Max Müller

Philology

Max Müller (1823–1900) was a German-born British philologist and orientalist, and a foundational figure in the comparative study of religion and mythology. A professor at Oxford, he played a decisive role in introducing Indian texts to Europe, most notably through his editions and translations of the Rig Veda. Müller argued that religions should be studied scientifically, as historical and linguistic phenomena, rather than judged theologically. He maintained that myth and religion arise from the human attempt to express the infinite through language. His work had a lasting influence on religious studies, philology, and intellectual history, helping to establish a comparative, non-dogmatic approach to spiritual traditions.

Thoughts (1)

The world was not made

In other countries, too, the idea of a creation was sternly rejected, as, for instance, by Heraclitus, who declares that no god and no man made this world, but that it was always and is and will be, an eternal fire, assuming forms and destroying them. And this protest, it should be remembered, came from a man who was able to say with equal honesty that "God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, satiety and hunger—and that he is called according to the pleasure of every one."

Max Müller

Natural Religion (1892)