George Müller

Life

Müller was born on September 27, 1805, in Prussia; his birth name was Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller. In 1829 he went to England to work with the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, a mission to the Jewish people. That same year he fell ill, and while convalescing in Teignmouth in southwest England he met Henry Craik, who became his lifelong co-worker. He then served as preacher at Ebenezer Chapel in Shaldon, Devon. On October 7, 1830, he married Mary Groves, the sister of Anthony Norris Groves. Later that month he decided to stop receiving a fixed salary. On the basis of James 2:1–9, he also abolished pew rents, the practice of renting church seats for a fee, because he believed the system favored the rich.

On May 25, 1832, he moved to Bristol, where he preached with Craik at Bethesda Chapel; even while engaged in other ministries, he continued preaching there until his death. He recorded that through his study of Scripture he came to accept the doctrine of election. He died on March 10, 1898, and was buried in Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol.

Ministry and Achievements

• Orphanages: Müller was influenced by reading the biography of August Hermann Francke, the Pietist leader who founded an orphanage in Halle. In 1836 he began his work with orphans by renting a house at 6 Wilson Street in Bristol and taking in thirty girls; by renting neighboring houses, he was eventually able to care for 130 children. In 1845, after neighbors complained of noise and other inconveniences, he decided to build dedicated orphanage buildings. The first building opened at Ashley Down in 1849, and by 1870 five buildings had been completed, with room for 2,050 children at a time. Over his lifetime he cared for 10,024 orphans. The orphanage buildings were sold to the Bristol City Council in 1958.
• Principles of Prayer and Finance: Müller did not make the orphanages' needs known to others or solicit support, but asked for them through prayer alone, and he is reported never to have gone into debt. He regarded the orphan work as evidence that God answers prayer.
• Scriptural Knowledge Institution: In 1834 he founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad. The institution supported Christian schools and missionaries, distributed Bibles and tracts, and operated day schools, Sunday schools, and adult schools. It is reported to have established 117 schools and provided Christian education to more than 120,000 people.
• Brethren Movement: Müller was one of the early leaders of the Plymouth Brethren. In 1848 John Nelson Darby broke fellowship with Bethesda Chapel, dividing the Brethren movement; from that time on, Müller's party came to be known as the Open Brethren.

Influence on the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Müller is commonly presented as "a man of prayer." Accounts of his orphanage work and of answered prayer are reportedly cited frequently in sermons and devotional books on the themes of prayer and faith. The Brethren tradition also continues in Korea through the Brethren churches.

Assessment

• Positive Assessment: Because he operated large-scale orphanages without fundraising, Müller is held up as an example of faith and prayer. His orphan work became widely known after an article by Henry Morley appeared in 1857 in Household Words, the magazine published by Charles Dickens.
• Criticism and Controversy: In his own day, some criticized him for educating orphans, claiming that he was raising the poor above their "proper station." Within the Brethren movement, Darby criticized Bethesda Chapel for receiving members from the Plymouth assembly, which had been embroiled in controversy over doctrinal error. Müller and Craik defended the decision, maintaining that those members had not been implicated in the error.