Isenbiehl, Johann Laurenz

Isenbiehl, Johann Laurenz a German Roman Catholic theologian, was born on the Eichsfeld in 1744. Of his early history we know nothing, but in 1773 we find him appointed to the position of professor of the Oriental languages and exegetical literature at Mentz. As his first theme before the students over whom he had been chosen to preside, he selected the interpretation of Isa 7:14. He advanced the opinion that it was erroneous to attribute any connection to this passage with Mt 1:23, and asserted that it did not at all refer to Immanuel the Christ, or to Mary, the mother of Christ; that Matthew only alluded to this passage because of its similarity with the circumstances of the birth of Christ. Of course he was at once deposed from his position, and as is customary among Roman Catholics, deprived of his personal liberty on account of propagating and cherishing heretical opinions. He was returned to the theological seminary for further instruction, and released two years after. In 1778, however, he appeared before the public, defending his original opinion under the title of Neuer Versuch uber d. Weissgungen v. Immanuel (Coblenz). He had meanwhile been reappointed to the professional dignity, and his persistency in defending his peculiar interpretations again deprived him of his position, and he was once more imprisoned and put on trial. His book was forbidden to all good Roman Catholics by all archbishops and bishops, and in 1779 a bull was issued against it by the pope. In the interim he had made his escape from prison, but, finding the ecclesiastical authorities all opposed to him, he recalled his former opinion, and was honored with ecclesiastical dignity (1780). In 1803 his income was reduced to a small pension, and he lived in want until his death in 1818. Isenbiehl also wrote on the diacritical points under the title of Corpus decisionum dogmaticarum. See Walch, Neueste Relig. Geschichte, 8, 9 sq.; Schröckh, Kirchengesch. s. d. Ref. 7, 203 sq.; Henke, Kirchengesch. 7, 199 sq.; Fuhrmann, Handw. d. Kirchengesch. 2, 507. (J. H. W.)