, to implore him to stay in Geneva and help with the work. But Calvin was of no mind to do this. Calvin, as he tells us himself, was shy and retiring and yearned for a life of quiet and peaceful study in some sanctuary far from the rumble of the storms created by the Reformation. He steadfastly and strenuously resisted every overture of Farel until, in exasperation, Farel bellowed: “I declare, in the name of God, that if you do not assist us in this work of the Lord, the Lord will punish you for following your own interest rather than this call.”

Calvin was overwhelmed by this threat of God’s judgment and, in resignation to God’s will, agreed to work with Farel in the difficult task of the Reformation in Geneva.

Thrown into the hurly-burly of the life of the city, Farel and Calvin worked day and night to bring about a thorough reformation, until the city, weary of the stringent discipline imposed on them, rose against them and expelled them. Calvin retired to Strassburg, where he spent some of the happiest moments of his life, only to return a few years later when he was summoned by a Council alarmed at the chaotic conditions in the city. Farel went on with his work, especially in Neuchâtel, a city where also disorder and confusion reigned.

Farel’s association with Calvin was close from the time of their labors in Geneva. In fact, during Calvin’s stay in Strassburg, Farel was the one who urged Calvin to marry. In a letter to Farel, sent May 19, 1539, Calvin wrote: “I am none of those insane lovers who, when once smitten with the fine figure of a woman, embrace also her faults. This only is the beauty that allures me, if she be chaste, obliging, not fastidious, economical, patient, and careful for my health. Therefore, if you think well of it, set out immediately, lest some one else gets the start of you. But if you think otherwise, we will let it pass.”

Although Farel did not return to Geneva when Calvin was called back, the two remained close friends and the correspondence between them continued. Calvin spent the rest of his days in Geneva; Farel continued his evangelistic labors, traveling even in his old age.

When Calvin was near death, Farel, though nearly 75 years old, traveled to see his old friend and co-reformer for the last time. Calvin, aware of Farel’s age and the difficulties of travel, begged Farel not to come. But Farel could not be kept away. Part of Calvin’s letter reads: “Farewell, my best and truest brother! And since it is God’s will that you remain behind me in the world, live mindful of our friendship, which as it was useful to the Church of God, so the fruit of it awaits us in heaven. Pray do not fatigue yourself on my account. It is with difficulty that I draw my breath, and I expect that every moment will be the last. It is enough that I live and die for Christ, who is the reward of his followers both in life and in death. Again, farewell with the brethren.”

Ten days after Calvin died, Farel wrote to a friend: “Oh, why was not I taken away in his place, while he might have been spared for many years of health to the service of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ! Thanks be to Him who gave me the exceeding grace to meet this man and to hold him against his will in Geneva, where he has labored and accomplished more than tongue can tell. In the name of God, I then pressed him and pressed him again to take upon himself a burden which appeared to him harder than death, so that he at times asked me for God’s sake to have pity on him and to allow him to serve God in a manner which suited his nature. But when he recognized the will of God, he sacrificed his own will and accomplished more than was expected from him, and surpassed not only others, but even himself. Oh, what a glorious course has he happily finished!”

Farel did marry, but at the age of 69, much to Calvin’s disgust. But Calvin did have the grace to write the preachers of the city in which Farel was working to “bear with patience the folly of the old bachelor.”

Still traveling and preaching very shortly before his death, he returned to Neuchâtel to die. There, worn with his many labors, weary with the sufferings which came with the reproach of Christ, he died quietly in his sleep on September 13, 1565.

Wild and fiery as he was, he served an important place in God’s work of bringing reformation to the church. Though his methods could surely be scrutinized and criticized, no one ever questioned his integrity, his courage, and his faithfulness to his God. His was the work of the plowman who was called to hack down the trees, clear away the underbrush, and do the hard work of plowing; others would come, more gentle than he, and sow the seed.

Neither Calvin nor Farel could do that which had to be done for reformation to come; God used both — first Farel to break down; then Calvin to build up. So it always is in the church of Christ: each member has his place and calling; and all together are called to labor in the cause of Christ.

Especially in his association with Calvin, a deeper and profoundly spiritual aspect of his character came to the fore. With a sincere humility he was content to stand in the shadow of Calvin, to retire to the background when events required it, and to decrease in order that Calvin might increase. This was his most endearing quality, and it is a virtue registered in the books of heaven.

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April 28, 2007

William Ashley “Billy” Sunday, 1862-1935, Evangelist

William Ashley “Billy” Sunday 1862-1935 Evangelist. Billy Sunday was born at Ames, Iowa. Since his father died when he was less than a year old, Billy was raised in an orphanage. He became a professional baseball player, and played in the National League for seven years. He was converted to Christ through the street preaching of Harry Monroe of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago.

After entering the ministry, he preached in the army camps during World War I, and later held citywide meetings in the various cities across America. In one meeting in Philadelphia, over 2,300,000 people attended during a period of eight weeks. He held campaigns for over 20 years and liter- ally “burned out” for Christ. This man, whose preaching was also influential in the support of the Prohibition Amendment to the Constitution, witnessed 19 conversions in his last sermon, before his death.

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April 28, 2007

Ulrich Zwingli 1484-1531 Swiss Reformer

Ulrich Zwingli 1484-1531 Swiss reformer. Ulrich Zwingli was educated at schools in Basel and Burn, Switzerland, and Vienna, Austria. He became a parish priest in 1506 and, on becoming pastor of the great Minster Church in Zurich, he began to preach against the unscriptural practices in the Catholic Church. He made an open break with Rome in 1522 after studying the works of Martin Luther. The break was completed in 1525 when he re- placed the Roman Mass with the first reformed communion ser- vice at his church. Zwingli differed with Luther in his views on commun- ion, in that he maintained that the Lord’s Supper is a memo- rial ordinance only, and it is found in I Corinthians, chap- ters 7 through 9. He participated in armed warfare against the Catholic states around him, and died in battle, sword in hand, defend- ing the Bible over tradition.

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April 28, 2007

Timothy Dwight

“For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the
Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.’’ — Ezra 7:10

Introduction
God used George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards powerfully in their day. As
the influence of the first great awakening waned, other challenges faced the
infant nation of America. God, it seems, had called America to be a city on a hill.

Yet, during the period of the revolution and the two decades after, America faced deep spiritual struggles. The war brought hardships, economic chaos, and
uncertainty which resulted in a kind of moral chaos as well. The expansion west
had begun, and the frountier life led to a situation somewhat like that of Israel, “In that day Israel had no king. Each man did what was right in his own eyes. Many feared that such moral malfunction would spread back into the entire nation, destroying the piety of the established communities. New England, the intellectual fountainhead in America, faced a more subtle foe. The French Rationalist movement, espoused by the leaders of the French revolution and carried like disease in the soldiers of that country who supported America’s cause, began to spread rapidly through the people and the intellectual leadership of the nation. Such thinking taught that the Scripture was mere fable, that divine revelation was non-existent, and that human reason was the sole judge of right and wrong. The philosophy exalted man and ignored God. It proclaimed the innate goodness of man, while inviting lawlessness, and tempted the same men it exalted into debasing self-indulgence and sin. In the face of these challenges, God did not abandon New England. God raised up Timothy Dwight as the intellectual, and faithful leader of the second series of revivals in New England.

The revivals began, in part, at Yale college where God used Dwight to bring about the conversion of perhaps more than half of the student body of Yale. These were the men who would lead New England spiritually and in some cases socially for decades to come. We, of course, in this day face a very similar situation as Dwight and the church of his day. The universities, that is, the foundry of leadership in our society, is largely given over to secular humanism, the exaltation of man above God, and to spiritual apathy among the students. A nation boasting such and educational foundation will never become or remain a light of the gospel to all nations. In fact, as we hear loudly proclaimed from many distant shores, America is exporting not light, but darkness. Yet, through repentance and faith, God will use this very generation to stand in the place of leadership, to be salt and light among our own pears, and those who will come after us so that the university, and thus the leadership of America may be filled with the vision of God to be a city on a hill, a lamp that will not be hidden. We must study Dwight to learn how God used him to turn a spiritually bankrupt university into a city on a hill, and a light to New England and the world.

Who was Timothy Dwight?
On May 14th, 1752, Mary Edwards Dwight gave birth to her first child, Timothy. George Washington then was twenty years old; Francois Voltair was fifty-eight, and Thomas Jefferson was nine years old. Timothy would spend most of his life in the halls of academia and began his teaching career early. Once, when Timothy did not show up for dinner, his worried parents searched earnestly, only to find him safe and sound under an apple tree with a group of Native Americans gathered around him. He was teaching them to recite the — no doubt, Calvinist — catechism. He explained to his mother that he had met them on the street and had asked them if they would like to hear about God and religion.

They went to the orchard to begin, and he had forgotten the time, that was all.
Except that\dots he was four years old. Timothy was educated both at home and in schools. From age four to six he learned classic literature at a school and secretly taught himself Latin. The school closed when he was six, and his mother took over his studies until he was eleven. Under his mother’s direction he studied geography, history, and grammar. He had already studied the biblical histories, and proceeded then to study Josephus, Hookes history of Rome, histories of Greece and England, etc.

At the age of eleven his parents sent him to live with Reverend Enoch Huntington under whom he continued his study of Latin and Greek. Such was the extent of his secondary education. What most classical scholars study at the universities, Timothy had finished by the modern sixth grade. It makes me wonder, “What did I do in grade school?’’ Timothy entered Yale at thirteen, graduated four years later, continued at Yale for graduate study, and was later hired as a Tutor at the college. During his time as a tutor, Dwight’s pursuit of knowledge reached a fever pitch. He stopped exercising in the interest of reserving more time for his studies. He slept four hours a night, and began to begrudge even the time he spent eating. In order to maintain his mental edge, he limited himself to twelve mouthfuls of vegetables for dinner. After about a year of this, his body gave up the fight and collapsed. He suffered for several months in sickness, at one point near death, and almost lost the use of his eyes. From this point until the end of his life he could read only with severe pain and headaches. He needed the services of an amanuensis to write. That means he dictated everything to another writer. Although at first it seems a tragedy, the importance of this development in his life cannot, I think, be underestimated. Dwight was now a fabulous scholar, who could not read. This turned his interest to people. Rather than reading, he talked to people, he
listened and probed through his questions. Rather than disappearing into the
study in order to meditate on the complications of contemporary theology, he met farmers and talked about gardens and politics. Through this long ordeal of his near fatal illness, and through the all but complete loss of his eyes, Dwight began to connect his unmatchable intellect to the practical spiritual needs of his contemporaries. He knew the fear of death, he knew the concerns and passions of the generation God had called him to serve. Dr. Dwight returned to Yale, continuing to serve as a Tutor until the death of the then Yale President, Dr. Daggett. At that time the students petitioned for Timothy, then age twenty-five, to be made president. He suppressed the petition. Instead, he joined the First Connecticut Brigade of the Continental Army. He served for approximately one year, never carried a rifle, serving instead as Chaplain. Although he served for only one year, it was from this experience that he drew countless of his illustrations, examples, and insight into the character and plight of man. The war revealed the character of men in hardship and fear. The presence of death brought the theology of his early years near to the practical needs of men. This training, combined with his earlier sickness, secured Dwight’s role as a shepherd, rather than as a metaphysical Calvinist theologian. Such a man, God would use greatly.

Timothy left the Continental Army for grievous reasons. His parents and family
were suspected of sympathizing with the British. In order to avoid the conflict, Dwight’s father had decided to buy land near the Mississippi river and resettle. He traveled in advance of the family, died in Mississippi, and two of his sons, Timothy’s brothers, had virtually walked across Georgia to reach safety. Thus, Timothy, as the eldest, retired from the Army to take care of his mother, and the two farms. When the farms, and the war, had settled to a reasonable degree Dwight accepted a call to pastor a community in Greenfield Hill. He began in 1783. His time at Greenfield Hill may be characterized by three aspects: Pastoring the church, Teaching at an academy he established, and speaking and writing against Deism. He kept this position until 1795 at which time he accepted the call to Yale. Although an able pastor for the entire community, Dwight’s true joy seems to have been teaching. Both at Northhampton and at Greenfield Hill he established schools. Against the current of the times, Dwight spoke strongly for the education of women along with men, and not in any reduced fashion. Having been educated himself at the feet of his mother, he knew the influence such women had on the development of their children. Although many women were educated in fashion, romance novels, and in proper etiquette, Dwight thought it ruined them by teaching them only to dream of a world they would never inhabit.

He claimed that such education focused not on who one is, but rather on who
one appeared to be. Such a person, he thought, might make a good dancer, or
frolicker, but never a good wife. Instead he thought women should be educated in earnestness and seriousness so that they might more deeply know the gospel and struggle together with their husbands to raise godly households. In this sense, Dwight was about 150 years ahead of his time. While preaching and teaching at Greenfield Hill, Dwight recognized the battle at hand. In 1794 he published “A Discourse on the Genuineness and Authenticity of the New Testament’’ as a defense against the French Deistic influence which had spread rapidly through the young colonies. In 1795 God called, through the Yale Corporation, Dwight to the presidency of Yale.

Reclaiming Yale College
Of all of Dwight’s accomplishments, the most important, in terms of the spiritual history of America, is his defense of Christianity against French infidelity, and his attack directly upon the doctrines of atheism, deism, and Unitarianism. Through his sermons and publications, Dwight provided a light for the mind of the general populace. But through his influence upon the students and professors of Yale he profoundly guided the intellectual leadership of New England for decades after his death. Yale was to be the final testing ground of forty-three years of shepherd training. Here Dwight would bring to bear his razor sharp mind, broad education, and practical understanding of humanity on the guiding and discipline of twenty-two classes of Yale graduates. When Dwight arrived at Yale, the moral and scholarly atmosphere of the school was, to say the least, in a valley. Membership in the college church hovered near, well, near zero. Most undergraduates avowed themselves skeptics. One of the students of that day later wrote, “intemperance, profanity, and gambling were common; yea, and also licentiousness.’’ Some of the students had taken to calling each other not by their given names, but rather by the names of Voltaire, D’Alembert, Diderot, and of other French and English infidels. The campus supported not one but two societies dedicated to the reading and distribution of literature by deist Tom Paine. One might think that in such an atmosphere of “reason’’ and of worship of the exalted human nature order and self-discipline might have also been prominent on campus. As with the French revolution, however, such talk in its practical application degenerated into pleasure seeking, and gratification of the true nature of humanity. Once, near the end of his term, when the previous president of Yale had brought a visitor to the chapel for an assembly, he, being late, found the students yelling, whooping, carousing, and generally out of control. The president forced his way to the podium and wore himself out shouting and pounding on the stage with his cane until the cane splintered. It was some time before order was restored. The guest, I’m sure, was not very impressed with the men of such a fine institution as Yale. Into such a mess rode Timothy Dwight.

In that time, the President not only ran the college, but also taught the Senior class. In Dwight’s case, he was also the professor of Divinity. Part of the senior curriculum was a discussion class consisting of debates on such questions as capital punishment (an old college staple) foreign immigration (things haven’t changed much) Ought religious tests be required of Civil Officers? Do specters appear? Is a lie ever justifiable? Is man advancing to a state of Perfectibility? Now, Yale’s laws of that day stated, “If any Scholar shall deny the Holy Scriptures, or any part thereof, to be of divine authority; or shall assert and endeaveour to propagate among the Students any error or heresy subverting the foundations of the Christioan religion, and shall persist therein, after admonitino, he shall be dismissed.’’

In spite of this, most Yale men scoffed at the idea of divine revelation. For Dwight’s first disputation class he requested a list of questions from the seniors. He would then choose from among the questions the one he thought most suitable for debate. Even though it was outlawed, the Seniors included the question, “Are the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament the word of God?’’ It was clearly a test of the new President. Dwight met the challenge head on. He chose that very question and told the seniors to do their best. He would not assume that any of the opinions expressed were their own. He did require, however, that they treat the subject with the respect it deserved. All of the seniors chose to answer the question negatively. After all of the students had spoken, Dwight began to critique their arguments, slowly and methodically showing the class how weak the deist arguments really were. He then proceeded to answer the question positively in the affirmative, and not only so but also preached incessantly on the subject for six months in the chapel, and delivered additional lectures on the subject of Evidences of Divine Revelation. The next year only one freshman was a professing Christian, none of the sophomores (typical), one of the junior class, but of the senior class eight to ten.

Dwight’s influence had begun. From the class of graduate theology majors Dwight chose several to train as staff officers in order to help preserve the faith of students who had escaped the net of infidelity. After seven years of such preaching, a revival broke out on campus. Of 230 students, one third were converted. Thirty of these entered the ministry. Others were prominent in New England life. One of Dwight’s disciples later wrote, “Dwight, through the blessing of God, changed the college from a sink of moral and spiritual pollution into a residence not only of science and literature, but of morality and religion, a nursery of piety and virtue, a fountain whence has issued streams to make glad the city of God.’’

Such a change could not be accomplished by preaching alone. Dwight’s attitude toward the students was one of paternal concern. When dealing with miscreant students, Dwight would call the young man to his office. There he received an earnest and genuine discussion of the imprudence of his actions. I think it must have been quite like receiving an entire sermon directed specifically and personally to you. On one occasion, a student had become so distressed by the thought of his salvation eluding him, that a student went, late in the evening, to find Dr. Dwight. Dwight came to the student’s room and recited with him, for some time, the invitations of the gospel, and then prayed for him. “A sweet serenity’’ overcame him and later turned to full joy as he found confidence of his salvation in Christ. Another student, so shaken by a professor’s correction that he imagined that he could see his corpse and coffin before him and hell ready to receive him, went to see Dr. Dwight personally. He also received at first calmness, and later confidence in Christ. Timothy Dwight provided for the spiritual life of the students not only through his personal concern and example, but also through the environment he fostered among the faculty. As the sciences grew in importance at the universities of America, Dwight convinced the corporation of Yale to support a professor of Chemistry. Dwight also convinced them to hire for the position Benjamin Silliman, then a tutor at Yale and preparing for entrance to the Connecticut bar as a lawyer. He had virtually zero knowledge of Chemistry. Dwight chose him for his character and for the potential Dwight saw in him. Another example is the establishment of the professor of Medical studies. The corporation had nominated Nathan Smith, a man of unquestioned ability and national esteem. Dwight refused to accept his nomination because he had fallen under the influence of Deism while studying in England. Dwight would have nothing of Deism or Infidelity among his professors. Later, after a sincere and genuine conversion and recantation of his previous beliefs, Smith was reconsidered for the position, and readily accepted.

Dwight fought hard against the influence of Deism at Yale and in New England
for the rest of his life. As the university grew, however, he and others realized the need for specialized training for the ministers coming up through the ranks. They rightly considered that the ministers should be trained more thoroughly than even lawyers and physicians because the importance of their work and influence was eternal, rather than temporal. Moreover, Harvard had been lost to the Unitarian influence as early as 1805 when the overseers of Harvard appointed a Unitarian to the Professor of Divinity. The next year they elected as president of Harvard a man with strong inclinations toward the idea. This election caused no small alarm among the Christian denominations. Such concerns led to the founding of Andover Seminary. The founding board consulted Dwight on the appointment of faculty, and the curriculum, and the overall plan of the seminary. Eventually they asked him to serve on the governing board. So it was that Dwight’s influence spread from Yale to the first theological seminary in America. Through Dwight, God raised up generations of ministers and shepherds for the New England people. He preserved the intellectual leadership of the country for his work to raise up America as a blessing to many nations. We, of course, are responsible for this generation. We must have a vision for God to use our prayers and studies to raise up professors and even college presidents in order to reclaim the university as a place of hallowed ground. Let us pray for the third great awakening to begin in the campuses of the East Coast as did the second.

Bibliography
DeWolfe Howe, “Classic Shades,’’ Little, Brown, & Co., Boston. 1928.
Charles E. Cuningham, “Timothy Dwight,’’ The MacMillan Co., New York. 1942.
Peter Marshall and David Manuel, “From Sea to Shining Sea,’’ Fleming Revell Co., Tarrytown, NY. 1986.

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April 28, 2007

The Life and Ministry of George Mueller

This file is non-copyrighted material taken from the “Christian Hall of Fame Series” (No.23) by Ed Reese. Copies of the pamphlet can be obtained from Fundamental Publishers, Glenwood, IL 60425.

The Life and Ministry of George Mueller

BORN: September 27, 1805 Kroppenstaedt, Prussia (Germany)
DIED: March 10, 1898 Bristol, England
LIFE SPAN: 92 years, 5 months, 11 days

George Mueller has proved to the world the truth of Philippians 4:19 and he will always be remembered as the man who got things from God. His testimony is an inspiration to Christians everywhere. Three weeks after his marriage, he and his wife decided to depend on God alone to supply their needs–never again to approach people about them. Now he felt led to relinquish his small salary as a preacher completely. Wishing that all support be spontaneous, he put a box in the chapel for his needs; determining never to run into debt, and to get his needs supplied only by requests to God Himself. This was October, 1830. When he died, in March 1998, 68 years later, he had obtained from God more than any one else who ever lived–seven and a half million dollars.

Mueller was the son of Herr and Frau Mueller. His father was a Prussian tax-collector. The family moved to Heimershleben, four miles away, in 1810. Soon two other sons were born. Strangely gullible, the father would entrust his small sons with considerable amounts of cash to teach them to acquire the habit of possessing money without spending it. This back-fired, for George, in particular, devised numerous methods of using the money for himself without being detected. Before he was ten years old, he repeatedly stole from the government funds in his father’s keeping.

Herr Mueller wanted his son to be a clergyman and make a good living, in order to be able to support him when he became old. Schooling was obtained for George at Cathedral Classical School at Halberstadt, with very little supervision given him from about age ten to 16. His mother died when he was 14. George was playing cards, not even aware of her illness that night. He spent the next day at a tavern with some friends.

Lutheran church confirmation classes started at this time, and it was a custom for candidates on the eve of confirmation to make a formal confession of their sins to the clergyman in the vestry. Mueller used the opportunity to cheat clergyman of 11/12ths of the fee his father had given him for the cleric. Confirmed the Sunday after Easter, 1820, he was now a religious lost person. When George was 15, his father was transferred to Schoenebeck, Prussia. The son was left at home to supervise some repairs and to study for the ministry. George was up to his old tricks. He collected money which the villagers owed his father for taxes, then took a trip which he later called “…days of sin.” He would stay in expensive hotels, sneaking out after a week without paying a bill. However, after a couple weeks of this, he was caught and put in jail for 24 days. The elder Mueller bailed his son out, and soon George entered school at Nordhausen, Prussia, where he stayed for two and one-half years. He studied from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. The teacher said he had great promise, but drinking and debauchery continued to cancel these acclaims. This time (1820-1825) was also spent in contriving to provide himself with money for his bad habits.

In 1825, when 19 years old, he left school and entered Halle University as a student of Divinity. The University had 1,260 students, including some 900 divinity students preparing themselves for the Lutheran Church ministries. Here he decided he must reform if a parish was to ever choose him as pastor. He renewed an acquaintance in a tavern with a fellow student named Beta, who was a backslidden Christian. They were former school-fellows. In August, 1825, Mueller, Beta, and two other students, pawned some of their belongings to get enough money for a few days of travel. Switzerland was decided upon, and George forged the necessary letters from their parents with which to get passports. Mueller, like Judas, decided to carry the purse. His friends unwittingly paid part of his expenses as a result and 43 idle days of travel followed.

Back at the University, Beta was stricken with remorse and made full confession to his father. Beta began to attend a Saturday night Christian meeting in a home. Mueller, hearing about this, became sincerely interested, and pressed his friend into taking him to the meeting. Beta did, reluctantly, not believing George would like it–reading the Bible, praying, singing hymns, and listening to a sermon. As he sat in the Wagner residence, George saw something he had never seen before–people on their knees praying. He felt awkward for being there and even apologized for his presence. The host pleasantly invited him to come as often as he pleased. As he walked home, he declared, “All we have seen on our journey to Switzerland, and all our former pleasures, are as nothing in comparison with this evening!” That Saturday night in mid-November, 1825, turned him around as Christ became his Savior. At age 20 the unstable pagan found the power to overcome his moral weaknesses and a new life began.

In January, 1826, as he began reading missionary literature, he felt inclined in this direction more and more. He wrote his father and brother to this end. However, the reply from father was a furious objection to these plans. As a result, George decided he would have to support himself at the University, rather than take funds from his father. Back at Halle he obtained a well-paying job of teaching German to American college professors and translating lectures for them. He preached his first sermon on August 27, 1826, at a village six miles from Halle. During this time he lived for two months in the Orphan House built by August Hermann Francke, Professor of Divinity at Halle. Here the seed of an idea was sown that was to come to fruition later in Bristol. In 1828, he completed his University courses.

Mueller now had a desire to become a missionary to the Jews, so he applied to a society in London which majored in this work, which led to an invitation to come for a six-month probationary period in London. He left home on February 10, 1829 and arrived in London on March 19. His English became fluent, although he never lost his German accent. The regulations and routine at seminary tempted him to give up his ideas. His study of Hebrew was unremitting, and soon resulted in delicate health. Advised by doctors and friends, he went to the country for a change of air and schedule which was to change his life as well. He traveled to Teignmouth in Devonshire and became acquainted with Henry Craik, who would become his loyal associate in the ensuing years. Here he attended the reopening of a small meeting-house called Bethesda Chapel, where he was touched deeply by one of the speakers. By the time he returned to London, he was a different man, having learned the value of meditation upon the Scriptures, beginning in August, 1829.

Now he began to gather some of his fellow-students from 6 to 8 a.m. each morning for prayer and Bible reading. Evenings he would pray with anyone he could find, often until after mid-night. During these days he felt he did not want to be limited to ministry amongst the Jews alone, so he resigned from the London Society. Back in the Devonshire area he began to preach in chapels in Exmouth, Teignmouth and Shaldon. He was then called upon to pastor at the Ebenezer Chapel in Teignmouth, a congregation of 18 people where he began in 1830. During this year he became convinced of the necessity of believer’s baptism, and was rebaptized. In January of 1830 he undertook a monthly preaching engagement just outside Exeter, lodging there with a Mrs. Hake, an invalid. Mary Groves, age 29, was keeping house for her. Mueller, with a mature outlook on life, was greatly attracted to Mary, though he was only 24 years of age. On October 7, 1830 they were joined in marriage at St. David’s Church in Exeter.

Three weeks after their marriage, they decided to depend upon God alone to provide their needs as already indicated. They carried it to the extent that they would not give definite answers to inquiries as to whether or not they were in need of money at any particular moment. At the time of need, there would always seem to be funds available from some source, both in regards to their private income, and to the funds for his vast projects soon to be discussed. No matter how pressing was the need, George simply renewed his prayers, and either money or food always came in time to save the situation. On February 19, 1832, he records an instance of healing by faith. Suffering from a gastric ulcer, he believed God could heal him and four days later he was as well as ever. In the spring of 1832, he felt he must leave Teignmouth. Craik, his friend, had gone on to Bristol for a visit, and Mueller felt led to go there also. On April 22, he preached his first sermon in Bristol. A friend offered to rent Bethesda Chapel there for a year if the two men would stay and develop a work. Agreeing not to be bound by any stipulation, Craik and Mueller accepted the call. On May 25, 1832, the Muellers settled permanently in Bristol which became his home until he died. A long association with the chapel on Great George Street also began. In July of that year, Bristol was visited with a plague of cholera which took many lives, but none of those among whom he and Craik ministered. On September 17, 1832, his first child, Lydia, was born.

It was on February 25, 1834, that George Mueller founded a new Missionary Institution which he called “The Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad.” It had four objectives:

1. To assist Sunday Schools, Day Schools and Adult Schools, and where possible to start new ones.

2. To sell Bibles and Testaments to the poor at low prices, and if necessary, to give them free of cost.

3. To aid missionary effort. (This was to provide financial aid to free- lance missionaries.)

4. To circulate tracts in English and in various foreign languages.

The Orphan House became a fifth objective, and the most well known enterprise, yet it is right to point out that Mueller was greatly used in developing the other objectives as well.

On March 19, 1834, a son, Elijah, was born but he died the next year, June 25, 1835, from pneumonia, leaving the Muellers with only one child–Lydia. The summer of 1835 found Mueller himself in very poor health, slowing down his pace and giving him time to write “The Narrative of the Lord’s Dealing with George Mueller.”

For some time he had been thinking about starting an orphanage in Bristol. On December 9, 1835 he presented his burden at a public meeting. No collection was taken, but someone handed him ten shillings and a Christian woman offered herself for the work. After five days of prayer $300 came in and it seemed they might now have enough money to rent a house, equip and furnish it. The other request was for Christian people to work with the children. His basic aim was to have a work–something to point to as visible proof that God hears and answers prayer. His heart went out to the many ragged children running wild in the streets, but that was a secondary reason for starting the orphanage.

He rented Number 6 Wilson Street, where he himself had been living, and on April 11, 1836, the doors of the orphanage opened with 26 children. These were girls between seven and twelve years old.

The second House was opened on November 28, 1836, to care for children from babyhood to seven years of age. In September, 1837, a third house was opened for boys over seven years of age.

Illness plagued Mueller from time to time, and in late 1837 he was very weak. This time his head provided the discomfort. He went to Germany in the spring of 1838 as well as in February, 1840, when he saw his father for a last time. Presumably he still had not accepted Christ as George noted, “How it would have cheered the separation on both sides were my dear father a believer.” He died shortly thereafter. The years 1828 to 1843 were surely years of trials for Craik and Mueller as they prayed in everything. All were properly clad and everyone sat down to regular meals in the Houses. Mueller never incurred a debt, and God supernaturally provided for everyone. A well known story indicates the kind of life that was lived.

One morning the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty. There was no food in the larder, and no money to buy food. The children were standing waiting for their morning meal, when Mueller said, “Children, you know we must be in time for school.” Lifting his hand he said, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.” There was a knock on the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Mueller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.” Mueller thanked the man. No sooner had this transpired when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the Orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it. No wonder, years later, when Mueller was to travel the world as an evangelist, he would be heralded as “the man who gets things from God!”

By March, 1843, he felt the need for a second home for girls. On July, 1844, the fourth house on Wilson Street was opened–the total of his homeless waifs now being 130. A letter received on October 30, 1845, changed his entire ministry…he was now age 40. Basically, it was a letter from a local resident complaining that the noise of the children was a nuisance. They were vastly over-crowded and there was not enough space for land cultivation, washing clothes, etc. He gave the letter much thought, listing the pros and cons. If he were to leave, he would have to build a structure to hold at least 300 orphans at a cost of $60,000. On his 36th day of prayer over the dilemma, the first $6,000 came in for a building program. By June, 1848, he received all of the $60,000 which he needed. He had begun to build the previous year on July 5, 1847, at a placed called Ashley Downs as the bulk of the money had been sent in. Building Number 1 was opened in June, 1849, and housed 300 children with staff sufficient to teach and care for them. It was a seven-acre site and finally cost about $90,000 as legal expenses, furnishings, and land purchase brought the price up higher than anticipated. The old houses on Wilson Street emptied and everyone was now under one roof.

Mueller was becoming a well known Christian leader. He answered some 3,000 letters a year without a secretary. Besides his orphanages, the four other objectives of his Scriptural Knowledge Institution claimed his attention and he continued his pastoral work at Bethesda Chapel also.

In 1850, he felt the need for a second orphanage. Donations began to come in miraculously again and finally, on November 12, 1857, a second building housing 400 children at a cost of $126,000 was built. Number 3 opened on March 12, 1862, housing 450 children, and costing over $138,000. It was housed on 11 1/2 acres. Number 4 was opened November 5, 1868, and Number 5 on January 6, 1870. These last two cost over $300,000 and housed 450 each.

From 1848 to 1874, money came in to improve and expand the work which went from 130 orphans to 2,050 during this time and up to 13 acres. Mueller describes these days, writing in 1874:

But God, our infinite rich Treasurer, remains with us. It is this which gives me peace. Moreover if it pleases Him, with a work requiring about $264,000 a year…would I gladly pass through all these trials of faith with regard to means, if He only might be glorified, and His Church and the world benefited…I have placed myself in the position of having no means at all left; and 2,100 persons, not only daily at the table, but with everything else to be provided for, and all the funds gone; 189 missionaries to be assisted, and nothing whatever left; about one hundred schools with 9,000 scholars in them, to be entirely supported, and no means for them in hand; about four million tracts and tens of thousands of copies of the Holy Scriptures yearly now to be sent out, and all the money expended…I commit the whole work to Him, and He will provide me with what I need, in future also, though I know not whence the means are to come.

His own personal income varied around $12,000 a year, of which he kept for himself $1,800 giving the rest away.

His fellow worker, Henry Craik, died on January 22, 1866, followed by the death of his wife on February 6, 1870. She was 72 and had suffered from rheumatic fever. James Wright married Mueller’s daughter, Lydia in 1871 and also replaced Craik as his associate. Mueller himself remarried on November 30, 1871, to a Susannah Grace Sangar, whom he had known for 25 years as a consistent Christian. He was 66 and she in her late forties, a perfect companion for him in his ministries still ahead.

Mueller decided to fulfill the many requests for his appearance around the world. Turning the work over to Wright, from 1875 to 1892, Mueller made 16 preaching trips to various sectors of the world. For the sake of historians and others interested in statistical data, they were as follows:

March 26 – July 6, 1875 England (Brighton, London, Sunderland, Newcastle). Preached 70 times, such places as Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle, etc.

August 14, 1875 – July 5, 1876 England, Scotland and Ireland. His five week stay in Liverpool had Sunday Crowds of 5,000.

August 16, 1876 – June 25, 1877 Switzerland, Germany and Holland. Preached 302 times in 68 places in three languages.

August 18, 1877 – July 8, 1878 Canada and the United States. Preached 299 times, conference with President Rutherford Hayes.

September 5, 1878 – July 18, 1879 Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy. Fellowship with Spurgeon in France, saw schools he supported in Spain.

August 27, 1879 – June 17, 1880 United States and Canada. Spoke again 299 times – in 42 places.

September 15, 1880 – May 31, 1881 Canada and the United States. Accepted many invitations he had to turn down the previous tour.

August 23, 1881 – May 30, 1882 Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece. Many physical difficulties were encountered, traveling was primitive.

August 8, 1882 – June 1, 1883 Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Poland. Suppressed in Russia, could only preach to 20 at one time.

September 26, 1883 – June 5, 1884 India. 78 years old, preached 206 times and traveled 21,000 miles.

August 18 – October 2, 1884 England and South Wales. Tour cut short because of illness of Mrs. Mueller.

May 16 – July 1, 1885 England Tour cut short because of illness of George Mueller.

September 1 – Oct. 3, 1885 England and Scotland, Primary ministry was in Liverpool, England, and Dundee, Scotland.

November 4, 1885 – June 13, 1887 Australia, China, Japan, Straits of Malacca. Ages 81 to 83 – traveled 37,280 miles around the world.

August 10, 1887 – March 11, 1890 Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Ceylon, India. Intense heat of Calcutta almost killed him. Telegram that daughter Lydia had died January 10, 1890 in Bristol cut short the tour.

August 8, 1890 – May, 1892 Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy. At 86 preaching to large crowds.

George and his wife traveled 200,000 miles in 17 years of world-wide evangelism efforts, in 42 countries, preaching to 3 million people.

It was on January 13, 1894 that his second wife passed away after 23 years of marriage. He was now 89 years old, and was living out his days in Orphan House #3. He preached his last sermon on Isaiah’s Vision, March 6, 1898 at Alma Road Chapel in Clifton. On March 10, 1898 the maid went to his room, and found him dead on the floor by the side of his bed. The funeral in Bristol on March 14th has never been surpassed there as tens of thousands lined the streets. The grief of the orphans was evident. He was buried by the side of his two wives.

Mueller was non-sectarian in his general outlook, and was one of the founders of the Brethren movement. His influence touched the lives of thousands–perhaps most notable, that of J. Hudson Taylor. His most moving reunion with an orphan was on October 19, 1878 when a 71 year old widow met him…she had been his first orphan over 57 years previously. 10,023 other orphans were to follow her there and have Daddy Mueller rear them. Mueller read the Bible through over 200 times, half of these times on his knees. He said he knew of some 50,000 specific answers to prayer…requests to God alone!

Over 3,000 of his orphans were won to Christ through his ministry by the Holy Spirit.

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