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[German Version] I. Church History – II. Law – III. Practical Theology – IV. Systematic Theology I. Church History 1. Early Church The Roman state (Roman Empire) tolerated philosophical atheism and a multitude of cults that flooded in from its conquered territories, but it refused to tolerate rejection of the cult of the official gods ( di publici populi Romani), on which the security of the state was believed to depend. Since Christians refused to participate in this cult, they inevitably came into conflict with the Roman state. Bot…

[German Version] (1112/1116, Neuburg, Austria – Sep 22, 1158, Morimond, France). Son of Margrave Leopold III of Austria and Agnes, daughter of Emperor Henry IV; uncle of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. ¶ After studies in Paris (under Hugh of St. Victor) and Chartres (?, under Gilbert of Poitiers), in 1133 Otto entered the Cistercian Order in Morimond, and in 1138 was called to become bishop of Freising. He paid attention to religious life in his diocese and took part in the Second Crusade with Emperor Conrad III. Otto had a thorough knowledge of philosophy and theology. He wrote tw…

[German Version] I. Church History In Christian usage, the term sacrament has two meanings: a broad meaning corresponding to the New Testament term μυστήριον/ mystḗrion (“mystery”), used as a term for mysteries of the faith in general, and a narrower meaning in the sense of certain liturgical actions that enable believers to share in the salvific grace effected by Christ. While medieval Scholastic theology in the West developed the narrower understanding of sacraments with increasingly precise and subtle definitions, …

[German Version] (first traceable 1318 – after 1331), Dominican, lecturer in Cologne (?). As official visitor for the Dominican province of Teutonia, Nicholas was involved in the trial of Meister Eckhart. Some ¶ of his German sermons and a treatise De adventu Christi have survived, and ten German treatises are attributed to him. His Summa is a compilation of excerpts constituting a handbook on philosophy. His goal was to establish Thomism, as is clear from his definition of accidents: against Dietrich of Freiberg, he emphasized that it is possible …

[German Version] (Ulrich Ungelberti; c. 1225, Straßburg [Strasbourg] – 1277, Paris), OP, student of Albertus Magnus, lecturer in Straßburg, Dominican provincial from 1272 to 1277. In De summo bono, his main work, he produced a summa (incomplete) based on Aristotle’s Ethica Nicomachea and Albert’s Ethica. In it he moves from fundamental questions of philosophy and theology to a treatise on the Christian faith, integrating a philosophical system into his theological system. In it Ulrich presents general knowledge of the highest good; ethics…

[German Version] (1401, Kues [today part of Bernkastel-Kues] – Aug 11, 1464, Todi). I. Life The son of a boatman, Nicholas studied law in Heidelberg and Padua, where he met Italian Humanists and began to collect ancient manuscripts. In 1423 he received the degree of Doctor decretorum. In 1425 he began studying ¶ the works of Albertus Magnus, R. Lull, and Meister Eckhart with Heymeric de Campo in Cologne. Later he was appointed legal secretary to the archbishop of Trier. He turned down appointment to the chair of canon law the University of Leuven.…

[German Version] Except for a few Free churches, all churches emphasize ordination as a prerequisite for administering the sacraments. Clearly special ministers were already administering the sacraments in the New Testament period (1 Cor 1:11ff.); it the post-NT period this was a matter of course (Ign. Smyrn. 8.1). In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, apostolic succession guarantees the sacramental mediation of salvation through the priest: “The validity of the Eucharist depends on the validity of the office and its representative” ( Eucharistie und Priesteramt, 62). Th…

[German Version] (c. 1006, Lorraine [?] – May 5, 1061, Rome). Humbert, a monk in Moyenmoutier, was called to Rome by Leo IX. In 1050 he became archbishop of Sicily and cardinal of Silva Candida, and in 1054 leader of the Roman delegation to Constantinople; negotiations concerning liturgical questions and an alliance against the Normans failed. Humbert composed a dialogue between a Roman and a Constantinopolitan in responding to the attacks by the Byzantine Patriarch Michael I Kerullarios against l…