Erich Feldmann

This article describes the priest and church historian. For the pedagogue and communication researcher of the same name, see Erich Feldmann (pedagogue) .

Erich Feldmann (born May 9, 1929 in Bamenohl in the Sauerland; † December 27, 1998 in Münster ) was a Roman Catholic priest , church historian and Augustine researcher .

Life

Erich Feldmann

He was born as the second of four children to the building contractor Anton Feldmann and his wife Maria (née Scheele). From 1935 to 1940 he attended the cath. Elementary school in his hometown of Bamenohl and from 1940 to 1945 the high school for boys (today Rivius high school) in Attendorn . After an interruption due to the war and a two-year apprenticeship as an electrical machine builder , he attended secondary school in Attendorn again from 1947, which he left with the Abitur in 1951 .

From 1951 to 1957 he studied Catholic theology in Paderborn with a stay in Munich , where he also studied history . The award-winning work on The Hermeneutic Principles of St. Augustine in his writings “De doctrina christiana”, “Confessiones und de Genesi ad literam” shows that he was interested in Augustine from an early age .

After being ordained a priest on June 5, 1957 in the High Cathedral of Paderborn by Archbishop Lorenz Jaeger , he celebrated his primacy on June 10, 1957 in the home parish of St. Joseph Bamenohl . This was followed by a two-year vicariate in the parish of St. Georg, Paderborn. From 1960 he was active as a religion teacher at the new language grammar school in Hamm . He also continued his studies in Münster and Cologne , where he passed the state examination in Catholic theology and history in 1962 .

When he was seconded to the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster , in April 1966 he took up a broad teaching activity, initially as part of teacher training. At the Chair for Ancient Church History, Christian Archeology and Patristics , he wrote his dissertation with Bernhard Kötting, The Influence of Hortensius and Manichaeism on the Thinking of the Young Augustine from 373 . On February 13, 1976 he was promoted to Dr. theol. PhD. In the meantime, he studied archives in Rome for a year in 1975.

On February 4, 1982 , he completed his habilitation in Münster with a thesis on the first Clement's letter .

Until his retirement in 1990 in the Catholic theological faculty there, he taught as a professor of ancient church history with a focus on the Latin West. Feldmann was considered a brilliant speaker who was also able to convey his scientific insights didactically well. In addition to his university activities, Feldmann continued to work as a pastor , gave numerous lectures and was a co-author of many commemorative publications.

He died on December 27, 1998 in Münster and was buried on December 31 of the same year in the Catholic cemetery in Bamenohl. At the funeral service held Cornelius Mayer OSA, editor in chief of the Augustinus-Lexikon, the sermon.

Feldmann was very closely connected to his home town of Bamenohl throughout his life. His estate contained an extensive archive on local history, which is now kept as a deposit in the archive of the municipality of Finnentrop . The community of Finnentrop named a street in the center of Bamenohl after him.

research

The focus of Feldmann's research was Augustine of Hippo. In particular, he dealt with the intellectual career of the young Augustine. He made it clear why the student Augustine turned to the Manichaeans after reading the Hortensius Dialogue , a promotional publication by Cicero for philosophy . By reconstructing the line of reasoning in Cicero's text, which has only survived in fragmentary form, and by working through the proclamation of North African Manichaeism, Feldmann was able to show that in Manichaeism Augustine hoped to find the connection between Christian thinking, in which he grew up as a child, and the ideal of philosophical knowledge therefore joined this Christian Gnostic religion with full conviction. Feldmann also made clear the subsequent process of Augustine's (re-) rapprochement with the Catholic Church up to “conversion” and baptism in Milan. These findings are essentially based on an intensive examination of Augustin's Confessiones ("Confessions"). Feldmann turned against the widespread classification of the Confessions under autobiographical literature. Instead he interpreted it as a Christian protrepticos . In them, Augustine, in conversation with God, reflects on his previous life, determines his present condition and, in interpreting the creation narratives, gives an account of the knowledge of God achieved so far. Augustine also wants to lead the reader to this God. Feldmann thus made an important contribution to solving the question of the genre of the Confessions and to understanding their unity.

In 1976 he was one of the initiators of the Augustinus Lexicon, was one of the co-editors and wrote several articles, including the extensive article “Confessiones”.

Lectures

Feldmann gave numerous lectures and participated in international congresses, such as B .:

• 1983 Oxford, 9th International Conference on Patristic Studies
• 1986 Rome, Congresso Internationale su S. Agostino nel XVI centenario della conversione
• 1987 Giessen, international symposium on the state of Augustine research
• 1991 Leuven, II. International Symposium on Manichaism ("The Manichaean NOYI")
• 1993 Hong Kong, Congress on Manichaeism
• 1997 Berlin, IV. International Congress on Manichaism ("Studia Manichaica")

literature

• Andreas Hoffmann:  Feldmann, Erich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 30, Bautz, Nordhausen 2009, ISBN 978-3-88309-478-6 , Sp. 379-382. (with list of scriptures)