Anton Berlage (born 21 December 1805,

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, now

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

- 6 December 1881, Münster) was a German Catholic dogmatic

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Life

He studied philosophy and theology in the same city, after completing his course at the Gymnasium, and proceeded to the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

in 1826. Esser, at Münster, and especially

Georg Hermes Georg Hermes (22 April 1775, Dreierwalde – 26 May 1831, Bonn) was a German Roman Catholic theologian who advocated a rational approach to theology. During his lifetime, his theology was greatly in vogue in Germany, but declined after the posthu ...

, at Bonn, led him to speculations in theology. Later at Tübingen, during 1829 and 1830, under

Drey A drey is the nest of a tree squirrel, flying squirrel or ringtail possum. Dreys are usually built of twigs, dry leaves, and grass, and typically assembled in the forks of a tall tree. They are sometimes referred to as "drey nests" to distin ...

, J. B. Hirscher, and

Johann Adam Möhler Johann Adam Möhler (6 May 1796 – 12 April 1838) was a German Roman Catholic theologian. He was born at Igersheim in the Bailiwick of Franconia of the Teutonic Order (from 1809 on part of Württemberg), and after studying philosophy and theolo ...

, who influenced him by their historic method. He graduated as Doctor of Theology at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

while yet a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

, and soon after began his long career as professor in the Academy of Münster, his native town, where he taught till his death. In 1832 he was ordained priest without ever having taken a course in any ecclesiastical seminary.

Works

His first book, ''Apologetik der Kirche'', was published in 1835, and favourably noticed by Protestant critics. He was appointed, first, associate professor, then regular professor, lecturing on apologetics and moral theology, but he ultimately restricted himself to dogmatic theology. He became dean of the faculty in 1849 and, with August Bisping, Joseph Schwane, and others, established the faculty's reputation in the field of dogma. Kuhn numbers him among those who discussed theological matters philosophically, while Knöpfler regards him as belonging to the Tübingen school.

Heinrich Brück Heinrich Brück (25 October 1831, Bingen – 4 November 1903) was a German Catholic church historian, and Bishop of Mainz. Life He followed for some time the cooper's trade. After a course of studies under of a distinguished ecclesiastic, Dr. ...

, in his history of the Catholic Church in the nineteenth century, declares, "Berlage's writings excel in correct expression of dogmatic principles, in elegance of language, and in clearness of diction". As a lecturer he was concise and direct. He collected his studies in seven volumes, ''Katholische Dogmatik'', published 1839-64.

Bibliography

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References

; Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlage, Anton 19th-century German Catholic theologians 1805 births 1881 deaths University of Bonn alumni 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers German male non-fiction writers