HERMES
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HERMES
appointment of Baron von Spiegel (later Archbishop
of Cologne) as vicar-general, and on 31 March, 1813,
took back into his own hands the government of the
diocese. Thereupon Hermes published a voluminous
opinion disputing his right to such a procedure (" Gut-
achten in Streitsachen des Miinsterschen Domkapitels
mit dem Generalvikar des Kapitels. Mit Bewilligung
des hochwurdigeu Domkapitels herausgegeben",
Munster, 1815). As confidential adviser of the
Prussian ministry lie wrote at its request, particularly
between the years 1S15 and 1819, several important
opinions, e. g. the one published in 1818 concerning
the establishment of a theological faculty at the new
University of Bonn. His loyalty to the Church is
attested by the opinion he wrote condemning the
inaccurate anil erroneous translation of the Bible by
Carl and Leander van Ess and the first-named au-
thor's "Geschichte der Vulgata". Although the
Prussian ministry, to his deep regret, reduced the
Munster University to the rank of an academy in
1818, Hermes refused a call to the new University of
Bonn just as firmly as he had declined, in 1816, the
offer of a professorial chair at the University of Breslau.
In 1819 Hermes published "Die philosophische Einleitung", the first part of his principal work " Ein- leitungin die christ-katholische Theologie" (Munster, 1819; 2nd ed., 1831). The purpose of this book was to put an end to all doubts regarding three questions which are of fundamental importance to all religious convic- tion,and especially to that of the Christian. These ques- tions are: \Vhether there is any truth at all; whetherGod exists, and what are His attributes; whether a supernat- ural revelation is possible, and under what conditions. The theological faculty of Breslau conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causd for his " Philosophische Einleitung". After that Hermes, yielding to the persistent urging of the Prussian Gov- ernment, accepted the chair of dogmatic theology at Bonn, 27 April, 1820. His inaugural lecture dealt with the relation of positive theology to the general principles of science (see " Zeitschrif t f ijr Philosophic und katholi.sche Theologie", 1833, pp. 52-61). His election, 3 August, 1820, as "Rector Magnificus", which he declined, and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causfl, which the philosophical faculty of Bonn subsequently conferred on him, in 1821, are ample evidence of the respect paid to him in Bonn. The University of Freiburg im Breisgau tried in vain to secure him for its faculty. His lectures on phi- losophy, the introduction to theology, and dogmatic theology attracted a tremendous following in Bonn, being attended even by large numbers of philologists and jurists. The Prussian ministry suspended the theological faculty in Munster for six months, on account of the interdict which the Vicar-General Clement August issued against Hermes, forbidding all theological students in the Diocese of Munster to attend any outside university without his permission. It was revoked immediately upon the retirement of the vicar-general. The theologians in the Diocese of Paderborn were also forbidden by the ecclesiastical authorities to attend Hermes' lectures. To please Hermes, the Government in 1825 dismissed his col- league Seber who was not in sympathy with him. Moreover, the Archbishop Baron von Spiegel, who had been a patron of Hermes even in his Munster days, appointed him a member of the cathedral chap- ter, examiner to the synod, and ecclesiastical coun- sellor in Cologne, without disturbing his professorial duties or oliliging him to reside at Cologne.
As examiner Hermes was a bitter opponent of all ecclesiastics who did not share his views. Like the theological faculty at Bonn, to which only pupils of Hermes had been appointed since 1826 (Achterfeldt, Braun, Vogelsang, Muller), the seminary at Cologne and a large part of the clergy were soon imbued with his ideas. Even the other faculties of Bonn included
followers of his, particularly Professor Clement Au-
gust von Droste-Hiilshoff in law and Elvenich in
philosophy. In a very sliort time the theological
faculties of Breslau, Munster, and Braunsberg, the
seminary at Trier, many cathedral chapters and
instructorships in religion at the gymnasia were filled
with Hermesians. In 1830 Hermes cast the decisive
vote against calling Miihler and Dollinger to the chair
of ecclesiastical history at Bonn. On the other hand
the appointment of Professor Klee for Biblical exe-
gesis and dogmatic theology implied a distinct con-
cession to the anti-Hermesian movement which in
the meantime had been slowly gathering strength.
Hermes began to publish the second part of his " Intro-
duction to Theology", the "Positive Einleitung", or
"Positive Introduction", in 1829 (Mun.ster, 1829,
2nd ed., 1834) . Therein he sought to demonstrate the
truth of Christianity by way of completing the
"Philosophical Introduction". "The 'Philosophical
Introduction ' having shown the possibility of proving
that Christianity is both extrinsically and intrinsi-
cally true, and having shown also how the demon-
stration should proceed, we have now got to the point
of furnishing this proof — such is the purpose of the
'Positive Introduction'" (Positive Introduction, 1).
In carrying out this purpose he investigates five
questions: (1) Are the books of the New Testament
externally (historically) true? (2) Is the so-called
oral tradition likewise historically true? (3) Are the
expositions and interpretations of Jesus' doctrine, as
communicated by the oral teaching of the Catholic
Church, infalliljly correct? (4) Are the teachings of
Jesus contained in the books of the New Testament
intrinsically true? (5) Are the teachings of Jesus
that have been handed down liy oral tradition like-
wise intrinsically true?
In its essence Hermes' theological system, or "Hermesianism", was rationalism; and, though in many respects opposed to the doctrines of Kant and Fichte, it w^as strongly influenced by them. Accord- ing to Hermes our knowledge is subjectively true when we are convinced in our minds that it coincides with its object. This conviction, however, becomes a certainty when it is irresistible. The necessity of our conviction, therefore, is the criterion of objective truth. This necessity is either physical or moral, that is, it is either indepentient of, or dependent on, duty and conscience. It conies to pass in two ways: it is either forced upon us, or we admit it freely. In the first case, we call our conviction belief in a truth, in the second, acceptance of a truth. Belief in a truth is a matter of theoretical reason, while accept- ance is a matter of practical, or obligating, reason. Belief in a truth is in part the result of mediate ne- cessity, in which case it is founded either on imagina- tion, i.e. on the clearness and vividness of the mental content, or on insight (understanding) ; in part, also, it springs from immediate necessity, and only in this case is knowledge philosophically certain. " It is of immediate necessity that we must accept the fol- lowing proposition as true, together with all propo- sitions subordinate to it: 'Everything that is must have a suflScient reason ' " (Philosophische Einleitung, § 14). Now the first anil most immediate reality, that is forced upon the reason of direct necessity, is insep- arably connected with the consciousness that I know, and with the thought that something is there. In order to discover the sufficient reason for this first reality, we are referred to the world as it appears to us, both within and outside of ourselves. The varia- tions which occur in these phenomena require a sufficient reason in order to account for them; the variations in the origin of things call for a sufficient and absolute reason for their origin, and this ulti- mately can only be found in the idea of God. In such wise Hermes proves the existence of God along the lines of theoretical reason in contradistinction to
