Valentin Thalhofer (January 20, 1825 – September 17, 1891) was a German Roman Catholic clergyman and theologian.

Biography

Thalhofer was born at

Unterroth Unterroth is a municipality in the district of Neu-Ulm in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to ...

, near

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

, on 21 January 1825; and died at the same place, on 17 September 1891. He took his gymnasial studies and philosophy at Dillingen, and from 1845 studied theology at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. In 1848, he received the degree of

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

and was ordained priest. After this he was a prefect at the seminary for priests at Dillingen (1850–63), professor of

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

at the

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

of Dillingen (1863–76), director of the seminary for priests, the Georgianum at Munich, and professor of liturgy at

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

, and in 1899 became the cathedral provost there. He was an able and highly respected teacher, a man of noble character, a zealous confessor,

pulpit orator Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

and catechist, and was a fruitful writer, thorough and intellectual in his work. His employment at the Georgianum, for which he was highly praised, greatly benefited the institution.

Writings

His first publication was a prize essay at Munich on the bloodless sacrifice of the Mosaic worship (1848). In 1855 he wrote in the report of the Dillingen lyceum for that year, a dissertation on the doctrine of sacrifice contained in the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...

. In the same year he began a successful opposition to the pseudo-mysticism and

Irvingism The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church or Irvingite Church, is a Christian denomination, denomination in the Restorationist branch of Christianity. It originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germa ...

which were spreading in

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

at that time. His chief work in this direction was the (1857). His excellent commentary on the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

was very popular (first published in 1857; 7th edition, 1904). In 1860-63 he edited the official publication of the Augsburg Diocese and brought it to greater prosperity. Among the literary work done during his residence at Munich should be mentioned his editing of a ''Library of the Fathers'' in eighty volumes (1869–88); a work on the sacrifice of the Old and

New Covenant The New Covenant () is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a Book of Jeremiah#Sections of the Book, phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31–34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the ...

s (1870); and the editing of the of his deceased friend

Franz Xaver Reithmayr Franz Xaver Reithmayr (16 March 1809 – 26 January 1872) was a German Catholic theologian who specialized in New Testament exegesis. He was born in Illkofen, located near Regensburg. Biography Born 16 March 1809, he studied theology in Regens ...

(1874). At Eichstätt he was commissioned by the bishop to revise the , and in addition issued a smaller ritual as a manual for the clergy of the diocese (1879–80). He then began his chief work, a large which rests on a thorough study of the original authorities and is still indispensable. Of the special liturgies, he published himself in 1890 the , and from the papers of the deceased Andreas Schmid he added to this in 1893 the , the , and the doctrine of the church year.

Adalbert Ebner Adalbert Ebner (16 December 1861 – 25 February 1898) was a German Catholic priest and liturgist born in Straubing, in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Ebner received his ordination in 1886 at Regensburg, mostly likely by Bishop Ignatius von Senestre ...

began a revised edition of this work, but unfortunately no more has been published than the first section of the first volume (1894). Schmid also edited from Thalhofer's

literary remains The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...

(1893). In addition to these larger works Thalhofer also wrote excellent articles for theological reviews and for the of Freiburg.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thalhofer, Valentin 1825 births 1891 deaths 19th-century German Catholic theologians 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers Members of the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies