Whether the Will Is Moved by God Alone, As Exterior Principle?
Objection 1: It would seem that the will is not moved by God alone as
exterior principle. For it is natural that the inferior be moved by
its superior: thus the lower bodies are moved by the heavenly bodies.
But there is something which is higher than the will of man and below
God, namely, the angel. Therefore man's will can be moved by an angel
also, as exterior principle.
Obj. 2: Further, the act of the will follows the act of the
intellect. But man's intellect is reduced to act, not by God alone,
but also by the angel who enlightens it, as Dionysius says (Coel.
Hier. iv). For the same reason, therefore, the will also is moved by
an angel.
Obj. 3: Further, God is not the cause of other than good things,
according to Gen. 1:31: "God saw all the things that He had made, and
they were very good." If, therefore man's will were moved by God
alone, it would never be moved to evil: and yet it is the will whereby
"we sin and whereby we do right," as Augustine says (Retract. i, 9).
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Phil. 2:13): "It is God Who worketh
in us" [Vulg.'you'] "both to will and to accomplish."
_I answer that,_ The movement of the will is from within, as also is
the movement of nature. Now although it is possible for something to
move a natural thing, without being the cause of the thing moved, yet
that alone, which is in some way the cause of a thing's nature, can
cause a natural movement in that thing. For a stone is moved upwards
by a man, who is not the cause of the stone's nature, but this
movement is not natural to the stone; but the natural movement of the
stone is caused by no other than the cause of its nature. Wherefore
it is said in _Phys._ vii, 4, that the generator moves locally heavy
and light things. Accordingly man endowed with a will is sometimes
moved by something that is not his cause; but that his voluntary
movement be from an exterior principle that is not the cause of his
will, is impossible.
Now the cause of the will can be none other than God. And this is
evident for two reasons. First, because the will is a power of the
rational soul, which is caused by God alone, by creation, as was
stated in the First Part (Q. 90, A. 2). Secondly, it is evident from
the fact that the will is ordained to the universal good. Wherefore
nothing else can be the cause of the will, except God Himself, Who is
the universal good: while every other good is good by participation,
and is some particular good, and a particular cause does not give a
universal inclination. Hence neither can primary matter, which is
potentiality to all forms, be created by some particular agent.
Reply Obj. 1: An angel is not above man in such a way as to be the
cause of his will, as the heavenly bodies are the causes of natural
forms, from which result the natural movements of natural bodies.
Reply Obj. 2: Man's intellect is moved by an angel, on the part of
the object, which by the power of the angelic light is proposed to
man's knowledge. And in this way the will also can be moved by a
creature from without, as stated above (A. 4).
Reply Obj. 3: God moves man's will, as the Universal Mover, to the
universal object of the will, which is good. And without this
universal motion, man cannot will anything. But man determines
himself by his reason to will this or that, which is true or apparent
good. Nevertheless, sometimes God moves some specially to the willing
of something determinate, which is good; as in the case of those whom
He moves by grace, as we shall state later on (Q. 109, A. 2).
________________________