- Johann Faber
Johann Faber (1478 – 1541) was a
Catholic theologian.He was born in
Leutkirch ,Swabia and studied theology and canon law atTübingen andFreiburg in theBreisgau region and was made doctor of sacred theology inFreiburg .He subsequently became, (in succession)
* Minister of
Lindau , Leutkirch
*Vicar-General of Constance (1518)
* Chaplain and confessor to King Ferdinand I of Austria (1524)
*Bishop of Vienna (1530)Like others of his time Faber was at first friendly with the
Reformers ,Melanchthon ,Zwingli , andOecolampadius , sympathizing with their efforts at reform and opposing certain abuses himself; but when he realized that neither dogma nor the Church itself was spared by the Reformers, he broke with them and became their most consistent opponent.Faber wrote his first polemic against
Martin Luther , "Opus adversus nova quaedam dogmata Martini Lutheri" in 1552. This was soon followed by his "Malleus Haereticorum, sex libris ad Hadrianum VI summum Pontificem" published inCologne , in 1524, andRome in 1569.It is because of this latter work that he is sometimes called the "hammer of heretics". He entered into public debate with Zwingli at
Zurich ; and was a prominent figure in all the diets held to restore peace to the Church; as well as being one of the committee appointed to draw up a refutation of theConfession of Augsburg . On some points, such as the celibacy of the clergy, he was willing to recognize certain unfortunate conditions if an agreement could be reached to prevent similar conditions in the future, but no agreement was possible. He was sent by Ferdinand toSpain and then to Henry VIII inEngland to seek aid against the invading Turks; King Ferdinand also had him enlist the services of theUniversity of Vienna to help combat the spread of the doctrines of Luther in Austria.As Bishop of Vienna his zeal was unbounded; he protected his flock by frequent preaching and numerous writings, and he held regular conferences with his clergy. He founded twelve scholarships for boys who wished to become priests but did not have the means to realize their ambition.
He died in
Vienna ,21 May ,1541 .Religious Works
His works (German and Latin) are homiletical and polemical in character. Besides those already mentioned he wrote treatises on faith and good works, on the Sacrifice of the Mass; an instruction and answer to Luther's work against the King of England; a treatise against the more recent tenets of Luther; a comparison of the writings of
Jan Hus and Luther; the power of the pope in the case of Luther; an answer to six articles of Zwingli; defence of Catholic belief against the chiefAnabaptist ,Balthasar of Friedberg ; a book on the religion of theRussians ; sermons on the misery of life and on theBlessed Sacrament ; as well as sermons of consolation and courage whilst the Turks were besieging Vienna. His works in three folio volumes (Cologne, 1537-40) do not contain his polemical writings; these are found in "Opuscula quaedam Joannis Fabri, Episcopi Viennensis published inLeipzig , 1539.Trivia
While a canon of the cathedral of
Basle he formed a friendship withErasmus that lasted throughout their lives; it was Erasmus who persuaded Faber to take up the study of the Fathers.
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