LEHMKUHL, AUGUST. - Jesuit, moralist, b. at Hagen (Westphalia) on 23 Sept. 1834, d. at Valkenburg (Holland) on 23 June 1918. Professor of Sacred Scripture and of dogmatics and then of moral theology at Maria Laach and, after the exile from Germany, at Ditton-Hall (England), from 1880 he was left free to devote himself to his work as a writer.
Besides his collaboration with various cultural periodicals (Stimmen aus Maria Laach, American ecclesiastical review, Der Katholik) and with various Catholic encyclopedias, there should be remembered, in the field of morals, his Theologia moralis (2 vols., Freiburg im Br. 1883), which went through numerous editions and became, so to speak, the model work for courses in morals, flanked by the Casus conscientiae (2 vols., ibid. 1902), also widely circulated. L.'s principal merit lies in his having applied, in a clear and sharp manner, the principles of morals to the new problems and the new questions that arose in modern times; his counsels and opinions were sought and heeded from every part of the world. One may add: Probabilismus vindicatus (ibid. 1906), a declaration of the system he followed and defended. In the field of sociology he published various writings, all intended not to stifle modern achievements, but to channel them onto the right path of moral principles: Arbeitsvertrag und Streik (ibid. 1891); Die soziale Not und der kirchliche Einfluss (ibid. 1892); Die soziale Frage und die Staatsgewalt (ibid. 1892); Die internationale Regelung der sozialen Frage (ibid. 1893). In the ascetical field the principal work remains: Der Christ im betrachtenden Gebet (4 vols., ibid. 1916), worthily crowned by: Der Herz-Jesu-Monat (ibid. 1861); Der christliche Arbeiter (ibid. 1895); Das Herz des göttlichen Menschenfreundes (ibid. 1900). He also edited new editions and versions of earlier works; one may cite: J. Schneider, Manuale sacerdotum (Regensburg 1885); L. da Ponte, Meditationes (6 vols., Freiburg im Br. 1889-90); J. Reuter, Neoconfessarius (ibid. 1905); he edited the Bibliotheca ascetica mystica, published by Herder at Freiburg.
Bibliography2 works
Celestino Testore