Laurenz Forer was a Swiss Jesuit theologian and controversialist.

Life

He was born at Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

, entered the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty, in Landshut

Landshut

Landshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...

, and made part of his studies under Paul Laymann

Paul Laymann

Paul Laymann was an Austrian Jesuit and important moralist.Laymann was born at Arzl, near Innsbruck. After studying jurisprudence at Ingolstadt, he entered the Society of Jesus there in 1594, was ordained priest in 1603, taught philosophy at the University of Ingolstadt from 1603-9, moral...

 and Adam Tanner. He taught philosophy at Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...

 (1615–1619), and theology, moral and controversial, for six years at Dillingen

University of Dillingen

The University of Dillingen, at Dillingen an der Donau in southern Germany, existed from 1551 to 1803. It was located in Swabia, then a district of Bavaria.-Foundation:...

. In the latter institution he held also the office of chancellor for several years.

He spent the years 1632–1643 in Tyrol

County of Tyrol

The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

, where he had withdrawn with Heinrich von Knoringen

Heinrich von Knöringen

Heinrich von Knöringen was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg from 1591 to 1646.-Biography:Heinrich von Knöringen was born in Nesselwang on February 5, 1570, the son of Johann Christoph von Knöringen. He took the minor orders in 1586 and three years later he began the study of law at the University of...

, Bishop of Augsburg

Bishop of Augsburg

The Bishop of Augsburg is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg in the Ecclesiastical province of München und Freising.The diocese covers an area of 13,250 km².The current bishop is Konrad Zdarsa who was appointed in 2010....

, on account of the inroads of the Swedes. Forer visited Rome (1645–1646) as the representative of the province of Upper Germany in the eighth congregation. He became rector of the college of Lucerne in 1650. He died at Ratisbon.

Works

Sommervogel enumerates 62 titles of publications from the pen of Forer, not all of them long works.

He wrote one or more treatises each against the apostates Reihing and de Dominis, and against Melchior Nicolai (1578–1659), Hottinger

Hottinger

Hottinger or Hottinguer may refer to:*Henri Hottinguer , first born son of Rodolphe Hottinguer*Jay Hottinger , Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives...

, Kallisen, Schopp

Schopp

Schopp is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....

, Molinos

Miguel de Molinos

Miguel de Molinos , Spanish divine, the chief apostle of the religious revival known as Quietism, was born about 1628 near Muniesa ....

, Haberkorn

Haberkorn

Haberkorn is a surname of:* Charles Haberkorn , American tug of war competitor and wrestler , German politician , Lutheran theologian...

, Voet, Hoe

Hoe

Hoe may refer to:* Hoe , a hand tool used in gardening* Hoe , a Korean dish of raw fish* Plymouth Hoe, a public space in Plymouth, England* Hoe, Norfolk, a village in Norfolk, England* USS Hoe , a World War II US submarine...

, the Ubiquists, and others. Such works as "Lutherus thaumaturgus" (Dillingen, 1624), "Septem characteres Lutheri" (Dillingen, 1626), "Quaestio ubinam ante Lutherum protestantium ecclesia fuerit" (Pt. I, Amberg, 1653; P. II, Ingolstadt, 1654), "Bellum ubiquisticum vetus et novum inter ipsos Lutheranos bellatum et needum debellatum" (Dillingen, 1627) are directed against all Protestants. Others, as "Anatomia anatomiae Societatis Jesu" (Innsbruck, 1634), "Mantissa Ant-anatomiae Jesuiticae" (Innsbruck, 1635; Cologne, 1635), "Grammaticus Proteus, arcanorum Societatis Jesu Daedalus" (Ingolstadt, 1636), "Appendix ad grammaticum Proteum" (Ingolstadt, 1636), attack the enemies of the Society of Jesus.

Two of his works, written for Catholics, "Disputirkunst fur die einfaltigen Catholischen" (Ingolstadt, 1656) and "Leben Jesu Christi" (Dillingen, 1650–1658), were re-edited and republished at Würzburg (1861) and Ratisbon (1856).