Moral Theology: Its Method and Masters
Benjamin Elbel
Drawn from the authors' own words; every quotation links to its place.
Franciscan · 1690–1756
In the Index: Elbel
In Prümmer's Catalogue and Haringer's Index
- “Elbel, Beniamin, O.Min., German (1690-1756), is deservedly numbered among the foremost writers on moral theology, although he seems sometimes to decline too much toward Casuistry. He wrote, by way of conferences, Theologia decalogalis et sacramentalis, which Iren. Bierbaum, O.Min., edited again neatly, 1891 sqq., 3rd edition 1903.” — Prümmer, Catalogue of authors
- [**: weighty, probabilist] “Elbel Beniamin, German, of the Order of Friars Minor, lecturer in theology and synodal examiner of the Bishop of Passau, died after 1750.” — Haringer's index of writers (Gury-Ballerini) (p. XVII, sign read on the page)
His Moral System, as Our Authors Report It
Every report quoted in the author's own words and linked to its place; point at a name to see his words. Haringer's signs give St. Alphonsus's judgment as Haringer found it in St. Alphonsus's works (his notice, Gury-Ballerini, 1884, p. XI); a sign on a writer the 1884 editor added to the list is the editor's own, and is said to be his.
| Probabilist | |
|---|---|
| Counted among them by 3 of our authors | Marc, Institutiones I, n. 91; Prümmer, Manuale I, n. 342; Bucceroni, Institutiones, n. 119 |
| “Elbel Beniamin, German, of the Order of Friars Minor, lecturer in theology and synodal examiner of the Bishop of Passau, died after 1750.”Haringer marks him **, giving St. Alphonsus's judgment of him (weighty and probabilist) | Haringer's index, Index of writers, p. XVII |
Where Our Authors Discuss Him
Each read in its full passage; the words quoted are the author's own. Where several authors say the same thing, one is quoted and the others follow “in nearly the same words”; point at a name to see his words.
| “Elbel, O.M. (1756)”Vermeersch names him among the distinguished theologians of the age before St. Alphonsus, an age he calls morbid | Vermeersch, Theologia moralis I, n. 20 |
| “For those heretics, deceitfully simulating great piety and a singular fervor for protecting moral science, brought it about that in France, Italy, and other provinces they drew many learned men to their side: among whom were also Peter Collet (the celebrated continuator of Honore Tournely), Louis Habert, and Natalis Alexander, who, although they rejected other errors of the Jansenists, nevertheless accommodated themselves in many things to their immoderate rigor. Indeed there were not lacking those who defended more benign opinions, such as Louis Abelly, Eusebius Amort, Castropalaus, Gobat, Roncaglia, Cardenas, Viva, Lacroix, Sporer, Reiffenstuel, Reuter, Voit, Holzmann, Elbel, Mazzotta, etc., without however being able wholly to repress the swelling rigor of doctrine.”Marc names him among those who defended more benign opinions against the rigor of the Jansenist age | Marc, Institutiones I, n. 6 |
| “in which the scholastic and the casuistic method are happily joined together”Tanquerey on the moral theologies of Sporer and Elbel | Tanquerey, Fundamental Moral Theology, n. 52 |
| “was highly esteemed and often quoted by St. Alphonsus” | Koch-Preuss, Handbook I, history of moral theology |
Works Our Authors Used
- Benjamin Elbel, Order of Minors. - Theologia moralis; 3 tomes 4to. (Augsburg, 1759). — Marc's list
- Elbel-Bierbaum, O.S.F., Theologia Moralis per modum Conferentiarum, edited with new care by Bierbaum, O.S.F., Paderborn, 1894. — Tanquerey's list
- Elbel-Bierbaum, O.S.F., Theologia moralis, Paderborn, 1894. — Tanquerey's list
- Elbel, O. Min., died 1756, Theologia moralis, decalogalis et sacramentalis; a new edition was edited by Bierbaum, Paderborn, 1894. — Tanquerey's list
In the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
“Benjamin Elbel”, vol. 16, by Thomas Bernard Plassmann. Public domain; transcription from Wikisource.
Elbel, Benjamin, a first-class authority in moral theology, b. at Friedberg, Bavaria, in 1690; d. at Söflingen in 1756. He belonged to the Strasburg Franciscan province, was lector of theology, and held high positions in the order. His classical work, "Theologia moralis decalogalis et sacramentalis" (Venice, 1731), passed rapidly through several editions, and has recently been brought up to date 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 advocates probabilism. His doctrine is sound and solid; his style simple and unassuming. He shows admirable facility in giving exact and lucid expression to abstract principles, and in applying them to strikingly practical cases. The eminent qualities of his work have elicited praise from all theologians. It is constantly referred to by St. Alphonsus, and has been largely copied by modern writers.
Thomas Plassmann.