Benjamin Elbel (16 March 1690 – 4 June 1756) was a German

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 ...

moral theologian. Elbel was born at Friedberg,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. He belonged to the Strasburg Franciscan province, was lector of theology, and held high positions in the order. He died at

Söflingen Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

Works

His major work, "Theologia moralis decalogalis et sacramentalis" (Venice, 1731), passed rapidly through several editions. A new edition was prepared by Irenaeus Bierbaum, O.F.M., under the title "Theologia moralis per modum conferentiarum auctore clarissime P. Benjamin Elbel..." (3 vols., Paderborn, 1891–92). Elbel advocated

probabilism In theology and philosophy, probabilism (from Latin ''probare'', to test, approve) is an ancient Greek doctrine of Academic skepticism. It holds that in the absence of certainty, plausibility or truth-likeness is the best criterion. The term can a ...

. He applied abstract principles to strikingly practical cases, and his approach proved influential.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Hurter, Nomenclator lit., IV (3rd ed.), 1635; **

Eubel Konrad Eubel or Conradus Eubel (19 January 1842 – 5 February 1923) was a German Franciscan historian. He is known for his reference work, the ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', on medieval popes, cardinals and bishops. It appeared in thre ...

, Geschichte der oberdeutschen Minoritenprovinz (Wurzburg, 1886); **Preface to Bierbaum's edition (mentioned above) {{DEFAULTSORT:Elbel, Benjamin 1690 births 1756 deaths German Friars Minor 18th-century German Catholic theologians German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German writers 18th-century German male writers