BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. JULIUS MÜLLER, a brother of Karl Ottfried Müller (the celebrated and now deceased Archeologist), was born at Brieg in Silesia, April 10th, 1801; in which place his father was a preacher. He studied with great assiduity at the Gymnasium in Brieg, and afterwards at the Universities of Breslau and Göttingen,-and first entered upon the study of Law, which he abandoned, after many struggles, for that of Divinity. Under the guidance of Neander, Tholuck, etc., he came to a firm and peaceful faith,-and in the year 1825, became Pastor at Schönbrunn and Rosen, where he continued seven years. While there he wrote a review of a work on the Catholic Church of Silesia, which attracted much attention and admiration. In 1831, he was appointed second University Preacher at Göttingen, and in connection with this office, began lectures on Practical Theology and Pedagogics. It was here that he preached his sermons on the Christian Life. In 1834 he was appointed Professor Extraordinarius of Theology, and in 1835 Professor Ordinarius at Marburg. Here he lectured four years, especially on Dogmatics and Morals, and with distinguished success-and was then appointed Professor at Halle, where he now is. His great work is "The Christian Doctrine of Sin." He has published very able articles in the "Studien and Kritiken," and other Journals, one in answer to Strauss -and has written also an able work in defence of the Evangelical Union against the attacks of the exclusive Lutheran party, who are endeavoring to subvert it. Professor Müller belongs, theologically, with Neander, Nitszch, Tholuck, etc.:—i. e. among the liberal evangelical theologians as opposed to exclusive Calvinism, exclusive Lutheranism, and the indifference of Rationalism. He is a man of earnest, serious, reverent and pious character, and is one of the most profound and scientific Theologians in Germany; possessing a shining and disciplined intellect of great argumentative grasp. Next to Professor Tholuck, his bosom friend, he forms the chief attraction of the University at Halle; and throughout Germany, owing to his practical wisdom, his piety and great moral worth, he stands a kind of umpire amid the theological conflicts of the day. By some misfortune he early lost one eye, and quite recently a shock of apoplexy has injured his memory, and threatened to interfere materially with the prosecution of his labors. His loss or disability would be widely and deeply felt. In personal appearance he is tall, dignified, and fine-looking, with the bearings of a courteous and amiable Christian gentleman. As a preacher, Professor Müller occupies a high rank. In reading his sermons, however, it should be borne in mind, that the sermon in Germany, is not so high a thing intellectually as the sermon with us. Not so much discussion and thought are expected-nor would they be appreciated. Hence there is a wide interval between the Sermons of Müller and his Theological Treatises and Lectures, in respect to the mental power displayed. They show, rather, how much heart he has, and how a learned theologian can speak on the gospel to young men and to the people. His style is polished and tasteful, though not sprightly, his arrangement clear and distinct, and he glides in a graceful and happy way from one part to the other of the subject under remark. None of his Sermons (with a single exception) have appeared in English; a circumstance which affords us the greater pleasure in submitting to the public those here furnished. DISCOURSE XIX. THE SUPERIOR MIGHT OF GOD'S SERVANTS. If there be, my respected hearers, any one among those about our Lord while on earth, who deserves the name of a MAN, in the noblest sense of the word, it is John the Baptist, whom the Christian Church of our country to-day commemorates.* When Christ, on one occasion, called Peter a rock, He significantly and encouragingly alluded to that which Peter was afterwards to become. The Peter who attempts to walk upon the waves, and then is frightened, and begins to sink, as soon as he sees the storm striking him; who protests that he will go with his Master to prison and to death, and a few hours afterwards thrice denies Him-this Peter was at that time, certainly, as yet no rock. Then, on the contrary, Jesus, in order to show the Jews what they were not to look for in John, asks them: "What went ye out to see-a reed, shaken by the wind?" He spoke not of the future, but of the past and the present. He pointed to that strong, invincible firmness in John, with which he preached repentance to all the people, without asking whether he pleased or displeased them thereby, and with which he rebuked the sins of the mightiest, without fearing their anger or their vengeance. Such a man of God certainly deserves to have his memory celebrated, and his actions held up for a model, in the Christian Church. Preached on St. John's Festival. |