Muelder, Walter George, 1907-....

American Methodist clergyman; teacher at various universities; dean, School of Theology, Boston University and professor of social ethics (1945-1972); professor emeritus (1972- )

Educator, personalist, ecumenist, ethicist.

Born in Boody, Illinois, son of Epke Hermann and Minnie Horlitz Muelder. He attended Knox College (B.S. 1927), and Boston University (S.T.B., 1930; Ph. D., 1933), with studies under Paul Tillich in Frankfurt in 1931. He taught at Berea College (1934-40) and the University of Southern California (1940-45) before coming to Boston University as Dean and Professor of Christian Theology and Christian Ethics (1945-72). Upon retirement, he again taught briefly at Berea College, and continued to teach occasional courses at Boston University. He served the World Council of Churches for many years, attending the Assemblies at Evanston (1954), New Delhi (1964) and Uppsala (1968), serving in various capacities with Faith and Order, including Chair of the Commission on Institutionalism (1955-63), and later as Chair of the Board of the Ecumenical Institute (1961-68).

He began teaching and writing in general philosophy, editing The Development of American philosophy: a book of readings (1940, rev. 1960), but is best known for his later works in ethics: Religion and economic responsibility (1953), The Idea of the responsible society (1955), The Foundations of the responsible society (1959), Methodist social thought and action (1961), Methodism and society in the twentieth century (1961), and Moral laws in Christian social ethics (1966).