Paul Mezger (born 23 November 1637, at

Eichstädt Eichstädt is a village in Brandenburg, Germany. It is not to be confused with Eichstätt, Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an a ...

; died 12 April 1702 at

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

) was an Austrian

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

theologian and academic of

St. Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg St Peter's Abbey (german: Stift Sankt Peter), or St Peter's Archabbey (German: ''Erzabtei Stift Sankt Peter'', la, Archiabbatia sancti Petri Salisburgensis), is a Benedictine monastery and former cathedral in the Austrian city of Salzburg. It is ...

Life

He took vows in 1653 and was ordained priest in 1660. He taught at the gymnasium of Salzburg, 1660–4. He was master of novices and director of clerics, 1664–6, and taught philosophy, first at the

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (german: Universität Salzburg), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg municipality, Salzburg state, named af ...

, 1668–70; then at the monastery of Göttweig, 1671–2. Returning to the University of Salzburg, he taught theology, 1673–88, and exegesis and polemics, 1689–1700. In 1683 he had succeeded his deceased brother

Joseph Mezger Joseph Mezger (5 September 1635 – 26 October 1683) was an Austrian Benedictine of St. Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg. Life Mezger was born at Eichstädt. He took vows at the same time as his brother Francis Mezger in 1651, and was ordained pr ...

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

Works

His major work is: "Theologia scholastica secundum viam et doctrinam D. Thomae" (4 volumes, Augsburg, 1695, 1719), on

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 ...

. The author's treatments of the

immaculate conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

and of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks '' ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the apos ...

are in accordance with the later definitions of 1854 and 1870, respectively. His other works are: *"Somnia philosophorum de possibilibus et impossibilibus" (Salzburg, 1670); *"Contemplationes philosophicæ magnæ urbis cœlestis et elementaris" (ib., 1670); *"Mercurius logicus" (ib., 1671); *"De gratia Dei" (ib., 1675); *"Allocutiones de mediis pietatis Marianæ" (ib., 1677); *"Orationes partheniæ, miscellaneæ, sacroprofanæ, problemata inauguralia seu orationes academicæ" (ib., 1699–1700); *"Sacra historia de gentis hebraicæ ortu" (Dillingen, 1700; Augsburg, 1715).

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Sattler, Collect.-Blätter zur Gesch. der ehemaligen Benedictiner-Universität Salzburg (Kempten, 1890), 212–218; **Lindner, Professbuch der Benedictiner Abtei S. Peter in Salzburg (Salsburg, 1906), 53–58, 65–68. **Straus, Viri scriptis, eruditione ac pietate insignes, quos genuit vel aluit Eichstadium (Eichstädt, 1790), 326–331. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mezger, Paul 1637 births 1702 deaths Austrian Benedictines 17th-century Austrian writers Academic staff of the University of Salzburg Benedictine theologians