Michael Schmaus (17 July 1897 – 8 December 1993) was a German

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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 ...

specializing in dogmatics.

Life

Schmaus was born in Oberbaar,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1922 and got his doctorate in

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Dogmatic Theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

under

Martin Grabmann Martin Grabmann (5 January 1875 – 9 January 1949) was a German Roman Catholic priest, medievalist and historian of theology and philosophy. He was a pioneer of the history of medieval philosophy and has been called "the greatest Catholic scholar ...

in 1924. After teaching at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Freising, at the local seminary and 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 List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

, he was a professor of dogmatic theology at the German-speaking part of the

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

(1928–1933) and from 1933 on at the Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster. German philosopher

Kurt Flasch Kurt Flasch (born 12 March 1930, Mainz) is a German philosopher, who works mainly as a historian of medieval thought and of late antiquity. Flasch was professor at the Ruhr University Bochum. He was / is a member of several German and internationa ...

considers Schmaus and his fellow faculty members

Josef Pieper Josef Pieper (; 4 May 1904 – 6 November 1997) was a German Catholic philosopher and an important figure in the resurgence of interest in the thought of Thomas Aquinas in early-to-mid 20th-century philosophy. Among his most notable works are ''The ...

and

Joseph Lortz Joseph (Adam) Lortz (13 December 1887 in Grevenmacher, Luxembourg – 21 February 1975 in Luxembourg) was a Roman Catholic church historian. He was a highly regarded Reformation historian and ecumenist. Beginning in the 1940s, Lortz made his ec ...

to be the three theologian "pro-Nazi authors" who felt called to make the Catholic population familiar with the compatibility of Catholicism and National Socialism, in an academic way. In 1934, in his ''Encounters between Catholic Christianity and National Socialist Weltanschauung'' (Begegnungen zwischen katholischem Christentum und nationalsozialistischer Weltanschauung), Schmaus commented on the connection between Catholicism and National Socialist ideology as follows: "The tablets of National Socialist standards and those of Catholic imperatives point in the same direction." („''Die Tafeln des nationalsozialistischen Sollens und die der katholischen Imperative weisen in dieselbe Wegrichtung.''“) In his 1941 work Catholic Dogma (''Katholische Dogmatik''), he referred to "the Jews" as "servants of sin," for which they had "no feeling whatsoever," and as "children, servants of the devil." From 1946 until his retirement in 1965 he was professor of Catholic dogmatic theology at the

Ludwig Maximilian 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 ...

. Among his students were Joseph Ratzinger - the future

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

- with whom he associated with his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

for Fundamental Theology, also Gerhard Boß, Josef Finkenzeller, Elisabeth Gössmann, Richard Heinzmann, Stephan Otto,

Uta Ranke-Heinemann Uta Ranke-Heinemann (2 October 1927 – 25 March 2021) was a German theologian, academic, and author. In 1969, she was the first woman in the world to be habilitated in Catholic theology. She held a chair of ancient Church history and the New T ...

and

Leo Scheffczyk Leo Scheffczyk (; 21 February 1920 – 8 December 2005) was a German cardinal and theologian. He was a long-time theologian at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and one of the strongest advocates for orthodoxy during the long pon ...

. In 1951 to 1952 Schmaus was rektor of the LMU München. He was

peritus ''Peritus'' (Latin for "expert") is the title given to Roman Catholic theologians attending an ecumenical council to give advice. At the Second Vatican Council, some ''periti'' (the plural form) accompanied individual bishops or groups of bisho ...

(theological expert) for part of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. In 1954 he founded the Martin-Grabmann-Institute for Rescue in Medieval Theology and Philosophy, in 1955 the scientific journal Münchner Theologische Zeitschrift He was best as a synthesizer rather than an originator. His two works on Catholic dogma are still standard works. He died in

Gauting Gauting is a municipality in the district of Starnberg, in Bavaria, Germany with a population of approximately 20,000. It is situated on the river Würm, southwest of Munich and is a part of the Munich metropolitan area. Geography Stockdorf, ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

in 1993 and buried in

Munich Waldfriedhof The Munich Waldfriedhof is one of 29 cemeteries of Munich in Bavaria, Germany. It is one of the larger and more famous burial sites of the city, known for its park-like design and tombs of notable personalities. The Waldfriedhof is considered the ...

Honours

* 1951 Member of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

, historic and philosophic section * 1952 Member of the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis in Rome * 1952 Member of the Accademia Leonardo Da Vinci Neapel * 1952

Prelate of Honour of His Holiness A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop ...

* 1954

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...

of Spain (Commander / ''Encomienda'') * 1956 Member of the

Pontifical Academy of Theology The Pontifical Academy of Theology ( it, Pontificia Accademia di Teologia) is a learned society founded in 1718, and is a Pontifical Academy. It is situated at Via della Conciliazione, Vatican City, Rome. History The Pontifical Academy of The ...

* 1957

GRE Order of the Phoenix - Commander BAR

Order of the Phoenix (Greece) The Order of the Phoenix ( el, Τάγμα του Φοίνικος) is an order of Greece, established on 13 May 1926, by the republican government of the Second Hellenic Republic to replace the defunct Royal Order of George I. The order was ret ...

(Commander) * 1959 DE-BY Der Bayerische Verdienstorden BAR

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

* 1968

Great Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1983

Protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

appointed by

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

John Paul II. on 12 November 1983''Annuario Pontificio per l’anno 1987'', Città del Vaticano 1987, S. 2031. * 1983 Günther-Klinge-Kulturpreis of the municipality Gauting * 1984 DE-BY Der Bayerische Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst BAR

DE-BY Der Bayerische Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst BAR

Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art The Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (german: Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst, links=no) was first established on 28 November 1853 by King Maximilian II von Bayern. It is awarded to acknowledge and reward exc ...

* Renaming of the church square in his place of birth Oberbaar to "Prof.-Michael-Schmaus-Platz"

Works

* ''Die psychologische Trinitätslehre des hl.

Augustinus Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

'', (Thesis of Dissertation), 1927. * ''Der Liber propugnatorius des Thomas Anglicus und die Lehrunterschiede zwischen

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

und

Duns Scotus John Duns Scotus ( – 8 November 1308), commonly called Duns Scotus ( ; ; "Duns the Scot"), was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher, and theologian. He is one of the four most important ...

, II: Die trinitarischen Lehrdifferenzen'' (= Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, file 29), Münster 1930 (Thesis of Habilitation.). * ''Begegnungen zwischen katholischem Christentum und nationalsozialistischer Weltanschauung'', 1934. * ''Katholische Dogmatik'' (Catholic Dogma), 3 volumes, 1938–1941 * ''Dogma'' (A different work), 6 volumes 1968,
Schmaus, Der Glaube der Kirche

Literature

All those cited here are in German. *Johann Auer (ed.): ''Theologie in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Michael Schmaus zum sechzigsten Geburtstag dargebracht von seinen Freunden und Schülern'', Verlag Zink, München 1957. *

(ed.) (et al.): ''Wahrheit und Verkündigung. Michael Schmaus zum 70. Geburtstag.'' Paderborn, München, Wien 1967, two files. * Peter Kollmannsberger: ''Die schöpfungstheologische Frage nach dem Personsein des Menschen in den Dogmatiken von Michael Schmaus und Johann Auer''. Dissertationsschrift ( Universität Passau). Schuch, Weiden 1992; * Richard Heinzmann: ''Zum Verhältnis von Kirche und Theologie nach Michael Schmaus'', in: Thomas Prügl, Marianne Schlosser (ed.): ''Kirchenbild und Spiritualität. Dominikanische Beiträge zur Ekklesiologie und zum kirchlichen Leben im Mittelalter'' (= Festschrift für Ulrich Horst OP zum 75. Geburtstag). Paderborn, München, Wien, Zürich 2007, ISBN 978-3-506-75651-0, S. 421–435. *

Links

Veröffentlichungen von und über Michael Schmaus
im Opac der

Regesta Imperii Papal regesta are the copies, generally entered in special registry volumes, of the papal letters and official documents that are kept in the papal archives. The name is also used to indicate subsequent publications containing such documents, in c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmaus, Michael 20th-century German Catholic theologians 1897 births 1993 deaths Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests