Doing Theology with Magister Thomas: Legere, Disputare and Praedicare in Practice and as Example

The aim of the present contribution is to further our appreciation of Aquinas' magisterial office, and to explain how it functions and how it can serve as a model for how we do theology. Thus, it argues for the continued relevance of the work of Thomas Aquinas, in line with the continued magisterial encouragement to read the work of the Doctor Communis and to build upon it. Our first step will be to argue that in order to study Aquinas’ ex professo treatment of any given subject, we are to begin with studying his exposition of Scripture. This exposition was the foundational part of the threefold task of reading and explaining (legere), discussing and clarifying the topics derived from the reading (disputare) and presenting the key insights to the wider academic community (praedicare). We will clarify the nature of these steps in further detail. Second, we will show
in a number of sections how Aquinas applied this method, by analyzing his interpretation of the beatitudes. Third and finally, we will offer some reflections on how we might follow in the footsteps of magister Thomas.