Courses by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
This course introduces the viewer to the basic elements of the philosophical method called phenom... more This course introduces the viewer to the basic elements of the philosophical method called phenomenology. Students will come away with a working knowledge of the primary steps of the method, including bracketing the natural attitude, descriptive experience, and ethical applications. By attending to the origin and evolution of phenomenology, students will grow in their understanding of the Western philosophical tradition, and gain some degree of facility to apply phenomenology to their own lived experiences. 4 video lessons706 views
Videos by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
Donald Wallenfang introduces his 2017 book Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist: An Étude in Phen... more Donald Wallenfang introduces his 2017 book Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist: An Étude in Phenomenology. 30 views
Donald Wallenfang introduces some of the main themes of his 2017 book Human and Divine Being: A S... more Donald Wallenfang introduces some of the main themes of his 2017 book Human and Divine Being: A Study on the Theological Anthropology of Edith Stein. 57 views
In this video presentation, Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD, gives an introduction to a valuable sel... more In this video presentation, Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD, gives an introduction to a valuable self-paced mini course commentary on the Interior Castle of Saint Teresa of Ávila.
To access this self-paced mini course, visit: https://www.myinteriorcastle.com/offers/G25hczTs/checkout
For more rich content in Catholic theology, philosophy and spirituality, visit https://www.myinteriorcastle.com
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Books by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
Roots: Catholic Youth Evangelization in a Post-Pandemic World, 2022
Youth evangelization is one of the most challenging tasks of the church today, and this book face... more Youth evangelization is one of the most challenging tasks of the church today, and this book faces that challenge head-on. Roots: Catholic Youth Evangelization in a Post-Pandemic World features essays written by leading scholars in the fields of philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, pastoral ministry, medieval studies, and ecology. In this timely volume, scholars tackle tough issues presented by contemporary culture while engaging the ripe fruits of the 2019 apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, Christus vivit. Readers will be treated to a variety of themes, including beauty, belonging, hope, political theology, cultural analysis, vocational discernment, ecclesial strategies, and the history of Catholic youth ministry in the United States. By approaching the general topic of Catholic youth evangelization from diverse angles, the precise nature and demands of ministry with young people in a postmodern context are illuminated. This volume promises to provide ample insights for church leaders active in the field of pastoral care of youth from an interdisciplinary perspective. Readers can be assured that they never will think the same about youth evangelization after encountering the rich contents of this book.
"As our society has had to endure an unimaginable pandemic, our youth have been exposed to an environment where God is perceived as irrelevant and Christ is not viewed as either fully man or fully God. Cavadini and Wallenfang have masterfully developed and compiled a cadre of Catholic educators whose respective backgrounds address the current state of Catholic youth in the United States and skillfully demonstrate the approaches we can implement to guide our youth toward an active relationship with Jesus Christ."
--Marlon De La Torre, Executive Director of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, Archdiocese of Detroit
"The evangelization of Catholic youth is one of the most important challenges in the church today. Professors Cavadini and Wallenfang have brought together an amazing collection of essays written by some of the foremost Catholic experts in the evangelization and education of Catholic young adults. Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis's 2019 exhortation to young people, Christus vivit, the authors of this volume explore ways to help young people find their roots in family, school, society, and, most of all, in Christ."
--Robert L. Fastiggi, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Motown Evangelization: Sharing the Gospel of Jesus in a Detroit Style, 2022
What happens when “the rubber meets the road” for Catholic evangelization? Motown evangelization—... more What happens when “the rubber meets the road” for Catholic evangelization? Motown evangelization—an evangelization with wheels, an evangelization on the go, an evangelization with soul! Featuring contributions by several of the leading scholars on Catholic evangelization in the twenty-first century, Motown Evangelization: Sharing the Gospel of Jesus in a Detroit Style invites the reader to contemplate the meaning of the New Evangelization within the disorienting context of the postmodern and post-pandemic world of today. Numerous central themes are treated throughout the book’s potent chapters: the charity of Christ, the urgency of evangelization, redemptive suffering, liturgical sacrifice, the Black Catholic experience, parish life, the communion of saints, contemplative prayer, and practical suggestions for sharing the gospel of Jesus with friends and strangers alike. Tracing the contours of evangelization as at once merciful, urgent, sacrificial, diverse, and sanctifying, this book opens to the world with hope and healing. While oftentimes evangelization can stagnate in wishful thinking with little follow-through, Motown Evangelization encourages the reader to press on toward the finish line of faith wherein the end is the beginning, and the beginning is the end. It is because of the paradoxical twists that flood the life and teachings of Jesus that evangelization is ever old and ever new. Motown Evangelization will help to empower its reader to share the gospel of Jesus with renewed vigor and vitality.
"Evangelization can be confusing, with many obstacles that can get in the way. This book addresses many of those obstacles and provides insights on how to be more confident and capable in your evangelization efforts."
--Vickie Figueroa, Coordinator, Black Catholic Ministry, Archdiocese of Detroit
"A wondrously diverse collection of Catholic scholars. . . . The essays aren't about imparting information; they are instead fueled by a desire to see transformation in the lives of every single man, woman, and child, and they each offer provocative and challenging insights to us."
--John Riccardo, Executive Director, ACTS XXIX
"The task of the New Evangelization is daunting and can seem impossible given the complexity of the modern world. Motown Evangelization presents articles from leading scholars who . . . offer important insights. This book proposes pathways forward that deserve serious consideration. Highly recommended!"
--Timothy Laboe, Dean of Studies, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
iGod: A Hidden and Fragmentary Autobiography, 2021
Who would have suspected that a boy whose heart was set on medical, musical, and football glory c... more Who would have suspected that a boy whose heart was set on medical, musical, and football glory could end up a family man and a Catholic philosopher and theologian? Who would have guessed that a life so closed in on itself could be turned inside out by the wild love of Jesus Christ? Who would have believed that the drama of adoption and so many feelings of abandonment could be rescued by a love that never fails? iGod: A Hidden and Fragmentary Autobiography is Act I of the story of Donald Lee Wallenfang. Inside this book, the reader will be met with a narrative full of twists and turns and so many saturating moments of irony and paradox. This story testifies to the power of possibility and the unlimited reaches of divine grace. Beginning with the infancy of Donald Lee, a nonfictional tale is woven together that escorts the reader along the provocative periods of his childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and into the early middle-age years. All in all, this is a story about conversion. It showcases the inversion of "iGod" into a life enraptured by love and responsibility inspired from an elsewhere beyond the immediate capacities of the ego. Readers will find delight in these literary and photographic vignettes that expose the metamorphosis of a life given over to the point of abandonment.
Emmanuel: Levinas and Variations on God with Us, 2021
Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995) is perhaps one of the best-kept philosophical secrets of recent time... more Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995) is perhaps one of the best-kept philosophical secrets of recent times. By locating ethics as first philosophy, based on the call of the other, Levinas has revolutionized the Western philosophical tradition. In effect, the perennial priority of the self is displaced by the uncanny urgency of the other. Emmanuel: Levinas and Variations on God with Us gives the reader an introduction to the life and work of this humble philosophical genius. Several applications are made of Levinas’s insights: interreligious dialogue, analytic versus continental philosophy, law and freedom, maternity, childhood, hermeneutics, and ethical contemplation. Most especially, Levinas is brought into lively conversation with Jean-Luc Marion. Levinas’s phenomenology of proclamation is set in confrontation with Marion’s phenomenology of manifestation throughout the book. Erotic love is met with a love filled with responsibilities for the other. Mount Carmel and Mount Zion face one another in a topography of the infinite. Readers will appreciate the variety of themes treated, as well as the dynamic interaction between philosophy and theology. Given the fragmented postmodern milieux of the world today, perhaps the philosophical intuitions of Emmanuel Levinas were prepared “for such a time as this” (Esth 4:14).
Shoeless: Carmelite Spirituality in a Disquieted World, 2021
What does Carmelite spirituality have to teach us about living at peace in the frenetic world of ... more What does Carmelite spirituality have to teach us about living at peace in the frenetic world of ours today? Everything. Guiding the reader through a mystical maze of themes, Shoeless: Carmelite Spirituality in a Disquieted World displays the heart of the Carmelite charism and apostolate as set forth by the religious reform of Saint Teresa of Ávila in the latter half of the sixteenth century. The reader will be introduced to the history of the Carmelite Order and its unique features, including its eremitic and monastic roots, attentiveness to the human soul, the virtue of humility, the spousal meaning of the body, the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the art of silent contemplative prayer. In addition, Shoeless features the testimonies of its authors and their mutual vocation to the sacrament of marriage and the Carmelite way of life. Readers will become acquainted intimately with the meaning of Mount Carmel and the peculiarity of its zealous form of missionary contemplation. A preview is given of the spiritual itinerary toward the summit of this secret height that includes reference to the interior castle and the dark night of the soul.
Gift to the Church and World: Fifty Years of Joseph Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity, 2021
Few books in theology have faced the twentieth century with all its horrors and yet convincingly ... more Few books in theology have faced the twentieth century with all its horrors and yet convincingly have revoiced the redemptive Christian antidote that compels us to reawaken to our true identity as beloved children of God. Joseph Ratzinger’s 1968 masterpiece, Introduction to Christianity, is one of those rare books. On the fiftieth anniversary of this classic book’s publication, English-speaking scholars from around the globe gathered at the University of Notre Dame to celebrate Ratzinger’s lasting influence on the world of Christian theology. Bishops, priests and lay men and women set their hands to “the trowel of tribute,” honoring the theological legacy of Joseph Ratzinger and the pivotal role he has played in the recent history of the Catholic Church, from his early days as a parish priest and university professor, all the way to his election to the Chair of Saint Peter as Pope Benedict XVI. Readers of this collection, Gift to the Church and World, will enjoy the beautiful variety of essays penned by notable scholars that decorate the timeless insights of Ratzinger’s theological genius. Thematic topics include an overview and context of Ratzinger’s work, fundamental theology, philosophical theology, dogmatic theology, spiritual theology, and pedagogy. Altogether, readers will deepen their appreciation and understanding of the theological contributions of Joseph Ratzinger to the mission field of the New Evangelization today.
Metaphysics: A Basic Introduction in a Christian Key, 2019
What is metaphysics? Metaphysics: A Basic Introduction in a Christian Key gives a simplified answ... more What is metaphysics? Metaphysics: A Basic Introduction in a Christian Key gives a simplified answer to this daunting question. Born under the shadow of the Parthenon by Aristotle and his contemporaries, metaphysics eventually enjoyed its heyday in the medieval era and is finding a resurgence today in modernity. This book explores the perennial question of being and its uptake in the world of Christian theology. Donald Wallenfang leads the reader through five navigable chapters that feature the most basic themes of metaphysics: the question of being, first principles, causality, cosmology, and morality. The abstract tendencies of metaphysics are brought down to earth with reference to the gospel of Jesus and the relevance of metaphysics for daily living. Altogether, the reader will be inspired to think toward the whole by asking questions that penetrate beneath the surface of things. Beauty, truth, and goodness will be unveiled to the degree that we accompany Jesus the metaphysician along his itinerary of being given.
Phenomenology: A Basic Introduction in the Light of Jesus Christ, 2019
What is phenomenology? That is precisely the question this book seeks to answer. In an age of inf... more What is phenomenology? That is precisely the question this book seeks to answer. In an age of information overload, complex topics must be simplified to make them accessible to a wider audience. Phenomenology: A Basic Introduction in the Light of Jesus Christ not only presents the basic building blocks of phenomenology, it also gives body to voice by putting abstract ideas in contact with the Word made flesh, Jesus of Nazareth. In five manageable chapters, Donald Wallenfang introduces major themes such as the natural attitude, givenness, interpretation, paradox, and ethics. Each subject is considered in how it applies to daily life and relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Several biblical scenes are tapped to harvest their sweet nectars of meaning through phenomenology. At its limit, philosophy gives way to the revelatory rationality of theology as expressed by Jesus the phenomenologist.
Evangelization as Interreligious Dialogue, 2019
What does Jesus have to do with Buddha? What does Muhammad have to do with Krishna? One of the mo... more What does Jesus have to do with Buddha? What does Muhammad have to do with Krishna? One of the most important tasks for theology in the twenty-first century is interreligious dialogue. Given the rapid process of globalization and the surge of information via the Internet, travel, and library networking today, interreligious dialogue has become a necessary element within Christian theology that no longer can be avoided. Evangelization as Interreligious Dialogue features eleven essays, plus an extensive introduction, that exercise a live conversation between religious others. Divided into four thematic sections--(1) Catholic approaches to interreligious dialogue, (2) dialogues between Judaism and Christianity, (3) dialogues between Islam and Christianity, and (4) dialogues between Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity--this volume conducts a sustained theological reflection on the current state of interreligious dialogue by signaling its hopeful promises and unrelenting challenges. The reader will be invited to encounter the religious other firsthand and put his or her most cherished theological assumptions to the test. This book aims to provoke an expansion of horizons for theological imagination as it exposes the basic dialectic of identity and difference as played out in the interaction between diverse religious beliefs, practices, and experiences.
Since being elected to the Chair of St. Peter on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis has given unique sh... more Since being elected to the Chair of St. Peter on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis has given unique shape to the meaning of the new evangelization. With his emphasis on the concept of encounter, and his stunning expression of pastoral ministry in Evangelii gaudium, the present pontiff has breathed new life into the Christian vocation to evangelize. This book brings together the voices of fifteen American Catholic scholars around the theme of Pope Francis and the Event of Encounter. Inaugurating the new series, Global Perspectives on the New Evangelization, this book incorporates a variety of approaches and questions in order to amplify the theology behind the pontificate of Pope Francis and the most recent developments in the new evangelization. Among the topics treated in the book are mercy, ecology, doctrine, culture, and the life and ministry of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The reader will be delighted with an array of perspectives that promise to give inspiration for embarking on further frontiers of the new evangelization.
Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist: An Étude in Phenomenology, 2017
For centuries, Christian theology has understood the Eucharist in terms of metaphysics or in prot... more For centuries, Christian theology has understood the Eucharist in terms of metaphysics or in protest against it. Today an opening has been made to imagine the sacrament through the method of phenomenology, bringing about new theological life and meaning. In Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist, Donald Wallenfang conducts a sustained analysis of the Eucharist through the aperture of phenomenology, yet concludes the study with poetic and metaphysical twists. Engaging the work of Jean-Luc Marion, Paul Ricoeur, and Emmanuel Levinas, Wallenfang proposes pioneering ideas for contemporary sacramental theology that have vast implications for interfaith and interreligious dialogue. By tapping into the various currents within the Judeo-Christian tradition--Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant--a radical argument is developed that leverages the tension among them all. Several new frontiers are explored: dialectical theology, a fourth phenomenological reduction, the phenomenology of human personhood, the poetics of the Eucharist, and a reinterpretation of the concept of gift as conversation. On the whole, Wallenfang advances recent debates surrounding the relationship between phenomenology and theology by claiming an uncanny way out of emerging dead ends in philosophical theology: return to the fray.
Nothing is more dangerous to be misunderstood than the
question, “What is the human being?” In an... more Nothing is more dangerous to be misunderstood than the
question, “What is the human being?” In an era when this question
is not only being misunderstood but even forgotten, wisdom
delivered by the great thinkers and mystics of the past must be
recovered. Edith Stein (1891–1942), a Jewish Carmelite mystical
philosopher, offers great promise to resume asking the question of
the human being. In Human and Divine Being, Donald Wallenfang
gives a comprehensive summary of the theological anthropology
of this heroic martyr to truth. Beginning with the theme of human
vocation, Wallenfang leads the reader through a labyrinth of
philosophical and theological vignettes: spiritual being, the human
soul, material being, empathy, the logic of the cross, and the
meaning of suffering. The question of the human being is asked in
light of divine being by harnessing the fertile tension between the
methods of phenomenology and metaphysics. Stein spurs us on to
a rendezvous with the stream of “perennial philosophy” that has
watered the landscape of thought since conscious time began. In
the end, the meaning of human being is thrown into sharp relief
against the darkness of all that is not authentically human.
Articles by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
The Abandoned: Toward a Christocentric Phenomenology of Prayer
Church Life Journal, 2022
In a well-known passage from his 1971 essay on Christian living, Karl Rahner writes that “the dev... more In a well-known passage from his 1971 essay on Christian living, Karl Rahner writes that “the devout Christian of the future will either be a ‘mystic,’ one who has experienced ‘something,’ or he will cease to be anything at all.” If phenomenology is truly the most precise science of lived experience, would it not be appropriate to conduct a phenomenology of mysticism – more broadly, a phenomenology of prayer – in order to promote the mystical life? Answering this question in the affirmative, this essay will attempt to do three things: (1) introduce the method of phenomenology for beginners, (2) assess the status of phenomenology within Catholicism today, and (3) suggest some preliminary steps toward a phenomenology of Christian prayer, with reference to the life and work of Gerda Walther (1897–1977).
There is a perennial ambiguity within the relationship between law and human freedom. Does law in... more There is a perennial ambiguity within the relationship between law and human freedom. Does law inherently promote freedom or restrict it? Emmanuel Levinas (1906–95) proposes that law – precisely Torah – is the gateway of freedom to the degree that law attests to the obligatory summons to responsibility for the other. In his 1964 Talmudic lecture entitled, 'The Temptation of Temptation', Levinas presents the paradoxical beginning of freedom in 'a non-freedom which, far from being slavery or childhood , is a beyond-freedom.. .overcoming the temptation of evil by avoiding the temptation of temptation'. However, Levinas's turn to Torah is not enough. His ethical phenomenology of proclamation must be paired with a contemplative phenomenology of manifestation so as not to engender action without considering what exactly gives itself to act upon. Enter Jean-Luc Marion (1946–). While Levinas's attention to the call of the other opens the ears to ethical exigency, Marion's attention to givenness opens the eyes to contemplative recognition of phenomena as they give themselves by themselves. An adequate assessment of the relationship between law and freedom requires a holistic phenomenology rooted in the polarity between ethics and givenness. The paradoxical relationship between law and freedom can be comprehended clearly only through a combined methodology which harnesses the fruitful tension between metaphysics and phenomenology. This article traces these dialectical relationships in method in order to account for the paradoxical relationship between law and freedom. Altogether, a move toward a new dialectical theology will be made that metes out justice to God, to humanity, and to the entire cosmos.
“Figures and Forms of Ultimacy: Manifestation and Proclamation as Paradigms of the Sacred” , 2011
According to William James, the formidable task of interreligious dialogue today is to take place... more According to William James, the formidable task of interreligious dialogue today is to take place in a life which feels like a fight. If this is indeed the case, says James, " why not be the Happy Warrior willing to listen to all, struggle with and for all, help all to hear the other voices than the self? " It is precisely this disposition of the Happy Warrior which Emmanuel Levinas promotes through the method of phenomenology over and against all methods which would pretend to reduce the other to more of the same. Yet the method of phenomenology has evolved according to two primary currents: (1) manifestation and (2) proclamation. Jean-Luc Marion, a proponent of the former, suggests that all phenomenality be rendered according to the common denominator of givenness. Levinas, representative of proclamation, insists that the other cannot be reduced to any mode of manifestation without violently destroying the exorbitant integrity of the other. This paper will argue that Marion's approach results in a theology of childhood while that of Levinas results in a theology of adulthood. It will then argue that a dialectical method which harnesses the fruitfulness of the polarity between manifestation and proclamation – between childhood and adulthood, between contemplation and ethics – will be most productive for the task of interreligious dialogue in the twenty first century. Brief illustrative examples will be drawn from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Shintoism.
Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 2012
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come ... more Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Philosophy and Theology, 2010
Book Chapters by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
Uploads
Courses by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
Videos by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
To access this self-paced mini course, visit: https://www.myinteriorcastle.com/offers/G25hczTs/checkout
For more rich content in Catholic theology, philosophy and spirituality, visit https://www.myinteriorcastle.com
Follow us on Social Media-
Facebook at "Donald Wallenfang"
Twitter- @septimasmoradas
Instagram- myinteriorcastle313
YouTube- "Donald Wallenfang"
Books by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
"As our society has had to endure an unimaginable pandemic, our youth have been exposed to an environment where God is perceived as irrelevant and Christ is not viewed as either fully man or fully God. Cavadini and Wallenfang have masterfully developed and compiled a cadre of Catholic educators whose respective backgrounds address the current state of Catholic youth in the United States and skillfully demonstrate the approaches we can implement to guide our youth toward an active relationship with Jesus Christ."
--Marlon De La Torre, Executive Director of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, Archdiocese of Detroit
"The evangelization of Catholic youth is one of the most important challenges in the church today. Professors Cavadini and Wallenfang have brought together an amazing collection of essays written by some of the foremost Catholic experts in the evangelization and education of Catholic young adults. Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis's 2019 exhortation to young people, Christus vivit, the authors of this volume explore ways to help young people find their roots in family, school, society, and, most of all, in Christ."
--Robert L. Fastiggi, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
"Evangelization can be confusing, with many obstacles that can get in the way. This book addresses many of those obstacles and provides insights on how to be more confident and capable in your evangelization efforts."
--Vickie Figueroa, Coordinator, Black Catholic Ministry, Archdiocese of Detroit
"A wondrously diverse collection of Catholic scholars. . . . The essays aren't about imparting information; they are instead fueled by a desire to see transformation in the lives of every single man, woman, and child, and they each offer provocative and challenging insights to us."
--John Riccardo, Executive Director, ACTS XXIX
"The task of the New Evangelization is daunting and can seem impossible given the complexity of the modern world. Motown Evangelization presents articles from leading scholars who . . . offer important insights. This book proposes pathways forward that deserve serious consideration. Highly recommended!"
--Timothy Laboe, Dean of Studies, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
question, “What is the human being?” In an era when this question
is not only being misunderstood but even forgotten, wisdom
delivered by the great thinkers and mystics of the past must be
recovered. Edith Stein (1891–1942), a Jewish Carmelite mystical
philosopher, offers great promise to resume asking the question of
the human being. In Human and Divine Being, Donald Wallenfang
gives a comprehensive summary of the theological anthropology
of this heroic martyr to truth. Beginning with the theme of human
vocation, Wallenfang leads the reader through a labyrinth of
philosophical and theological vignettes: spiritual being, the human
soul, material being, empathy, the logic of the cross, and the
meaning of suffering. The question of the human being is asked in
light of divine being by harnessing the fertile tension between the
methods of phenomenology and metaphysics. Stein spurs us on to
a rendezvous with the stream of “perennial philosophy” that has
watered the landscape of thought since conscious time began. In
the end, the meaning of human being is thrown into sharp relief
against the darkness of all that is not authentically human.
Articles by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD
Book Chapters by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD