Summa summae S. Thomae sive compendium theologiae

You will ask 1° what providence is¹.

I answer. To provide, if we attend to the etymology of the word, is as it were to see from afar, and thus it is the same as to foreknow; but if we look to the thing signified by the word, to provide is to order in the mind, toward their ends, the things that are to be done. Whence divine providence is rightly defined: The plan of the order of things toward their end, existing in the divine mind. Now the execution of this order is called governance. Hence

You will gather that providence is formally an act of the intellect, presupposing however an act of the will; because, as has been said, providence is the plan of the order of things toward their end; but plan and order belong to the intellect, whose function it is to direct and dispose, and this the τὸ providere indicates, for to see is proper to the intellect. It presupposes, however, an act of the will, because, since it is the plan of the order of things toward their end, it presupposes the intention of the end, by force of which it commands the execution of the means. Thus several acts concur virtually in divine providence, just as several acts concur really in human providence. 1° The divine will intends, as an end, to manifest its glory outwardly. 2° The intellect, for this end, judges and proposes the most fitting means, namely the fourfold order of nature, grace, glory, and the hypostatic union. 3° The will accepts and chooses these means proposed to it. 4° Finally, by force of this efficacious intention and choice, the intellect commands the execution of these means to be carried out in time; and in this efficacious command we place providence.

You will ask 2° whether there is providence in God².

I answer in the affirmative. In Wisdom, XIV, 3, it is said: But thy providence, O Father, governeth it. And chapter VIII, 1: She reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly.

Proof from reason. Providence is the plan of the order of things toward their end. But this plan of the order of things toward their end exists in God. Therefore. — The major is the definition of providence. — Proof of the minor. Everything that is caused by God pre-exists in the divine mind; for since God is the most perfect intellectual agent, it is necessary that the plan of any of his effects pre-exist in him, unless you wish the most perfect intellectual agent to act blindly and without a plan. But the order of things toward their end is something caused by God. Therefore. — Proof of the minor. Every good is caused by God. But in things there is a good, not only that they exist, but also that they are ordered, both among themselves and toward their ends. Therefore. Whence to deny that God is provident is to deny that he is intelligent, and thus to deny that he is God; whence all the things that prove that God exists, prove that there is providence in him.

You will ask 3° whether divine providence extends to all things.

I answer. Divine providence extends to all things, even the smallest and most worthless, so that nothing is fortuitous with respect to God.

Proof, 1°, from the Scripture cited: She reacheth from end to end, etc., as above. In Matthew VI, 25-32 and X, 29-31; Luke, XII, 6 and 7, 22-30, Christ teaches that the birds of the sky, and the lilies of the gardens, and the grass of the field, and the hairs of the head are altogether subject to his providence, so that not one of them falls without the will of the Father. And concerning our free acts, Ecclesiasticus, XXXIII, 13 and 14: As the clay is in the potter's hand, to fashion and order it. All his ways are according to his ordering: so man is in the hand of him that made him.

Proof from reason. Since every agent, especially an intellectual and prudent one, such as God is, acts for an end, its providence, which is the plan of the order of things toward their end, extends as far as its causality extends. But the causality of God, as the first being and the most universal cause, extends to absolutely all beings and all differences of beings whatsoever. Therefore.

You will ask 4° whether providence is infallible, not only as regards the ordering of the means to the end, but also as regards the attainment of the end.

I answer that here the Thomists themselves disagree, both sides grounded in St. Thomas. For their reconciliation, I judge it must be said that, since the efficacy of providence (which, as has been said, consists in the act of command regarding the means) depends, in attaining the end, on the efficacy of the volition or intention of the end, that providence which presupposes a consequent and absolute will of the end is infallible, not only as regards the order and execution of the means, but also as regards the attainment of the end; whereas that providence which presupposes only an antecedent and conditioned will of the end, although it is infallible as regards the positing of the means, is nevertheless not infallible as regards the attainment of the end.

Although, therefore, there is in God only one providence, it can nevertheless be considered in various ways: 1° as a whole, insofar as it is the ordination of the whole of being toward the universal end, which is the glory of God; 2° insofar as it exerts itself in this or that species of things with a view to particular ends; in which sense one is called natural, another supernatural, one ordinary, another extraordinary. If, therefore, providence is considered as a whole, it is infallible as regards the attainment of the end, because its end, namely the glory of God, is efficaciously willed. But as it exerts itself toward particular ends, it is not always infallible as regards the attainment of the end, because such ends are not always efficaciously willed; and thus, although all men are ordered by God's providence to eternal salvation, nevertheless not all are saved; because that particular end, namely the salvation of all, is not efficaciously willed by God, but only antecedently and sufficiently. And thus the opposing opinions, and the testimonies of St. Thomas which seem to conflict, are reconciled.