Passions and Finality 11 – Final Questions by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Final Questions Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 10 – Further on the Concupiscible and the Irascible Passions by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Further on the Concupiscible and Irascible Passions Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 9 – The Concupisciple and the Irascible Passions by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
The Distinction between the Concupiscible and the Irascible Passions. A look at the contributions of Rene Descartes and Conrad Baars Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 8 – Further Questions by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Further Questions Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 6 – The Philosophy of Ethics by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
The question of virtue in relation to the passions. The responsibility of ordering passion within friendships. Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 5 – The Contribution of Science by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
What light can science shed on the reality of man moved by his passions? Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 4 – Questions by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Fr Thomas answers questions from his class. Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 3 – The Eleven Passions of St Thomas by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
The distinction between emotions/feelings and passions. Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 2 – A Philosophical Search by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
The characteristic of a living being is that it moves itself. What is the link between a living being’s (sensitive) affectivity and its movement? Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page by clicking the arrow below
Passions and Finality 1 – An Overview of the Course – by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
The passions play an important part in the search for truth about man as a living being. We all have experience of ‘being moved’ – that is, being passionate – but what actually are these movements called ‘passions’? Click on the image to the right to go to our podcast or listen from this page…
Adoration 13 – The Role of the Holy Spirit and the Fruits of Adoration by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Theological Perspective 3 The Christian is called to adore God in an enlightened way. Jesus said “God is spirit and those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The use of the imperative ‘must’ indicates our obligation to discover more about what Adoration is and how best to fulfil…
Adoration 12 – The Book of Revelation Chapter 13 by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Theological Perspective 2 “I was standing on the seashore, then I saw a beast emerge from the sea….. I saw one of its heads appeared to have a fatal wound but it had healed and after that the whole world had marvelled and followed the beast… then I saw a second beast emerging from the…
Adoration 11 – The Book of Revelation Chapter 4 by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Theological Perspective 1 “Then in my vision I saw a door open in heaven…..and I saw a throne standing in heaven and the One who was sitting on the throne…. Round the throne were 24 elders sitting … and in the centre… were four animals with many eyes…. And day and night they never stopped…
Adoration 10 – Adoration in Spirit and in Truth 2 by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 7 Continuing on from the previous talk, Fr Thomas gives four possible interpretations of what it means to worship ‘in spirit and in truth’. Click on the arrow below to listen on your computer or go to the image to subscribe to the podcast
Adoration 9 – Adoration in Spirit and in Truth by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 6 “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when true worshippers will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know; …. But the hour will come … when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in…
Adoration 8 – The New Testament by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 5 “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law but to complete it.” Matthew 5: 17-18. What does Jesus mean by this? Fr Thomas looks closely at the vocabulary used for Adoration in the Gospels and the number of times the words denoting it occur and in which passages. The…
Adoration 7 – The Unicity of God and the Gaze of God by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 4 “Thus says Israel’s king and his redeemer, the Lord Sabaoth: I am the First and I am the Last: there is no other God besides me.” Isaiah 44: 6 In the book of Wisdom the idolatry of the pagans is described as foolishness: “Yes, naturally stupid are those who are unaware of…
Adoration 6 – Apostasy and God’s Continual Call to return to him by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 3 “Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostasised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made for themselves a calf of molten gold and have worshipped it….” Exodus 32: 7-8. In many ways the history of Israel and…
Adoration 5 – The First Commandment and the Temptation to Idolatry by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 2 “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other Gods except me. You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not…
Adoration 4 – Adoration in the Old Testament by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Biblical Perspective 1 Adoration in the Old Testament is very concrete and is signified by a gesture, that of prostration or ‘bowing low’. This can be an act of honour to another person or as an act of adoration of God himself. Progressively it is revealed that Adoration is to be reserved to God alone…
Adoration 3 – God as Father by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Philosophical Perspective 3 The existence of God is not evident in natural philosophy even if religious practice is evident in all times and all cultures. What is called ‘natural theology’ is the search for God or gods outside the light of revelation. Natural Adoration is the natural love of a creature for its Creator, analogous…
Adoration 2 – Natural Adoration by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Philosophical Perspective 2. The existence of God is not evident in natural philosophy even if religious practice is evident in all times and all cultures. What is called ‘natural theology’ is the search for God or gods outside the light of revelation. Natural Adoration is the natural love of a creature for its Creator, analogous…
Adoration 1 – The Search for Truth about Adoration by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Philosophical Perspective 1 Does philosophy have anything to say about Adoration? What is my human experience of Adoration? Searching the truth with regard to the existence of God is of fundamental importance to us as human beings but we have to admit that the human experience of God is very limited, it is not at…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 10: The Body continued by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
The body is first in the order of conditioning – our work, personality, nature, community, moral life, imagination are all aspects of our body’s conditioning. In addition, we are the products of atavism, the inherited characteristics from our parents. However, the body is completely relative to the spiritual soul which finalises us and brings true…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 9: The Body by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Pere Marie-Dominique Philippe described the body as ‘The substantial conditioning of the human person’. We have no experience outside of our bodies, so in one sense we only exist – we are only able to say ‘I am’ – in union with our bodies. But if we ask the question: ‘What is the purpose of…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 8: Discovering Autonomy by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Beginning with the judgement of existence ‘this is’, and discovering the reality of existence outside ourselves, enables us to affirm the metaphysical, objective, reality of ‘I am’. ‘I am’ becomes therefore more than I am conscious of myself being, and leads onward to the discovery of my radical autonomy. More than this, I discover I…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 7: Discovering Finality by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Beyond all determinations, which describe our form, there is a more profound level of being which is described by ‘act’. As human beings we have the capacity to choose, and this implies a capacity to choose an ‘end’, in other words to choose our ‘finality’. To what principles or persons is our life ordered? Our…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 6: The Proper Principles of Being by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
What is ‘that-which-is in so far as it is’? This question is concerned with the judgement of existence. It leads further to such questions as: Can the matter which exists be described solely by its form? Or solely by its actions? Or both? Or is there something more ultimate than both these? Aristotle used the…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 5: The Metaphysical search for truth by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
‘First Philosophy’ was the term used by Aristotle to embrace the study or search for what is absolutely first, or ultimate. In more recent centuries the term ‘Metaphysics’ has tended to replace the term ‘First Philosophy’, but it is concerned with the same aim – to go beyond the characteristics of man to the question…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 4: The Contribution from Aristotle by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Aristotle’s contribution to our notion of the human person was and still is, fundamental. He considered the relationship between nature and the person, and concluded that the person is not simply a natural being, similar to plants and animals, due to his ability to choose. In contrast to the natural world, human beings have the…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 3: The Contribution from Psychology by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
“Psychology is generally understood as one of the most important forces in contemporary society, as such it is useful to trace its modern history in order to truly grasp modern psychology’s current directions. During the first half of the 20th century, American psychology was dominated by two schools of thought, behaviourism and psycho-analysis. While both…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 2: The Discovery of the Human Person by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
Fr Marie-Dominique Philippe, the founder of the Community of St John, wrote the following lines in the first chapter of his book entitled ‘Retracing Reality’: “The search for wisdom has become particularly difficult in our time. The cultural milieu in which contemporary man lives does not favour it. The search for such wisdom is considered…
The Human Person: A Metaphysical Gaze 1: Introduction by Fr Thomas Dunton CSJ
We are pleased to be able to publish this series of talks given by Fr Thomas Dunton of the Community of St John to novices of the Community based at their priory in Princeville, Ohio, USA, on the subject of the Human Person. In this first talk entitled ‘An Introduction to a Philosophical Gaze on…
THE INSTITUTE OF ST JOHN 