Franz Wilhelm Dibelius (6 January 1847, in

Prenzlau Prenzlau (, formerly also Prenzlow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region. Geography The town is located on the Ucker river, about north of Berl ...

– 20 January 1924, in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

) was a German Protestant

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. He was the father of theologian

Martin Dibelius Martin Franz Dibelius (September 14, 1883 – November 11, 1947) was a German academic theologian and New Testament professor at the University of Heidelberg. Dibelius was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1883. Along with Rudolf Bultmann he hel ...

(1883-1947) and an uncle to theologian

Otto Dibelius Friedrich Karl Otto Dibelius (15 May 1880 – 31 January 1967) was a German bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, a self-described anti-Semite who up to 1934 a conservative who became a staunch opponent of Nazism and commu ...

(1880–1967). He studied at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, receiving his theology license in 1871. In 1873 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

for

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

, and during the following year, became a pastor at Annenkirche in

. In 1884 he was named pastor at the

Kreuzkirche The Dresden Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) is a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany. It is the main church and seat of the '' Landesbischof'' of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony, and the largest church building in the Free State ...

(Church of the Holy Cross) in Dresden, then in 1910 was appointed ''Oberhofprediger'' and vice-president of the ''Landeskonsistorium'' (country

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

).Brann - Einslin / edited by Rudolf Vierhaus
Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopaedie Grab-FranzDibelius

He was a founder of the ''Gesellschaft für Sächsische Kirchengeschichte'' (Society of Saxon church history), and in 1893 was named chair at the Dresden Hauptverein of the Gustav-Adolf Vereins. From 1882, with Gotthard Victor Lechler, he was editor of the ''Beiträge zur sächsischen Kirchengeschichte'' ("Contributions to Saxon church history").

Selected works

* ''Gottfried Arnold : sein Leben und seine Bedeutung für Kirche und Theologie. Eine kirchenhistorische Monographie'', (1873) –

Gottfried Arnold Gottfried Arnold (5 September 1666 – 30 May 1714) was a German Lutheran theologian and historian. Biography Arnold was born at Annaberg in Saxony, Germany, where his father was schoolmaster. In 1682, he went to the Gymnasium at Ge ...

: his life and his significance for the church and theology. * ''Die einführung der reformation in Dresden; aus anlass der erinnerungsfeier im jahre 1889'', (1889) – The introduction of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

in Dresden. * ''Die Bernwardstür zu Hildesheim'', 1907 – The

Bernward Doors The Bernward Doors (german: Bernwardstür) are the two leaves of a pair of Ottonian or Romanesque bronze doors, made for Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. They were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (938–1022). The doors show rel ...

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

.HathiTrust Digital Library
(published works)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibelius, Franz 1847 births 1924 deaths People from Prenzlau People from the Province of Brandenburg 19th-century German Protestant theologians 20th-century German Protestant theologians Historians of Christianity University of Halle alumni German historians of religion