Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger - The Enchiridion Symbolorum Et Definitionum

The Enchiridion Symbolorum Et Definitionum

Nearly all his important works are in the nature of historical theology. The best-known and most useful is his Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum (first ed., Würzburg, 1854), a handbook containing a collection of the chief decrees and definitions of councils, list of condemned propositions, etc., beginning with the oldest forms of the Apostles' Creed. The first edition contained a mere 128 documents, the sixth edition, the last edited by Denzinger himself, had 202.

After Denzinger's death, Professor Ignatius Stahl continued the work of re-editing the Enchiridion with additional decrees of Leo XIII. Clemens Bannwart, S.J., prepared a revised and enlarged edition (10th ed., Freiburg) in 1908.

Since then, the Enchiridion has been repeatedly republished, with considerable additions by different editors. As a result, the numberings in more recent editions in no way correspond to those in the original. The numbering that scholars in recent decades (since 1963) have usually cited for the entries is that introduced in the edition prepared by Adolf Schönmetzer, S.J. This explains the abbreviation "DS" (for "Denzinger-Schönmetzer") used to specify this numbering, very different from that in earlier editions.

The latest editions have added doctrinal statements of the second half of the twentieth century, including the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and recent Popes.