Philotheus Boehner (; born Heinrich Boehner; 17 February 1901 – 22 May 1955) was a member of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

order known for medieval scholarship.

Biography

Boehner was born Heinrich Boehner in

Lichtenau, Westphalia Lichtenau is a municipality in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Lichtenau is situated on the western slope of the Eggegebirge, approx. 15 km south-east of Paderborn. Division of the town After the ...

. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1920, and was given the name ', the Latin form of the Greek ', ("friend of God"). In 1927 he was ordained as a priest, although he was so ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

he was not expected to live. While resting, he began his work as a medieval scholar by translating

Étienne Gilson Étienne Henri Gilson (; 13 June 1884 – 19 September 1978) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes; he also philosophized in the tradition o ...

's work on

Saint Bonaventura Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister Ge ...

. He became a close friend of Gilson in the 1930s. In the summer of 1940 Boehner moved to Saint Bonaventure College (now a university) where he lectured on Franciscan philosophy, and it was here that he began to build the

Franciscan Institute , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

into a center of international Franciscan scholarship.

Works

As a result of his work and influence, a large output of scholarly publications were issued from the Franciscan Institute (more than thirty volumes from 1944–55, divided into five series—

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Theology 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 the ...

, Texts, History, and

Missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

). Probably his most enduring work is the

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...

William of Ockham William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vill ...

's ''Opera omnia theologica et philosophica'', which he produced with Professor Ernest Moody. * ''The History of the Franciscan School'', I. Alexander of Hales; II. John of Rupella - Saint Bonaventure; III. Duns Scotus; Pt. IV. William Ockham, St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: St. Bonaventure University, 1943-1946. * ''Medieval Logic. An Outline of Its Development from 1250 to c.1400'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1952. * ''Collected Articles on Ockham'', edited by E.M. Buytaert, St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: Franciscan Institute, 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boehner, Philotheus 1901 births 1955 deaths German Friars Minor People from Paderborn (district)