Constantine von Schäzler (b. at Ratisbon, 7 May 1827; d. at Interlaken

Interlaken

Interlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...

, 9 September 1880) was a German Jesuit theologian.

Life

By birth and training a Protestant, he was a pupil at the Protestant gymnasium St. Anna of Ratisbon; took the philosophical course at the University of Erlangen in 1844-45; then studied law at Munich, 1845–47, and at Heidelberg, 1847-48. After this he decided to enter military life and became a Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

n officer; in 1850, however, he left the army, received the degree of Doctor of Laws at Erlangen, and took up the practice of law.

He entered the Catholic Church at Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 on 10 October 1850, and began the study of theology. At Leuven

Leuven

Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

 in 1851 he entered the Society of Jesus; after completing the studies he was ordained priest at Liege on 11 September 1856; in 1857 he left the Society and went on with his studies at Munich where in 1859 he took the degree of Doctor of Theology

Doctor of Theology

Doctor of Theology is a terminal academic degree in theology. It is a research degree that is considered by the U.S. National Science Foundation to be the equivalent of a Doctor of Philosophy....

.

In 1861 he became a tutor in the seminary at Osnabrück

Osnabrück

Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...

; in 1862 privatdozent

Privatdozent

Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...

in the history of dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

 at Freiburg

Freiburg

Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

; in 1866 archiepiscopal councillor. During the First Vatican Council

First Vatican Council

The First Vatican Council was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This twentieth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, held three centuries after the Council of Trent, opened on 8 December 1869 and adjourned...

 (1869–70) he was at Rome as theologian to Bishop Josef Fessler

Josef Fessler

Josef Fessler was Roman Catholic Bishop of Sankt Pölten in Austria, a secretary of the First Vatican Council and an authority on patristics.-Biography and works:...

; in 1873 he settled at Rome; in 1874 he was made a domestic prelate and was employed as consultor to various congregations. Shortly before his death he re-entered the Society of Jesus.

Works

Schäzler was a prominent representative of Thomism

Thomism

Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...

. He was the author of the following works:

• "Die Lehre von der Wirksamkeit der Sakramente ex opere operato in ihrer Entwicklung innerhalb der Scholastik und ihrer Bedeutung für die christliche Heilslehre dargestellt" (Munich, 1860);
• "Natur und Uebernatur. Das Dogma von der Gnade und die theologische Frage der Gegenwart. Eine Kritik der Kuhn'schen Theologie" (Mainz, 1865);
• "Neue Untersuchungen über das Dogma von der Gnade und das Wesen des christlichen Glaubens" (Mainz, 1867) (these last two works belong to the controversy that Schäzler carried on with Johannes von Kuhn
  Johannes von Kuhn
  Johannes von Kuhn was a German Catholic theologian. With Franz Anton Staudenmaier he occupied the foremost rank among the speculative dogmatists of the Catholic school at the University of Tübingen.-Life:...
  
  );
• "Das Dogma von der Menschenwerdung Gottes, im Geiste hes hl Thomas dargestellt" (Freiburg, 1870);
• "Die päpstliche Unfehlbarkeit aus dem Wesen der Kirche bewiesen. Eine Erklärung der ersten dogmatischen Constitution des vaticanischen Conncils über die Kirche Christi" (Freiburg, 1870);
• "Divus Thomas Doctor angelicus contra Liberalismum invictus veritatis catholicae assertor" (Rome, 1874);
• "Introductio in s. theologiam dogmaticam ad mentem D. Thomae Aquinatis", a posthumous work ed. by Thomas Esser (Ratisbon, 1882);
• "Die Bedeutung der Dogmengeschichte vom katholischen Standpunkt aus erortert", ed. Thomas Esser (Ratisbon, 1884).

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia article