He was born in the parish of Röhlingen, in the then ecclesiastical principality of Ellwangen. The parish priest of Röhlingen, an ex-
Jesuit, noting the boy's talents, instructed him in the elements of Latin, and persuaded his parents to send him, in 1787, in spite of their extreme poverty, to the gymnasium of Ellwangen. There he lived partly on the charity of the townspeople and partly by tutoring, especially in Latin, mathematics, and physics. He studied theology, 1797–1799, at
Augsburg; after 1799 he lived in the diocesan seminary at
Pfaffenhausen. He was ordained in the summer of 1801. During his five years as assistant in his native place, Drey studied the then paramount philosophy of
Kant,
Fichte, and
Schelling, as appears clearly in his works. His position, from 1806, as professor of philosophy of religion, mathematics, and physics in the Catholic academy of
Rottweil, formed a good preparation for his subsequent academical career. When in 1812 King
Frederick I of Württemberg founded the
University of Ellwangen as a Catholic national university for his recently acquired Catholic territory, Drey was called to lecture there on
dogmatics, history of dogma,
apologetics, and introduction to theology. There he published two Latin dissertations: "Observata quædam ad illustrandam Justini M. de regno millenario sententiam" (1814), and "Dissertatio historico-theologica originem et vicissitudinem exomologeseos in ecclesiâ. catholicâ ex documentis ecclesiasticis illustrans" (1815), the latter of which was denounced to Rome, but without serious consequences for its author, at least for the time being. When King William I (1817) incorporated the University of Ellwangen with the old national University of Tübingen as its Catholic faculty of theology, Drey with his colleagues,
Peter Aloys Gratz and
Johann Georg Herbst, joined the staff of the new school. He co-founded (1819), together with Gratz and his new colleague,
Johann Baptist von Hirscher, the "Theologische Quartalschrift" of Tübingen; he took a prominent part in its publication and wrote for it a number of essays and reviews. In the same year he published: "Kurze Einleitung in das Studium der Theologie mit Rücksicht auf den wissenschaftlichen Standpunkt und das katholische System". An effort to make Drey first bishop of the newly founded
diocese of Rottenburg failed, among other reasons because of the distrust with which he was regarded in Rome owing to his above-named work on confession. Somewhat as a recompense the first position at the cathedral was reserved for him, which however, he never filled. After convalescing from a severe illness, he was relieved from his office as teacher of dogmatic theology (1838). Still comparatively robust, though well advanced in years, Drey was pensioned in 1846, almost against his will; he continued, however, to write for
Wetzer and
Welte's
Kirchenlexikon and for the "Theologische Quartalschrift" of Tübingen. ==Works==