FUNK
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FUNK
faculty of political science for the best essay on the
theme: " Was verstand man im 18. Jahrhundert unter
Polizei?" (What signification had the vvorI police in
the 18th century?). Some of his earlier publications
treated subjects connected with political economy.
Having received his doctorate of philosophy in 1863,
he devoted a year in the ecclesiastical seminary to
moral theology and preparation for the priesthood.
He was ordained at Rottenburg, 10 August, 1804, and
his first work was in the care of souls ; he felt, however,
that the whole bent of his mind lay in the direction of
intellectual labour. In October, 1865, he obtained
permission to proceed to Paris to pursue further the
study of political economy; the journey through
France and his residence at Paris acted as a great
mental stimulus. On his return in 1866, he was
appointed tutor at the Wilhelmsstift, where his duty
was to direct the personal studies and preparation
for examinations of the theological students. W'hen
Hefele, then professor of church history at Tubingen,
was called to Rome in 1868 as consultor during the
preparation for the Vatican Council, Funk acted as
substitute. Hefele did not return to his chair, being
appointed Bi.shop of Rottenburg on 17 June, 1869,
and Funk was appointed his successor. In 1870
Funk was named extraordinary, and in 1875 ordinary
professor of church history, patrology, and Christian
archaeology, an office which he filled till his death.
His life was henceforth entirely devoted to his pro- fessorial duties and historical researches, especially to the various branches of the history of the early Church. His first important publications belong to the sphere of political science and the history of economics, and include the two treatises, "Zins und Wucher, eine moraltheologische Abhandlung" (Tubingen, 1868), and " Geschichte des kirchlichen Zmsverbotes" (Tubingen, 1878). Other articles on the same subject written by him either during this or a later period are : " Klemens von Alexandrien (Jber Familie und Eigentum" [Theo- iogische Quartalschrift" (1871), 427-449; reprinted in " Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen und Unter- suchungen", II, 45 sqq.]; "Handel und Gewerbe im christhchen Altertum " [in "Theol. Quartalschrift" (1876); reprinted in " Kirchengesch. Abhand. u. Untersuch.", II, 60 sqq.]; "Ueber Reich tum und Handel im christlichen Altertum "[Ibid., Ill, 150 sqq., first published in "Histor.-pohtische Blatter" (1902), II]. Funk's professorial duties and his early study of classical philology soon led him into the province of early Christian literature and church history, and in these departments he accomplished his most important work as a scholar. In the former department his task consisted principally in the issuing of new editions of texts, prepared in accordance with the rules of historical and textual criticism. His predecessor He- fele had issued a scholarly edition of the works of the Apostolic Fathers, "Opera patrum apostolicorum", but the last edition was that of 1855, and the discovery of important manuscripts rendered a new edition necessary. Funk undertook the task, and tlie " Opera patrum apostolicorum " appeared in two volumes (Tubingen, 1878-1881), the first containing the authen- tic and the second the apocryphal writings. After the discovery of the Didache, a new edition of the first volume was issued in 1887; a fresh edition (the second) of the whole work appeared in 1901. The "Sammlung von Quellenschriften" (Tubingen, 1901 ; 2nd ed., 1906) contains a synopsis with the text of the authentic writings. Funk also published separately the Didache and certain of the early writ- ings connected with this work (" Doctrina XII aposto- lorum", "Canones apostolorum ecclesiastic! ac reli- qua" doctrinie de duabus viis expositiones veteres", Tubingen, 1887). His studies of the "Apostolic Constitutions" led Funk to the conviction that the existing editions of the "Constitutiones apostolica;' and of the Syrian "Didascalia, apostolorum" were
imsatisfactory. He devoted many years to the prep-
aration of a new edition, which was given to the
public in 1905 ("Didascalia et Constitutiones Aposto-
lorum", ed. F. X. von Funk, 2 vols. Paderborn, 1905),
and was received with the greatest commendation by
the learned world. He also published three works
connected with early Christian literature. In the
treatise "Die Echtheit der Ignatianischen Briefe"
(Tiibingen, 1883), he successfully refuted the attacks
made on these important sub-apostolic writings, and
demonstrated conclusively the authorship of St.
Ignatius of Antioch.
For many years his attention was almost exclusively devoted to a group of writings, which constitute the principal source of information as to early Christian liturgy and discipline, namely the Didache, the Didas- calia, the Apostolic Constitutions, the " Canones Hip- polyti", the Egyptian Church Order, and the "Testa- roentimi Donnni nostri Jesu Christi" discovered by Rahmani. In opposition to the somewhat difTerent views of other investigators. Funk sought to establish the connexion between these writings, and from this the date of their origin. The two works, which Funk devoted to this object, are: " Die Apostolischen Kon- stitutionen" (Tiibingen, 1891), and "Das Testament unseres Herrn und die verwandten Schriften" (Mainz, 1901). Similar investigations in the field of literary history and numerous questions touching on the liturgj-, discipline and religious life of early Christian times form the subject of the numerous articles which Funk contributed to various periodicals during the many years of his academic activity. Most of these articles were published in the " Tubinger theologische Quartalschrift", the " Historisches Jahrbuch der Gor- resgesellschaf t ", the " Historisch-politische Blatter" or in the "Revue d'histoire eccl^siastique", and the majority are included, in more or less revised form, in the collection: "Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen und Untersuchungen" (3 vols., Paderborn, 1897, 1899, 1907). Among the most important of these writings are those dealing with the above-mentioned pseudo- Apostolic works and their relations to one another ("Abhandlungen", II, 108 sqq., 236 sqq., 359 sqq., Ill, 64 sqq., 218 sqq., 275 sqq., 350 sqq., 362 sqq., 381 sqq.); the early Christian penitential discipline and the catechumenate (Ibid., I, 155 sqq., 182 sqq., 209 sqq.; Ill, 42 sqq., 57 sqq.); celibacy of the clerics in major orders (Ibid., I, 121 sqq.) ; the Agapa; and the Eucharistic Sacrifice (Ibid., 1, 278, 293 sqq.. Ill, 1 sqq., 85 sqq., 134 sqq.). One subject to which he often returned and which involved him in a long controversy with other scholars, especially with Father Kneller, S.J., was the convocation and papal ratification of the oecumenical synods of the early ages [Abhandlungen, I, 39 sqq., 87 sqq., 498 sqq., Ill, 143 sqq., 40G sqq.; Kneller returned to the subject again m the "Zeit- schrift fiir katholische Theologie" (1908), 75-99J. Of the various contributions to later Church history, which flowed from Funk's industrious pen, may be mentioned the "Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der altbriti.schen Kirche" (Abhand., I, 421 sqq.), "Gerson und Gersen" (Ibid., II, 473 sqq.), "Der Verfasser der Nachfolge Christe" (Ibid., II, 408 sqq.), "Zur Galilei- Frage" (Ibid., II, 444 sqq.). Funk was an industrious contributor to thesecondeditionof Herder's " Kirchen- lexikon", in which are found no less than 136 articles, some of considerable length, from his pen. For Kraus's " Real-Encyklopildie der christlichen Alter- tiiraer" he also wrote several articles. The excellence of his " Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte", as a general church history, is universally recognized; the first edition appeared in 1886, the fifth in 1907, shortly before his death, the tireless worker being suddenly cut down in the midst of his labours by an apoplectic stroke. The Tiibingen "Theologiscb.c C^\Ku-talschrift" for 1907 (p. 236 sqq.) contained a posthuinnus article of Funk's on the reputed writings of St. Ilippolytus.
