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God’s influence on contingent events is one of the most controversial topics in the entire Catholic tradition, and also one of my favorite philosophical topics. We have already begun to discuss this problem in a few past questions, but now things really get serious.
Today we address the topic of the Providence of God. In it, we deal with the manner in which God infallibly knows and wills all things. God’s plan for all eternity, which infallibly occurs, is known as God’s providence.
One of the first questions anybody has when they start discussing God’s providence is how it aligns with our free will. I will address that question below, as well as in later articles. Before we begin, though, I want to offer you a passage from Walter Farrell, O.P. on how to approach this question. The problem of providence and freedom is a difficult and mysterious one, and different thinkers have proposed different solutions. But we should be confident that there is a solution, because:
Considerable space has already been consumed…showing, from human reason alone, the infallible sumpremacy of the will of God; there is no need to repeat that argumentation here. The truth of human freedom is clear from the shouted acclaim of common sense which recognizes it in every human action. That itself should be proof enough.
…
The precise question involved in the difficulty we are discussing here is not: “Can man be free if God’s will is supremely infallible; can God’s will be supreme if men are free?” Rather it is: “How are men free since God’s will is supreme and infallible; how is God’s will supreme and infallible since men are free?” The question, you see, is not one of the fact of these truths of the fact fo their harmony and the manner of this fact; whatever the answer, the fact of freedom in the human and supremacy in the divine will remain untouched.1
As always, here are some resources you might find helpful as we move forward:
The Summa Theologiae itself. Buy Prima Pars here, and the whole Summa here. Read it for free here.
If you have never read the Summa, it can be a little intimidating. But I put together a roadmap so that anybody can read it and understand it. Get it here.
Here is the commentary I will be using from Walter Farrell, O.P.
Here is the commentary I will be using from Brian Davies, O.P.
Now, let’s dive into God’s providence.
Question 22: The Providence of God
1. Does God Have Providence?
Here, the question is whether God does in fact have providence, i.e. a knowledge and will of things. So, in essence, does God provide for things to happen and exist, or are things strictly “lucky,” and happen completely outside of God’s will? In other words, do things fall under God’s allowance?
I spoiled this at the beginning, and of course the answer here is a firm “yes.” When God creates things, He is the source of their entire being, including all that is good and existent in them. Moreover, at all times God is holding each and every thing in existence, and providing the causal power for each being to move from potency to act.
So, if God is causing every being to act, providence accounts for each of those actions, since God’s intellect and will include them.
I like Davies’s description, where he says:
Providence…can be thought of as a kind of plan for creatures, existing in God from eternity, and as that with reference to which God acts as the maker of all things.2
Of course, that leads to some pretty big questions. Aquinas begins answering them in the next question.
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Blogs on the philosophy of religion (God, evil, free will, etc.) like this one about art and the problem of evil.
Reader’s Guides on the great works of Catholic philosophy, like last month’s guide on Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism.
Further reading recommendations on many posts, including free posts.
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