View source for William McElwee Miller

{{primary sources|date=November 2022}}
'''William McElwee Miller''' (December 12, 1892 &ndash; July 7, 1993) was an American [[missionary]] to [[Persia]], and author of several books.<ref>{{cite web|title = Interview with William McElwee Miller - Collection 387|publisher = [[Billy Graham]] Center|date = 2005-04-08|url = http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/387.htm|access-date = 2008-09-17}}</ref>

Born in [[Middlesborough, Kentucky|Middlesboro]], [[Kentucky]], Miller received a M.A. in 1913 from [[Washington and Lee University]], and a [[Bachelor of Divinity|B.D.]] in 1919 from [[Princeton Theological Seminary]]. He went to Persia ([[Iran]]) as a missionary of the [[Presbyterian Church]] and, except for a short period around 1932, he remained in Persia until 1962.

As a part of his missionary work, he learned [[Persian language|Persian]] and studied [[Islam]], particularly [[Shi'a Islam]], Persia and [[Persian culture]]. During his missionary work in Persia, he also encountered followers of the [[Baháʼí Faith]], a large religious minority there. Much of his ministerial work involved developing Christian [[apologetics|apologetic]] responses to these religions.

With respect to the Baháʼí Faith, his ''Baha'ism, Its Origin, History and Teachings'',<ref>{{cite book|author=William McElwee Miller|title=Baha'ism, Its Origin, History and Teachings|url=http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/K-O/M/miller/Bahaism_Miller_1931.pdf|year=1931|publisher=Fleming H. Revell Company}}</ref> published in 1931, was the first of two books, and several apologetic and polemical articles on the subject.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Elwell-Sutton|first=L.P.|year=1976|title=Review of "The Baha'i Faith" Its History and Teaching by William McElwee Miller|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|pages=157–158|volume=108| doi=10.1017/S0035869X00133416|jstor=25203713|number=2|s2cid=162531277 }}</ref> Along with [[Earl E. Elder]] he translated [[Bahá'u'lláh]]'s  ''[[Kitáb-i-Aqdas]]'', one of the central books of the religion; this translation was published by the [[Royal Asiatic Society]] in 1961. In 1974, a new follow-up, ''The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings''<ref>{{cite book|author=William McElwee Miller|title=The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gc3_6HVvZzkC|year=1974|publisher=William Carey Library|isbn=978-0-87808-137-0}}</ref> 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, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Mount Airy]], [[Pennsylvania]], where he lived until she died, and then went to live in a retirement home until his own death in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] 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.
*''[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/K-O/M/miller/Bahaism_Miller_1931.pdf Baha'ism, Its Origin, History and Teachings]''. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1931.
*{{cite book
 |author=Earl E. Elder and William McElwee Miller (Trs.)
 |year=1961
 |title=AL-KITĀB AL-AQDAS
 |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society
 |location=London
 |isbn=0-947593-20-9
 |url=https://archive.org/details/alaqdaselder
 }}

*{{cite book
 |author=William McElwee Miller
 |year=1974
 |title=The Bahá'í Faith: Its History and Teachings
 |publisher=[[William Carey Library]]
 |location=Pasadena, CA
 |isbn=0-87808-137-2
 }}

*''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'', {{ISBN|0-87808-214-X}}; [[William Carey Library]], 1989
*''Tales of Persia: A Book for Children, {{ISBN|0-87552-292-0}}; Presbyterian and Reformed Pub Co, 1988
*''Tales Of Persia: Missionary Stories From Islamic Iran'', {{ISBN|0-87552-615-2}}, Presbyterian and Reformed Pub Co, 2005
*''Beliefs and practices of Christians'' - also titled ''What is Christianity''

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Portal|Christianity}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title= The Baha'i (sic) Faith: Its History and Teachings |last= Miller |first= William |year= 1974|publisher= William Carey Library|location= Pasadena, CA|isbn= 0-87808-137-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gc3_6HVvZzkC&pg=PP1}}
*{{cite journal | author= Elwell-Sutton, L.P.| title= Baha'i (sic) Faith: Its History and Teachings, The, by William Miller| journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland | year= 1976| volume= 28| issue= 3| pages= 157–158| doi= 10.1017/S0035869X00133416| s2cid= 162531277| url= http://bahai-library.com/elwell-sutton_miller_bahai_faith| url-access= subscription}}
*{{cite journal | author= Martin, Douglas| title=Missionary as Historian: William Miller and the Baha'i Faith (sic), a review of Miller's 'The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings'| journal= Baha'i Studies | year= 1978| volume= 40| issue= 3| url= http://bahai-library.com/martin_missionary_historian_miller}}

{{Protestant missions to the Middle East}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Christianity in Iran}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, William McElwee}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:American Congregationalist missionaries]]
[[Category:Congregationalist missionaries in Iran]]
[[Category:American men centenarians]]
[[Category:American missionaries in Iran]]