Franz Joseph Dölger

Franz Joseph Dölger (October 18, 1879 – October 17, 1940) was a German Catholic theologian and church historian born in Sulzbach am Main.

He studied theology at the University of Würzburg, being ordained into the priesthood in 1902. Afterwards he worked as a chaplain in Amorbach and Würzburg, and in June 1904, obtained his doctorate in theology.

In the winter and spring of 1904–05, he participated in a study group to Rome, Sicily and North Africa. Subsequently, he became associated with the Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome, followed by an appointment as associate professor of religious history at Westphalian Wilhelms-University in Münster (1912). Later in his career, he served as a professor at the Universities of Breslau (1927–1929) and Bonn (1929–1940).

Dölger's primary focus involved investigations of the early Christian church and its relationship with non-Christian societies. He also published scholarly works on the sacrament of confirmation, on exorcism, on baptism, and on the Eucharist in ancient Christianity. In 1929 he founded the journal "Antike und Christentum" (Antiquity and Christianity), of which he contributed a series of detailed studies of the early church.

Today, the Franz Joseph Dölger-Institute at the University of Bonn is named in his honor.

Selected publications

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.