Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It would seem that the human will need not always be conformed to the Divine will, as regards the thing willed. For we cannot will what we know not: since the apprehended good is the object of the will. But in many things we know not what God wills. Therefore the human will cannot be conformed to the Divine will as to the thing willed.

Objection 2: Further, God wills to damn the man whom He foresees about to die in mortal sin. If therefore man were bound to conform his will to the Divine will, in the point of the thing willed, it would follow that a man is bound to will his own damnation. Which is inadmissible.

Objection 3: Further, no one is bound to will what is against filial piety. But if man were to will what God wills, this would sometimes be contrary to filial piety: for instance, when God wills the death of a father: if his son were to will it also, it would be against filial piety. Therefore man is not bound to conform his will to the Divine will, as to the thing willed.

On the contrary, 1. On Ps. 32:1, "Praise becometh the upright," a gloss says: "That man has an upright heart, who wills what God wills." But everyone is bound to have an upright heart. Therefore everyone is bound to will what God wills.

2. Moreover, the will takes its form from the object, as does every act. If therefore man is bound to conform his will to the Divine will, it follows that he is bound to conform it, as to the thing willed.

3. Moreover, opposition of wills arises from men willing different things. But whoever has a will in opposition to the Divine will, has an evil will. Therefore whoever does not conform his will to the Divine will, as to the thing willed, has an evil will.

I answer that, As is evident from what has been said above (Articles 3,5), the will tends to its object, according as it is proposed by the reason. Now a thing may be considered in various ways by the reason, so as to appear good from one point of view, and not good from another point of view. And therefore if a man's will wills a thing to be, according as it appears to be good, his will is good: and the will of another man, who wills that thing not to be, according as it appears evil, is also good. Thus a judge has a good will, in willing a thief to be put to death, because this is just: while the will of another---e.g. the thief's wife or son, who wishes him not to be put to death, inasmuch as killing is a natural evil, is also good.

Now since the will follows the apprehension of the reason or intellect; the more universal the aspect of the apprehended good, the more universal the good to which the will tends. This is evident in the example given above: because the judge has care of the common good, which is justice, and therefore he wishes the thief's death, which has the aspect of good in relation to the common estate; whereas the thief's wife has to consider the private, the good of the family, and from this point of view she wishes her husband, the thief, not to be put to death. Now the good of the whole universe is that which is apprehended by God, Who is the Maker and Governor of all things: hence whatever He wills, He wills it under the aspect of the common good; this is His own Goodness, which is the good of the whole universe. On the other hand, the apprehension of a creature, according to its nature, is of some particular good, proportionate to that nature. Now a thing may happen to be good under a particular aspect, and yet not good under a universal aspect, or vice versa, as stated above. And therefore it comes to pass that a certain will is good from willing something considered under a particular aspect, which thing God wills not, under a universal aspect, and vice versa. And hence too it is, that various wills of various men can be good in respect of opposite things, for as much as, under various aspects, they wish a particular thing to be or not to be.

But a man's will is not right in willing a particular good, unless he refer it to the common good as an end: since even the natural appetite of each part is ordained to the common good of the whole. Now it is the end that supplies the formal reason, as it were, of willing whatever is directed to the end. Consequently, in order that a man will some particular good with a right will, he must will that particular good materially, and the Divine and universal good, formally. Therefore the human will is bound to be conformed to the Divine will, as to that which is willed formally, for it is bound to will the Divine and universal good; but not as to that which is willed materially, for the reason given above.

At the same time in both these respects, the human will is conformed to the Divine, in a certain degree. Because inasmuch as it is conformed to the Divine will in the common aspect of the thing willed, it is conformed thereto in the point of the last end. While, inasmuch as it is not conformed to the Divine will in the thing willed materially, it is conformed to that will considered as efficient cause; since the proper inclination consequent to nature, or to the particular apprehension of some particular thing, comes to a thing from God as its efficient cause. Hence it is customary to say that a man's will, in this respect, is conformed to the Divine will, because it wills what God wishes him to will.

There is yet another kind of conformity in respect of the formal cause, consisting in man's willing something from charity, as God wills it. And this conformity is also reduced to the formal conformity, that is in respect of the last end, which is the proper object of charity.

Reply to Objection 1: We can know in a general way what God wills. For we know that whatever God wills, He wills it under the aspect of good. Consequently whoever wills a thing under any aspect of good, has a will conformed to the Divine will, as to the reason of the thing willed. But we know not what God wills in particular: and in this respect we are not bound to conform our will to the Divine will.

But in the state of glory, every one will see in each thing that he wills, the relation of that thing to what God wills in that particular matter. Consequently he will conform his will to God in all things not only formally, but also materially.

Reply to Objection 2: God does not will the damnation of a man, considered precisely as damnation, nor a man's death, considered precisely as death, because, "He wills all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:4); but He wills such things under the aspect of justice. Wherefore in regard to such things it suffices for man to will the upholding of God's justice and of the natural order.

Wherefore the reply to the Third Objection is evident.

To the first argument advanced in a contrary sense, it should be said that a man who conforms his will to God's, in the aspect of reason of the thing willed, wills what God wills, more than the man, who conforms his will to God's, in the point of the very thing willed; because the will tends more to the end, than to that which is on account of the end.

To the second, it must be replied that the species and form of an act are taken from the object considered formally, rather than from the object considered materially.

To the third, it must be said that there is no opposition of wills when several people desire different things, but not under the same aspect: but there is opposition of wills, when under one and the same aspect, one man wills a thing which another wills not. But there is no question of this here.

Articulus 10

Argumentum 1

Ad decimum sic proceditur. Videtur quod voluntas hominis non debeat semper conformari divinae voluntati in volito. Non enim possumus velle quod ignoramus, bonum enim apprehensum est obiectum voluntatis. Sed quid deus velit, ignoramus in plurimis.

Ergo non potest humana voluntas divinae voluntati conformari in volito.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, deus vult damnare aliquem, quem praescit in mortali peccato moriturum. Si ergo homo teneretur conformare voluntatem suam divinae voluntati in volito, sequeretur quod homo teneretur velle suam damnationem. Quod est inconveniens.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, nullus tenetur velle aliquid quod est contra pietatem.

Sed si homo vellet illud quod deus vult, hoc esset quandoque contra pietatem, puta, cum deus vult mori patrem alicuius, si filius hoc idem vellet, contra pietatem esset. Ergo non tenetur homo conformare voluntatem suam voluntati divinae in volito.

Sed Contra 1

Sed contra est quia super illud Psalmi XXXII, rectos decet collaudatio, dicit Glossa, rectum cor habet qui vult quod deus vult.

Sed quilibet tenetur habere rectum cor.

Ergo quilibet tenetur velle quod deus vult.

Sed Contra 2

Praeterea, forma voluntatis est ex obiecto sicut et cuiuslibet actus. Si ergo tenetur homo conformare voluntatem suam voluntati divinae, sequitur quod teneatur conformare in volito.

Sed Contra 3

Praeterea, repugnantia voluntatum consistit in hoc, quod homines diversa volunt. Sed quicumque habet voluntatem repugnantem divinae voluntati, habet malam voluntatem. Ergo quicumque non conformat voluntatem suam voluntati divinae in volito, habet malam voluntatem.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod, sicut ex praedictis patet, voluntas fertur in suum obiectum secundum quod a ratione proponitur. Contingit autem aliquid a ratione considerari diversimode, ita quod sub una ratione est bonum, et secundum aliam rationem non bonum. Et ideo voluntas alicuius, si velit illud esse, secundum quod habet rationem boni, est bona, et voluntas alterius, si velit illud idem non esse, secundum quod habet rationem mali, erit voluntas etiam bona. Sicut iudex habet bonam voluntatem, dum vult occisionem latronis, quia iusta est, voluntas autem alterius, puta uxoris vel filii, qui non vult occidi ipsum, inquantum est secundum naturam mala occisio, est etiam bona.

Cum autem voluntas sequatur apprehensionem rationis vel intellectus, secundum quod ratio boni apprehensi fuerit communior, secundum hoc et voluntas fertur in bonum communius.

Sicut patet in exemplo proposito, nam iudex habet curam boni communis, quod est iustitia, et ideo vult occisionem latronis, quae habet rationem boni secundum relationem ad statum communem; uxor autem latronis considerare habet bonum privatum familiae, et secundum hoc vult maritum latronem non occidi. Bonum autem totius universi est id quod est apprehensum a deo, qui est universi factor et gubernator, unde quidquid vult, vult sub ratione boni communis, quod est sua bonitas, quae est bonum totius universi. Apprehensio autem creaturae, secundum suam naturam, est alicuius boni particularis proportionati suae naturae.

Contingit autem aliquid esse bonum secundum rationem particularem, quod non est bonum secundum rationem universalem, aut e converso, ut dictum est.

Et ideo contingit quod aliqua voluntas est bona volens aliquid secundum rationem particularem consideratum, quod tamen deus non vult secundum rationem universalem, et e converso. Et inde est etiam quod possunt diversae voluntates diversorum hominum circa opposita esse bonae, prout sub diversis rationibus particularibus volunt hoc esse vel non esse. Non est autem recta voluntas alicuius hominis volentis aliquod bonum particulare, nisi referat illud in bonum commune sicut in finem, cum etiam naturalis appetitus cuiuslibet partis ordinetur in bonum commune totius. Ex fine autem sumitur quasi formalis ratio volendi illud quod ad finem ordinatur.

Unde ad hoc quod aliquis recta voluntate velit aliquod particulare bonum, oportet quod illud particulare bonum sit volitum materialiter, bonum autem commune divinum sit volitum formaliter. Voluntas igitur humana tenetur conformari divinae voluntati in volito formaliter, tenetur enim velle bonum divinum et commune, sed non materialiter, ratione iam dicta.

Sed tamen quantum ad utrumque, aliquo modo voluntas humana conformatur voluntati divinae. Quia secundum quod conformatur voluntati divinae in communi ratione voliti, conformatur ei in fine ultimo.

Secundum autem quod non conformatur ei in volito materialiter, conformatur ei secundum rationem causae efficientis, quia hanc propriam inclinationem consequentem naturam, vel apprehensionem particularem huius rei, habet res a deo sicut a causa effectiva.

Unde consuevit dici quod conformatur, quantum ad hoc, voluntas hominis voluntati divinae, quia vult hoc quod deus vult eum velle.

Est et alius modus conformitatis secundum rationem causae formalis, ut scilicet homo velit aliquid ex caritate, sicut deus vult. Et ista etiam conformitas reducitur ad conformitatem formalem quae attenditur ex ordine ad ultimum finem, quod est proprium obiectum caritatis.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod volitum divinum, secundum rationem communem, quale sit, scire possumus. Scimus enim quod deus quidquid vult, vult sub ratione boni. Et ideo quicumque vult aliquid sub quacumque ratione boni, habet voluntatem conformem voluntati divinae, quantum ad rationem voliti. Sed in particulari nescimus quid deus velit. Et quantum ad hoc, non tenemur conformare voluntatem nostram divinae voluntati. In statu tamen gloriae, omnes videbunt in singulis quae volent, ordinem eorum ad id quod deus circa hoc vult. Et ideo non solum formaliter, sed materialiter in omnibus suam voluntatem deo conformabunt.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod deus non vult damnationem alicuius sub ratione damnationis, nec mortem alicuius inquantum est mors, quia ipse vult omnes homines salvos fieri, sed vult ista sub ratione iustitiae. Unde sufficit circa talia quod homo velit iustitiam dei, et ordinem naturae servari.

Ad 3

Unde patet solutio ad tertium.

Ad 4

Ad primum vero quod in contrarium obiiciebatur, dicendum quod magis vult quod deus vult, qui conformat voluntatem suam voluntati divinae quantum ad rationem voliti, quam qui conformat quantum ad ipsam rem volitam, quia voluntas principalius fertur in finem, quam in id quod est ad finem.

Ad 5

Ad secundum dicendum quod species et forma actus magis attenditur secundum rationem obiecti, quam secundum id quod est materiale in obiecto.

Ad 6

Ad tertium dicendum quod non est repugnantia voluntatum, quando aliqui diversa volunt non secundum eandem rationem. Sed si sub una ratione esset aliquid ab uno volitum, quod alius nollet, hoc induceret repugnantiam voluntatum.

Quod tamen non est in proposito.