FUNK, FRANZ XAVER VON

Church historian and patrologist; b. Abtsgmünd, Germany, Oct. 12, 1821; d. Tübingen, Feb. 24, 1907. Educated in the German school system, he obtained his doctorate in 1863, was ordained in 1864, and lectured as an instructor (repetent) in theology at Tübingen from 1866 to 1870. His early interests were devoted to moral theology and national economy, and he wrote monographs on usury, including Zins und Wucher (1868) and Geschichte des kirchlichen Zinsverbotes (1876). In 1870 he replaced C. hefele as lecturer in history and theology and in 1875 was named a full professor at Tübingen. He achieved an international reputation as a historian of the early Church, patrologist, and Christian archeologist. During his 37 years at Tübingen, his scientific method and devotion to scholarship helped further the reputation for excellence of the Catholic faculty at Tübingen. His edition of the post-Apostolic Fathers, Opera Patrum Apostolicorum (2v. Tübingen 1878–81), has been reedited by his students and successors. His Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte (1886) was frequently revised and is the basis for the contemporary study by K. Bihlmeyer and H. Tüchle, Church History (tr. V. Mills, 3 v. Westminster 1956–65). He also published editions of the Doctrina XII Apostolorum (1887), Didascalia et Constitutiones Apostolorum (2 v.1905), and a collection of articles and reviews, Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen und Untersuchungen (3v. 1897–1907).

Bibliography: k. bihlmeyer, Lexicon für Theologic and Kirche 1 4:235. a. koch, Theologische Quartalschrift (Tübingen, 1908) 95–137. h. schiel, F. X. Kraus und die katholische Tübinger Schule (Ellwangen 1958) 73–83. p. godet, Revue du Clergé 56 (1908) 129–149; DTC 6.1:972–975.

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