Achterfeldt, Johann Heinrich

Achterfeldt, Johann Heinrich a Roman Catholic theologian of Germany, born 1788, at Wesel; died at Bonn, 1864. He was ordained priest in 1813; and, in 1817, was appointed professor of theology at the seminary of Braunsberg, from which he was called, in 1826, to the chair of dogmatics at the university of Bonn. He was an intimate friend of Professor Hermes (q.v.), and after the death of the latter published his famous work on Systematic Theology (Christl.- Katholische Dogmatik, 1831). Achterfeldt was regarded, with his colleague Braun, as the leader of the Hermesian School (q.v.); and when the system of Hermes was condemned by Rome, and he refused to comply with the demands of Rome, he was suspended from his chair. He wrote Lehrbuch der Christlich-Kathol. Glaubens- und Sittenlehre (Braunsberg, 1825); Katechismus der Christlich-Katholischen Lehre (Braunsberg, 1826); and was, after 1832, one of the editors of a theological and philosophical quarterly (Zeitschrift fur Philosophie und Katholische Theologie), the chief organ of the Hermesian School. — Pierer, 1, 88; Vapereau, p. 14.