Albin van Hoonacker
Encyclopedia
Albin-Augustin Van Hoonacker (19 November 1857 in Bruges
- 1 November 1933 in Bruges
) was a Roman Catholic theologian, professor at the Faculty of Theology, Catholic University of Leuven
, a member of The Royal Academy of Belgium and Knight of the Order of Leopold.
, where he mastered Greek and Latin. Thereafter, he entered the seminary of the diocese of Bruges
. After his ordination as a priest in 1880, the Bishop of Bruges, Mgr Faict sent him to the Catholic University of Leuven
, to continue his theological studies. In 1886 he obtained the doctorate in theology there, for his dissertation on the subject of the Creation.
After a short period of pastoral activity at Kortrijk
Van Hoonacker returned to Louvain
, where he worked as sub-regent at the Holy Spirit College. At the same time, Van Hoonacker deepened his knowledge of Orientalism, through attending university courses in Semitic languages (Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic). In July 1889, Van Hoonacker was invited by the redaction of Journal de Bruxelles, a Catholic newspaper to react upon some writings in the field of orientalism and biblical exegesis by the jurist, journalist and socialist senator Edmond Picard
on the historical value of the Bible. As a result of his involvement in this polemic, Van Hoonacker earned great respect in Belgian Catholic circles, to the extent that
Mgr. Abbeloos
, then rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, and a biblical scholar himself, proposed to the Belgian bishops that Van Hoonacker be appointed to the newly created chair of Histoire critique de l'Ancien Testament. At a time when the historical-critical exploration of the Bible among Catholics was still highly controversial, Van Hoonacker thus became the first professor to teach the Critical History of the Old Testament. He remained in that post until 1927. Up to that time there had only been a single lecture-course at the university on biblical exegesis, that given by Thomas Lamy
.
From 1888 onwards he published many papers on the critical investigation of the Pentateuch and of the prophetic books of the Old Testament. In his teaching and research he made use of the results and methods developed by other European scholars including those inclined to modernism
such as Alfred Loisy
and Marie-Joseph Lagrange
.
In 1899 he published his study Le sacerdoce lévitique dans la loi et dans l'histoire des Hébreux, which was critical of the positions of Graf
and Wellhausen
on the origin of the Hexateuch
. He also crossed swords with Abraham Kuenen
by putting forward a new hypothesis about the chronology of Nehemiah
and Ezra
.
When at the initiative of Pope Leo XIII
the Pontifical Biblical Commission
was set up to counter the new difficulties in biblical exegesis, Van Hoonacker was one of the first seven members appointed (September 18, 1901). Although somewhat reluctant and sceptical about this appointment, he did engage himself. Van Hoonacker drafted various proposals for documents to be prepared by the Commission, especially concerning the question of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch and the origins of Acts
.
After the condemnation of modernism by Pope Pius X
. in his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis
of 1907 and the excommunication of Alfred Loisy
a year later, van Hoonacker also came under suspicion in Rome. He witnessed the criticism by the ecclesiastical authorities of the work of his pupil Henri Poels as well as the adverse reaction to the appointment of his colleague Paulin Ladeuze, as rector of the university in Louvain. These events led to his decision in 1909 to suppress the publication of his critical remarks on the book by Franz Egger the Bishop of Brixen
, Absolute oder relative Wahrheit der heiligen Schrift? Dogmatisch-christliche Untersuchung einer neuen Theorie. His criticism was eventually published posthumously. Then in 1913 he was informed by Lagrange that his 1908 book Les douze petits prophètes traduits et commentés was to be placed on the Index
. This did not take place, however, thanks to the intervention of the Archbishop of Mechelen, Cardinal Cardinal Mercier
.
On the outbreak of war
in 1914 and the German occupation of Belgium, Van Hoonacker fled to Great-Britain, where he settled in Cambridge
. In this ere he established friendly relations with Baron von Hügel
. While in England he was invited to give the 1914 Schweich Lectures, on the subject of the Elephantine
colony. After the war he returned to Leuven, and carried on his work until retirement in 1927.
In 1920 he joined the Royal Flemish Academy, and increasingly showed his support for the Flemish movement
. In 1922 he became one of the first professors in Belgium to offer a lecture course delivered in the Dutch language
. It was also at this time that he wrote his pamphlet Over de vernederlandsing in het onderwijs.
In 1927 he was given the Freedom of the City of Bruges. He continued publishing until his death in 1933.
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
- 1 November 1933 in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
) was a Roman Catholic theologian, professor at the Faculty of Theology, Catholic University of Leuven
Faculty of Theology, Catholic University of Leuven
The Leuven Faculty of Theology, — a branch of the Catholic University of Leuven — is the oldest Theological Faculty in the Low Countries, and one of the oldest faculties in the world. The faculty was established in 1432, as a part of the existing Old University, and closed its doors in 1797 when...
, a member of The Royal Academy of Belgium and Knight of the Order of Leopold.
Life
Albin van Hoonacker came from a respectable middle-class background. The family were religious Catholics; his two sisters became nuns and two of his brothers, like him, entered the priesthood. After primary school, Van Hoonacker attended his secondary education at the seminary in RoulersRoeselare
Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke....
, where he mastered Greek and Latin. Thereafter, he entered the seminary of the diocese of Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
. After his ordination as a priest in 1880, the Bishop of Bruges, Mgr Faict sent him to the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
, to continue his theological studies. In 1886 he obtained the doctorate in theology there, for his dissertation on the subject of the Creation.
After a short period of pastoral activity at Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
Van Hoonacker returned to Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, where he worked as sub-regent at the Holy Spirit College. At the same time, Van Hoonacker deepened his knowledge of Orientalism, through attending university courses in Semitic languages (Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic). In July 1889, Van Hoonacker was invited by the redaction of Journal de Bruxelles, a Catholic newspaper to react upon some writings in the field of orientalism and biblical exegesis by the jurist, journalist and socialist senator Edmond Picard
Edmond Picard
Edmond Picard Edmond Picard Edmond Picard (15 December 1836, Brussels – 19 February 1924, Dåve (now Namur) was a Belgian jurist and writer.Edmond Picard was lawyer at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation of Belgium. He was also head of the Belgian bar association, professor of law,...
on the historical value of the Bible. As a result of his involvement in this polemic, Van Hoonacker earned great respect in Belgian Catholic circles, to the extent that
Mgr. Abbeloos
Jean Baptiste Abbeloos
Jean Baptiste Abbeloos was a Belgian orientalist and Rector of the University of Leuven.-Life:He was born 15 January 1836, at Goyck, Belgium. He was educated in the seminary of Mechelen, 1849 to 1860. After his ordination to the priesthood, 22 September 1860, he studied at Leuven and Rome,...
, then rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, and a biblical scholar himself, proposed to the Belgian bishops that Van Hoonacker be appointed to the newly created chair of Histoire critique de l'Ancien Testament. At a time when the historical-critical exploration of the Bible among Catholics was still highly controversial, Van Hoonacker thus became the first professor to teach the Critical History of the Old Testament. He remained in that post until 1927. Up to that time there had only been a single lecture-course at the university on biblical exegesis, that given by Thomas Lamy
Thomas Joseph Lamy
Thomas Joseph Lamy was a Belgian Biblical scholar end orientalist.Ordained priest in 1853 after completing his studies at Floreffe and at the seminary of Namur, he entered the Catholic University of Leuven and received from his professors, Ian Theodor Beelen, the distinguished exegete and...
.
From 1888 onwards he published many papers on the critical investigation of the Pentateuch and of the prophetic books of the Old Testament. In his teaching and research he made use of the results and methods developed by other European scholars including those inclined to modernism
Modernism (Roman Catholicism)
Modernism refers to theological opinions expressed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but with influence reaching into the 21st century, which are characterized by a break with the past. Catholic modernists form an amorphous group. The term "modernist" appears in Pope Pius X's 1907...
such as Alfred Loisy
Alfred Loisy
Alfred Firmin Loisy was a French Roman Catholic priest, professor and theologian who became the intellectual standard bearer for Biblical Modernism in the Roman Catholic Church...
and Marie-Joseph Lagrange
Marie-Joseph Lagrange
Marie-Joseph Lagrange was a Catholic priest in the Dominican Order and founder of the École Biblique in Jerusalem...
.
In 1899 he published his study Le sacerdoce lévitique dans la loi et dans l'histoire des Hébreux, which was critical of the positions of Graf
Karl Heinrich Graf
Karl Heinrich Graf was a German Old Testament scholar and orientalist. He was born at Mulhausen in Alsace and died in Meissen in Saxony....
and Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen , was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, noted particularly for his contribution to scholarly understanding of the origin of the Pentateuch/Torah ....
on the origin of the Hexateuch
Hexateuch
The Hexateuch is the first six books of the Hebrew Bible . Some scholars propose that Joshua represents part of the northern Yahwist source , detached from JE document by the Deuteronomist and incorporated into the Deuteronomic history, with the books of Judges, Kings, and Samuel.Reasons...
. He also crossed swords with Abraham Kuenen
Abraham Kuenen
Abraham Kuenen , Dutch Protestant theologian, the son of an apothecary, was born in Haarlem, North Holland....
by putting forward a new hypothesis about the chronology of Nehemiah
Book of Nehemiah
The Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws...
and Ezra
Book of Ezra
The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...
.
When at the initiative of Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
the Pontifical Biblical Commission
Pontifical Biblical Commission
The Pontifical Biblical Commission is an organism established within the Roman Curia to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of Sacred Scripture.-The Commission 1901-1971:...
was set up to counter the new difficulties in biblical exegesis, Van Hoonacker was one of the first seven members appointed (September 18, 1901). Although somewhat reluctant and sceptical about this appointment, he did engage himself. Van Hoonacker drafted various proposals for documents to be prepared by the Commission, especially concerning the question of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch and the origins of Acts
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
.
After the condemnation of modernism by Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
. in his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis
Pascendi Dominici Gregis
Pascendi dominici gregis was a Papal encyclical letter promulgated by Pope Pius X on 8 September 1907.The pope condemned Modernism, and a whole range of other principles described as "evolutionary", which allowed change to Roman Catholic dogma...
of 1907 and the excommunication of Alfred Loisy
Alfred Loisy
Alfred Firmin Loisy was a French Roman Catholic priest, professor and theologian who became the intellectual standard bearer for Biblical Modernism in the Roman Catholic Church...
a year later, van Hoonacker also came under suspicion in Rome. He witnessed the criticism by the ecclesiastical authorities of the work of his pupil Henri Poels as well as the adverse reaction to the appointment of his colleague Paulin Ladeuze, as rector of the university in Louvain. These events led to his decision in 1909 to suppress the publication of his critical remarks on the book by Franz Egger the Bishop of Brixen
Bishopric of Brixen
The Bishopric of Brixen is a former Roman Catholic diocese and also a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present province of South Tyrol. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers...
, Absolute oder relative Wahrheit der heiligen Schrift? Dogmatisch-christliche Untersuchung einer neuen Theorie. His criticism was eventually published posthumously. Then in 1913 he was informed by Lagrange that his 1908 book Les douze petits prophètes traduits et commentés was to be placed on the Index
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
. This did not take place, however, thanks to the intervention of the Archbishop of Mechelen, Cardinal Cardinal Mercier
Désiré-Joseph Mercier
-Early life and ordination:Désiré Mercier was born at the château du Castegier in Braine-l'Alleud, as the fifth of the seven children of Paul-Léon Mercier and his wife Anne-Marie Barbe Croquet....
.
On the outbreak of war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914 and the German occupation of Belgium, Van Hoonacker fled to Great-Britain, where he settled in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. In this ere he established friendly relations with Baron von Hügel
Friedrich von Hügel
Friedrich von Hügel was an influential Austrian Roman Catholic layman, religious writer, Modernist theologian and Christian apologist....
. While in England he was invited to give the 1914 Schweich Lectures, on the subject of the Elephantine
Elephantine papyri
The Elephantine Papyri are a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts dating from the 5th century BC. They come from a Jewish community at Elephantine, then called Yeb, the island in the Nile at the border of Nubia, which was probably founded as a military installation in about 650 BC during...
colony. After the war he returned to Leuven, and carried on his work until retirement in 1927.
In 1920 he joined the Royal Flemish Academy, and increasingly showed his support for the Flemish movement
Flemish movement
The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
. In 1922 he became one of the first professors in Belgium to offer a lecture course delivered in the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. It was also at this time that he wrote his pamphlet Over de vernederlandsing in het onderwijs.
In 1927 he was given the Freedom of the City of Bruges. He continued publishing until his death in 1933.
Works
- De rerum creatione ex nihilo (Diss. Fac. Theol., Tl. 38), Louvain, van Linthout, 1886, 315 pages
- L'origine des quatre premiers chapitres du Deutéronome, Louvain, Lefever, 1887, 47 pages
- Observations critiques sur les récits concernant Bileam, Louvain, Leféver, 1888, 16 pages
- La critique biblique et l'apologétique, Louvain, Lefever, 1889, 26 pages
- Néhémie et Esdras. Nouvelle hypothèse sur la chronologie de l'époque de la Restauration juive, Louvain, Istas, 1890, 85 pages
- Zorobabel et le second temple. Étude sur la chronologie des six premiers chapitres du livre d'Esdras. Ghent & Leipzig, Engelcke, 1892, 91 pages
- Néhémie en l'an 20 d'Artaxerxès I. Esdras en l'an 7 d'Artaxerxès II. Réponse à un mémoire d'A. Kuenen, Ghent & Leipzig, Engelcke, 1892, 91 pages
- Le lieu du culte dans la législation rituelle des Hébreux, Ghent & Leipzig, Engelcke, 1894, 92 pages
- Nouvelles études sur la restauration juive après l'exil de Babylone, Paris, Leroux, 1896, 313 pages
- Le sacerdoce lévitique dans la loi et dans l'histoire des Hébreux, London, Williams & Norgate, 1899, 465 pages
- Les douze petits prophètes traduits et commentés. Paris, Gabalda, 1908, 759 pages
- Une communauté Judéo-Araméenne à Éléphantine, en Égypte, aux VIe et Ve siècles avant J.-C.(The Schweich lectures, 1914), London, 1915, 91 pages
- De jongste waarnemingen op het gebied der geschiedenis van het semietische alfabet, Ghent, Erasmus, 1921, 112 pages (in de series "Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie")
- Grondbeginselen der moraalfilosofie, Leuven, 1922, 192 pages
- Een Israëltisch volksman uit de achtste eeuw vóór C. Ghent, 1931, 170 pages, (in the series "Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie")
- Het boek Isias vertaald uit het hebreeuwsch en in doorlopende aanteekeningen verklaard. Brugge 1932, 311 pages
Posthumous publications
- Quelques notes sur Absolute und relative Wahrheit in der heiligen Schrift. Une contribution inédite du chanoine Albin van Hoonacker à la Question Biblique (1909), submitted by J. Coppens in EthLov. 18, 1941, 201-336;
- De compositione litteraria et de origine Mosaica hexateuchi disquisitio historico-critica. Een historisch-kritisch onderzoek van professor van Hoonacker naar het ontstaan van de Hexateuch op grond van verspreide nagelaten aantekeningen. edited with an introduction by J. Coppens, Acad. Royale de Belgique, Verhandelingen, Bd. XI, Brüssel, 1949;
- Le rapprochement entre le Deutéronome et Malachie,(1908), submitted by F. Neirynck, in EthLov. 59, 1983, 86-90.
Biography
- K. Schelkens, Albin Van Hoonacker, in Bio-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 29, 2009, 1485-1491.
- J. Coppens, Le chanoine Albin van Hoonacker. Son enseignement, son oeuvre et sa méthode exégétiques,Paris, Gembloux, 1935.
- P.M. Bogaert, Albin van Hoonacker, in BnatBelg, Vol. 44. Supplément 16, 1985, kol. 633-640.
- J. Coppens, Prof. Dr. Mag. Alb. van Hoonacker, in Ons Volk Ontwaakt 12, 1926, 689-692.
- J. Coppens, À propos de l’oeuvre exégétique du chanoine van Hoonacker, in ETL 16 (1939) 225-228.
- J. Coppens, Hoonacker (Albin van), in DBVS, Suppl. 4, Paris, 1949, kol. 123-128.
- E. de Knevett, Professor van Hoonacker, in Expository Times 20 (1909) 165-166.
- J. Lust, A. van Hoonacker and Deuteronomy, in N. Lohfink, Das Deuteronomium. Entstehung, Gestalt und Botschaft, (BETL 68, Leuven, 1985) 13-23.
- J. Lust, A Letter from M.J. Lagrange to A. van Hoonacker, in ETL 59 (1983) 331-332.
- F. Neirynck, Hoonacker, Albin van, in Nationaal Biografisch' Woordenboek, Vol. 11, 1985, 379-385.
- F. Neirynck, A. van Hoonacker et l’Index, in ETL 57 (1981) 293-297.
- F. Neirynck, A. van Hoonacker, het boek Jona en Rome, in Academiae Analecta. Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, Vol. 44, 1982, 75-100.
- H. Poels, Manifestation - Huldebetoon J. Forget – J. de Becker – A. van Hoonacker, (Leuven, Meulemans, 1928) 47-57.
- J. Salsmans, Levensbericht van Kan. Prof. Dr. Albinus van Hoonacker, in Handelingen Vlaamse Academie. Yearbook 1934 (Ghent, 1934) 99-100.