Georg Hermes

Who was Georg Hermes?

Georg Hermes was a German Roman Catholic theologian. Born at Dreierwalde, in Westphalia, Hermes was educated at the gymnasium and University of Münster. He later taught at both of these institutions.

In 1820, he was appointed professor of theology at Bonn, where he died. Hermes had a devoted band of adherents, of whom the most notable was Peter Josef Elvenich, who became professor at Breslau in 1829, and in 1870 threw in his lot with the Old Catholic movement.

His works were Untersuchungen über die innere Wahrheit des Christenthums, and Einleitung in die christkatholische Theologie, of which the first part, a philosophical introduction, was published in 1810, the second part, on positive theology, in 1829. The Einleitung was never completed. His Christkatholische Dogmatik was published, from his lectures, after his death, by two of his students, Johann Heinrich Achterfeldt and Joseph Braun.

The Einleitung had a major and controversial effect upon Catholic theology in Germany.