ZIMMER, PATRITIUS BENEDICTUS. - Theologian, born 22 Feb 1752 at Abtsgmund (Württemberg), died 16 Oct 1820 at Landshut.
Ordained priest in 1775, he held the chair of dogmatic theology at the University of Dillingen (1783-95), then at Ingolstadt (1788-1800); when this university was transferred to Landshut, he taught exegesis, pathology, and history of literature there. He was elected rector magnificus in 1819.
SALTERIO (v.), sharing with him gentleness of spirit and strength of intellect, endowed with excellent teaching qualities, he won the unconditional sympathy of his numerous pupils, who secured his reinstatement to the chair on three occasions. Eager to renew ecclesiastical science, he allowed himself to be carried along by the current of the new German philosophy (Fichte and Schelling), and thus incurred sharp criticism and strong opposition from Catholics.
His principal works are: *Dissertatio dogmatica de vera et completa potestate ecclesiastica illiusque subiecta* (Dillingen 1784), in which he upholds the subordination of the Church to the State; *Theologiae christ. theoretica systema* (ibid. 1787); *Theologia christ. dogmatica* (2 vols., Vienna 1789-90); *Fides existentiae Dei* (ibid. 1791); *Theologiae christianae specialis* (4 vols., Landshut 1802-1806): these dogmatic works are not free from defects due to the author’s philosophical tendency. He also wrote other notable works in German on original sin and on the Revelation of the Old Testament.