Sengler, Jacob

Sengler, Jacob a Roman Catholic divine of Germany, was born at Husenstamm, near Frankfort-on-the Main, Sept. 11, 1799. When twenty years of age, after having learned the trade of a shoemaker, he entered the gymnasium at Frankfort. In 1824 he studied theology at Tübingen, under Möhler, and in 1828 he attended the philosophical lectures of Schelling at Munich. In 1830 he commenced publishing the Catholic Church Gazette for Germany, and numbered among his contributors, besides Döllinger and Fischer, such Protestant divines as Hoffmann, Weiss, and others. In 1831 he went to Marburg as professor of philosophy, where he remained for eleven years, living on the best terms with his Protestant colleagues, Hupfeld, Kling, Henke, J. Müller, etc. In 1842 he was called to Freiburg, where he lectured for thirty-six years, and where he also died, Nov. 8, 1878, five days after having retired from his office. As a philosopher, he tried to harmonize speculation with Christianity; as a Roman Catholic, he never believed in the Roman spirit of exclusiveness. He wrote, Würdigung der Schrift von D. Schulz: Ueber die Lehre vom heil. Abendmahl (Mainz, 1830): — Die Idee Gottes (Heidelberg, 1845-52, 2 pts.): — Die Erkenntnisslehre (ibid. 1858). See Zuchold, Bibl. Theol. 2, 1223; Winer, Handbuch der theol. Literatur, 1, 454, 582; 2, 73, 74, 776; Neue evangel. Kirchenzeitung, Feb. 22, 1879. (B.P.)