STOLZ, ANSELM. - Benedictine theologian, b. 28 Jan. 1900 at Erkrath (near Düsseldorf), d. at Rome on 19 Oct. 1942.
A professed monk of the abbey of S. Giuseppe (Gerleve) in Westphalia, he studied theology at S. Anselmo in Rome, where he returned as professor of dogmatics in 1928. He attracted attention for his then uncommon sensitivity to the contemporary theological problem, which began to become pressing around 1930. He perceived the need to find a better balance between the development of the metaphysical speculative aspect and that of the vital and spiritual anthropological value of Revelation; consequently, in the various questions of dogmatics and of ascetical and mystical theology with which he dealt, he was led to give greater prominence than usual to
certain patristic themes, toward which he felt more inclined. In general, he made a notable effort to rethink theological method. His premature death did not permit him to attain the full maturity of his thought.
His principal works are: Manuale theologiae dogmaticae, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1939-41, left incomplete; the following appeared: Introductio in sacram theologiam; De S.ma Trinitate; Anthropologia theologicae; De Ecclesia. Noteworthy are the monographs Glaubensgnade und Glaubenslicht nach Thomas von Aquin (Rome, 1939); Anselm von Canterbury (Munich, 1937); Die Theologie der Mystik (Regensburg, 1936; Italian trans., Brescia, 1941); L'ascesi cristiana (there, 1943).