Matthias Joseph Scheeben

Contents

Matthias Joseph Scheeben was a German Catholic priest and dogmatic theologian whose richly synthetic account of supernatural mystery influenced modern theology before and after the Second Vatican Council.[1]

Matthias Joseph Scheeben (Meckenheim, Rhine Province, 1 March 1835 – Cologne, 21 July 1888) was a German Catholic priest and theologian. He is regarded as "one of the greatest minds of modern Catholic theology."[4]

Life

Scheeben studied at the German College and Gregorian University in Rome, was ordained a priest, and taught dogmatic theology at the Cologne seminary for the rest of his career. His Roman formation and German speculative background equipped him to write across patristic, scholastic, and contemporary categories.[2]

Scheeben studied at the Gregorian University at Rome under Carlo Passaglia, Luigi Taparelli and Giovanni Perrone from 1852 to 1859 and lived in Collegium Germanicum.[5] He was ordained to the priesthood on 18 December 1858. He taught dogmatic theology at the diocesan seminary of Cologne from 1860 to 1875.[6] Scheeben was an impassioned advocate of religious freedom during the Kulturkampf.[4]

Thought

Scheeben treated Christianity as participation in supernatural divine life rather than a collection of external propositions. Trinity, Incarnation, grace, Church, sacraments, and glory form an ordered organism centered on Christ and the believer's filial adoption.

He emphasized the nuptial and maternal dimensions of the Church and the relation between nature and grace. His analogies seek intelligibility without dissolving mystery; their fecundity does not make every image or systematic connection a defined doctrine.

Major works

The Mysteries of Christianity is the most accessible synthesis; Nature and Grace concentrates on the supernatural order; the unfinished Handbook presents dogmatics at length. Translation and editorial completion affect how some later readers encounter the corpus.

Catholic reception

Scheeben is esteemed as a major modern Catholic dogmatician but has no canonized status. His recovery in twentieth-century theology reflects genuine influence, not a magisterial declaration that his entire system is normative.

Theology

In Scheeben's own words, the practical aim of his theology was "to make the Christian feel happy about his faith. Because the beauty and eminence of our faith consist in this: that through the mysteries of grace it raises our nature to an immeasurably high plane and presents to us an inexpressibly intimate union with God."[7]

Mysticism

Scheeben's mind reveled in speculating on Divine grace, the hypostatic union, the beatific vision, the all-pervading presence of God; he was a firm believer in visions granted to himself and others, and his piety was all-absorbing. Very few minds were attuned to his. His pupils were allegedly overawed by the steady flow of his long abstruse sentences which brought scanty light to their intellects; his colleagues and his friends but rarely disturbed the peace of the workroom where his spirit brooded over a chaos of literary matters.[6]

Works

The list of Scheeben's works opens with three treatises dealing with grace:

  1. Natur und Gnade: Versuch einer systematischen, wissenschaftlichen Darstellung der natürlichen und übernatürlichen Lebensordnung im Menschen[8] (Mainz: Franz Kirchheim, 1861). This work by Scheeben was translated from German into English by Cyril Oscar Vollert, SJ.[9] Vollert's English translation was published under the title Nature and Grace (St. Louis & London: B. Herder Book Co., 1954).
  2. Quid est homo: sive controversia de statu purae naturae, qua ratio simul et finis oeconomiae Dei erga homines supernaturalis: uberrime demonstratur ex Patrum praesertim sententia[10] (Mainz: Franz Kirchheim; Rome: Joseph Spithöver, 1862). This was not an original work by Scheeben, but rather a new edition of a work which Antonio Casini, SJ[11] (1687-1755) had published in 1724. Scheeben's 1862 edition of Casini's work contained the text of the original work, plus an Introduction and notes provided by Scheeben. According to Cyril O. Vollert (see Vollert's "Foreword" to Scheeben's Nature and Grace), Scheeben's purpose in publishing this edition of Casini's work was "to supply a patristic foundation for Nature and Grace." Casini's original work was titled R. P. Antonii Casini e Societate Jesu, Controversia de statu purae naturae in compendium redacta: et ad linguarum Ebraicae et Graecae publicam exercitationem adhibita a Philippo Dazon in Collegio Romano auspiciis eminentiss. ac reverendiss. principis Melchioris de Polignac S.R.E. cardinalis amplissimi (Romae: Typis de Martiis, 1724).
  3. Die Herrlichkeiten der göttlichen gnade. Freiburg: 1863. 8th ed. by A.M. Weiss, 1908. "... the work is popular in scope and became enormously successful. An English translation, The Glories of Divine Grace, appeared during Scheeben’s lifetime ..." (Vollert x)
  4. Mysterien des Christenthums. Freiburg: 1865–97. Trans. The Mysteries of Christianity. This is "... Scheeben's most famous book ... There is no other work quite like it in the vast history of Christian literature." (Vollert xi)
  5. Five pamphlets in defence of the Vatican Council, directed against Ignaz von Döllinger, Johann Friedrich von Schulte, and other Old Catholics.
  6. Handbuch der katholischen Dogmatik. 7 parts. Freiburg: 1873–87.

The author did not finish this last; he died whilst working on "Grace". The missing treatises were supplied in German by Dr. Leonhard Atzberger (Freiburg, 1898). In English the missing treatises were supplied by Wilhelm and Scannel, who whilst strictly adhering to Scheeben's thought, reduced the bulky work to two handy volumes entitled: A Manual of Catholic Theology based on Scheeben's Dogmatik (3rd ed., 1906). The process of publishing an English translation of the unabridged original text began in 2019, when Michael J. Miller's translation (titled, Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, Book One: Theological Epistemology, Part One: The Objective Principles of Theological Knowledge) was published by Emmaus Academic. The publisher hopes to continue this monumental task in service of making this classic of Scheeben available, unabridged, to English readers.

Scheeben also wrote a two-volume work "Mariology," later translated into English.

He founded and edited (1867–88) the Kölner Pastoralblatt and edited for thirteen years Das ökumenische Concil vom Jahre 1869, later (after 1872) entitled Periodische Blätter zu wissenschaftlichen Besprechung der grossen religiösen Fragen der Gegenwart.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Theological writer of acknowledged merit, born at Meckenheim near Bonn, 1 March, 1835; died at Cologne, 21 July, 1888. He studied at the Gregorian University at Rome under Passaglia and Perrone (1852-59), was ordained on 18 December, 1858, and taught dogmatic theology at the episcopal seminary of Cologne (1860-1875).[3]

Life and career

Scheeben was a mystic. His mind revelled in speculating on Divine grace, the hypostatic union, the beatific vision, the all-pervading presence of God; he had a firm believer in visions granted to himself and others, and his piety was all-absorbing. Very few minds were attuned to his; his pupils were overawed by the steady flow of his long abstruse sentences which brought scanty light to their intellects; his colleagues and his friends but rarely disturbed the peace of the workroom where his spirit brooded over a chaos of literary matters.

The list of Scheeben's works opens with three treatises dealing with grace: (1) "Natur und gnade" (Mainz, 1861); (2) a new edition of "Quid est homo", a book by Ant. Casini, S.J. (d. 1755); (3) "Die Herrlichkeiten der göttlichen gnade" (Freiburg, 1863; eighth ed. by A.M. Weiss, 1908, also translated into English); (4) "Mysterien des Christenthums" (Freiburg, 1865-97); (5-9) five pamphlets in defence of the Vatican Council, directed against Döllinger, Schulte, and other Old Catholics, all of sterling value; (10) "Handbuch der katholischen Dogmatik" (seven parts, Freiburg, 1873-87). The author did not finish this classic work of permanent value; he died whilst working on "Grace". The failing treatises were supplied in German by Dr. Atzberger (Freiburg, 1898), in English, by Wilhelm and Scannel, who whilst strictly adhering to Scheeben's thought, reduced the bulky work to two handy volumes entitled: "A Manual of Catholic Theology based on Scheeben's Dogmatik" (3rd ed., 1906). He founded and edited (1867-88) the Cologne "Pastoralblatt", and edited for thirteen years "Das ökumenische Concil vom Jahre 1869", later (after 1872) entitled, "Periodische Blätter zu wissenschaftlichen Besprechung der grossen religiösen Fragen der Gegenwart".

JOSEPH WILHELM

References

  1. 1.Matthias Joseph Scheeben — Biographical overview, chronology, works, and bibliography
  2. 2.Dei Filius — Vatican I's primary teaching on faith, reason, revelation, and mystery during Scheeben's mature career
  3. 3.1913 Catholic Encyclopedia: Matthias Joseph Scheeben
  4. 4.[4.2]Marshall, Bruce D., "Renewing Dogmatic Theology", First Things, May 2012
  5. 5.Battista Mondin (1996). Storia della teologia: Epoca contemporanea. ESD. p. 271. ISBN 9788870942484.
  6. 6.[6.2]"Matthias Joseph Scheeben". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
  7. 7.Scheeben, Herrlichkeiten der Göttlichen Gnade (Magnificence of Divine Grace). Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, p. 3; as quoted in Scheeben, The Holy Spirit, compiled by Friedrich Fuchs, SVD, translated by Leon Jungblut, SVD. Allahabad, India: St Paul Publications, 1974, pp. 152–3.
  8. 8.English translation: Nature and Grace: An Attempt at a Systematic, Scientific Presentation of the Natural and Supernatural Order of Life in Man
  9. 9.Cyril Oscar Vollert, SJ (June 15, 1901 - June 27, 1980)
  10. 10.English translation: What is man? Or controversy over the state of pure nature, in which the reason for, and goal of, the supernatural providence of God in relation to men is abundantly explained, especially by statements from the Fathers
  11. 11.Antonio Casini, SJ (August 5, 1687 - January 4, 1755). Common variations of his name include: Antonius Casini, Antonius Casinius, and Antonio Cassini.