What Aquinas Did

Thomas Aquinas wrote “A Prayer Before Study” where he prayed,

“Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech. May you guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to completion. You Who are true God and true Man, Who live and reign, world without end. Amen.”

For as long as I’ve researched, written, and taught, I have prayed Psalm 119:18,

“Lord, open my eyes that I might see wonderful things out of your law.”

I recognize my dependent attitude about The Word of God depends on The Spirit of God to guide me in pursuit of Truth, what theologians call “illumination.” The Spirit’s work in me should influence my research, writing, and teaching.

I keep the prayers of Aquinas and the Psalmist in front of me when I study.

Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.

Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.

“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth. [First published at MarkEckel.com]

Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.

[For further reading https://markeckel.com/2024/05/13/understanding-the-bible-illumination/ ]