Franz Joseph Dölger

Franz Joseph Dölger (October 18, 1879 - October 17, 1940) was a German Catholic theologian and church historian who was a native of Sulzbach am Main.

He studied theology at the University of Wurzburg, and in 1902 was ordained into the priesthood. Afterwards he worked as a chaplain in Amorbach and Würzburg, and in June 1904 earned his doctorate in theology. In the winter and spring of 1904/05 he took part in a study group to Rome, Sicily and North Africa. Later he worked and studied at the Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome, and in 1912 was appointed an associate professor of religious history at Westphalian Wilhelms-University in Münster. Later in his career he was 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, exorcism, baptism and 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 concerning the early church.

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

Selected publications

* "Das Sakrament der Firmung" (The Sacrament of Confirmation), 1906
* "Der Exorzismus im altchristlichen Taufritual" (Exorcism in Ancient Christian Baptism Rites), 1909
* "ICHTHYS; Das Fischsymbol in frühchristlicher" (ICHTHYS: The Fish Symbol in Early Christianity) , 1910
* "Konstantin der Große und seine Zeit" (Constantine the Great and his Era), 1913
* "Sol Salutis. Gebet und Gesang im christlichen Altertum" (Sol Salutis: Prayer and Song in Christian Antiquity), 1920
* "Die Fischdenkmäler in der frühchristlichen Plastik, Malerei und Kleinkunst", 1927

References

* " Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia."
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/d/doelger_f_j.shtml&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Franz%2BJoseph%2BD%25C3%25B6lger%2522%2B1879%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN Biographisch-Bibliographishes Kirchenlexicon, translated from German]