Veit Erbermann

Veit Erbermann

(Or Ebermann).

Theologian and controversialist, born 25 May, 1597, at Rendweisdorff, in Bavaria; died 8 April, 1675. He was born of Lutheran parents, but at an early age he became a Catholic, and on 30 May, 1620, entered the Society of Jesus. After completing his ecclesiastical studies he taught philosophy and Scholastic theology, first at Mainz and afterwards at Würzburg. Subsequently he was appointed rector of the pontifical seminary at Fulda, which position he held for seven years. His theological attainments and zeal for the Church brought him into conflict with many of the leading Reformers of his time. He watched with a keen interest what in Protestant theological circles is known as "the syncretistic controversy", and in his frequent encounters with it s chief representatives proved himself an able champion of Catholicism. his principal works are: "Anatomia Callixtina" (Mainz, 1644), and "Irenicon Catholicum" (2 vols., Mainz, 1645-46), in which he examines critically the religious tenets of George Calixtus; "Interrogationes apologeticae" (Würzburg, 1651); Examen Examinis Conringiani (Würzburg, 1644), an expostion of the infallibility of the Church against H. Conring; "Anti-Musaeus, i.e. parallela Ecclessiae verae et falsae" (Würzburg, 1659), and "Anti-Musaei pars altera" (Würzburg, 1661); "Asserta theologica de fide divina" (Würzburg, 1665).

JOSEPH SCHROEDER