Martin Thornton

A Layman Ressourcement Curriculum to Rediscover the English School of Catholic Spirituality

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Martin Thornton put together an extraordinary syllabus for prayerfully studying English Spirituality, also known as the “English School of Catholic spirituality” or “Anglican spiritual patrimony.” He did this in the Appendix to English Spirituality, and it provides a very useful starting point to the study of a subject that is both narrow, with respect to other Catholic … Read more

“Meditation and Modern Biblical Studies”

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By Martin Thornton (1978)

If there is a single exhortation to the faithful laity, common to all denominations through the Christian world, it is that they must read the Bible. What precisely does this mean? For parallel with the exhortation is the hard fact of biblical criticism, growing more and more complex, more esoteric, and throwing up the unending debate within its own ethos. If the simple (by which I mean one of integrated common sense rather than moronic) layman is to heed the exhortation then how, why and when is he to respond? Assuming that the modern layman is an intelligent and faithful, if untheologically trained, disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, then he is bound to ask questions: Why read the Bible? How read the Bible? What is the proper approach? The day-to-day pastoral situation comes up with four possible answers, none of which is very satisfactory.

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Thornton and Catholicity

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Conceiving the term “Catholic” from a Thorntonian perspective means that catholicity emerges when a particular parish is seen as the whole/holy Church in microcosm. Thornton’s theology is anchored in parish life, and hence his sense of what Catholic means is fundamentally parochial, as well. Distilling from Benedictine/monastic order a highly original “parochial theology” (a term … Read more

The Anglican Spiritual Tradition, parts 1 and 2

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By Martin Thornton

PART ONE
There is good reason for dividing this lecture into two unequal parts. I must first offer a brief resumé of what I take the Anglican spiritual tradition to be; then I should like to look rather more fully at the contemporary impact of our tradition, concluding with a somewhat dangerous game of attempting to read the signs of its future unfolding.

Pedantic haggling over the meaning of words is not the most exciting exercise, but it is apparent already that some attention must be given to that most ambiguous and abused term “Tradition”; paradosis, traditio, literally a giving-over, or handing-over. Handing-over be it noted and not handing-down.

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Homily: Religion and Covetousness

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Offered for the Parish of Tazewell County on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2016 (Proper 13, Year C) Over the recent Sunday Gospel lessons, focusing as we have on religion as activity, we have not heard much on the topic of Sin. It has not been entirely absent, however. A creeping pride was implied with … Read more

An extended excerpt from PRAYER: A NEW ENCOUNTER by Martin Thornton

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The next step of our reissuing of Martin Thornton’s books is an extended excerpt from Prayer: A New Encounter, and it is now available. This extended excerpt includes both Forewords that John Macquarrie wrote, first for the 1972 edition from Hodder and Stoughton, and second for the 1988 reissue by Cowley Publications. An intriguing bit from the … Read more

“The Principles behind Martin Thornton’s Theology”

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[Note: The following essay was written for Formatio Online Journal, once published by the Ambrose Institute (of Nashotah House). It can be usefully seen as an introduction to my master’s thesis on Martin Thornton, available here to download .] The Principles behind Martin Thornton’s Theology by Matthew Dallman, May 2015 Martin Thornton’s theology has been “largely overlooked,” … Read more

“Catholic and Anglican: The Motif, Model, and Operations of Martin Thornton’s Theology”

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In my continuing efforts to awaken public interest in this Anglican priest’s remarkable theology, I am thrilled to make available my master’s thesis on Martin Thornton. It completed my M.T.S. degree from Nashotah House, and is the result of several years of prayer and dedicated research—including my month of pilgrimage in summer 2014 spent in England … Read more

“Prayer and Incarnation”

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By Martin Thornton[1] Contemporary theology is in confusion: which is at least to start with a proposition that nobody is likely to dispute. It is neither my present task, nor is it within my competence, to try to unravel the tangle; I am to be concerned with an examination of incarnational prayer within the contemporary … Read more