William McElwee Miller (December 12, 1892 – July 7, 1993) was an American

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and author of several books. Born in Middlesboro,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, Miller received a M.A. in 1913 from

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

, and a B.D. in 1919 from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

. He went to Persia (

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

) as a missionary of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and, except for a short period around 1932, he remained in Persia until 1962. As a part of his missionary work, he learned

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and studied

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, particularly

Shi'a Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

, Persia and

Persian culture The culture of Iran () or culture of PersiaYarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) is among the most influential in the world. Iran, also known as Persia, is widely considered to be one of the cradles of civilization. Due t ...

. During his missionary work in Persia, he also encountered followers of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

, a large religious minority there. Much of his ministerial work involved developing Christian

apologetic Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

responses to these religions. With respect to the Baháʼí Faith, his ''Baha'ism, Its Origin, History and Teachings'', published in 1931, was the first of two books, and several apologetic and polemical articles on the subject. Along with Earl E. Elder he translated Bahá'u'lláh's ''

Kitáb-i-Aqdas The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Arabic: The Most Holy Book) is the central religious text of the Baháʼí Faith, written by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, in 1873. Though it is the main source of Baháʼí laws and practices, much of the con ...

'', one of the central books of the religion; this translation was published by the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

in 1961. In 1974, a new follow-up, ''The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings'' added additional material not available previously, made available to the author by a known opponent of the Bahá'í Faith. After 1962, he retired with his wife to Mount Airy,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he lived until she died, and then went to live in a retirement home until his own death in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1993.

Works

*'Translation of Al-Babu'l-Hadi' Ashar by Al-Hilli, a treatise on the theological doctrine of Shi'ite Muslims'; London, Royal Asiatic Society, 1928. *
Baha'ism, Its Origin, History and Teachings
'. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1931. * * *''A Christian's Response to Islam''; Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1976 *''Ten Muslims Meet Christ''. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans. 1969. *''My Persian Pilgrimage'', ;

William Carey Library William Carey Publishing, previously known as William Carey Library, is a book publishing company based in Pasadena, California. It was one of the first companies to publish mission resources exclusively. William Carey Library is part of the U.S ...

, 1989 *''Tales of Persia: A Book for Children, ; Presbyterian and Reformed Pub Co, 1988 *''Tales Of Persia: Missionary Stories From Islamic Iran'', , Presbyterian and Reformed Pub Co, 2005 *''Beliefs and practices of Christians'' - also titled ''What is Christianity''

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, William McElwee 1892 births 1993 deaths American Congregationalist missionaries Congregationalist missionaries in Iran American centenarians Men centenarians American expatriates in Iran