Boos, Martin

BOOS, MARTIN: Roman Catholic priest; b. at Huttenried near Schongau, Bavaria, Dec. 25, 1762; d. at Sayn, near Coblenz, Aug. 29, 1825. He studied at Dillingen under Sailer, Zimmer, and Weber. He followed the extreme practises of asceticism as a penance for sin, all to no avail, as he believed, and then developed a doctrine of salvation by faith which came very near to pure Lutheranism. This he preached with great effect. He was driven from Bavaria by the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities and other priests and lived in Austria from 1799 to 1816, when he was compelled to leave that country. His last years were spent at Düsseldorf and Sayn.

Bibliography: His autobiography was edited by J. Gossner, Leipsic, 1831, Eng. transl., London, 1836, who also issued two volumes of his sermons Berlin, 1830. Consult also F. W. Bodemann, Gesammelte Briefe von, an und über Martin Boos, Frankfort, 1854.