Whether Blindness and Hardness of Heart Are Directed to the Salvation
of Those Who Are Blinded and Hardened?
Objection 1: It would seem that blindness and hardness of heart are
always directed to the salvation of those who are blinded and
hardened. For Augustine says (Enchiridion xi) that "as God is
supremely good, He would nowise allow evil to be done, unless He
could draw some good from every evil." Much more, therefore, does He
direct to some good, the evil of which He Himself is the cause. Now
God is the cause of blindness and hardness of heart, as stated above
(A. 3). Therefore they are directed to the salvation of those who are
blinded and hardened.
Obj. 2: Further, it is written (Wis. 1:13) that "God hath no pleasure
in the destruction of the ungodly [*Vulg.: 'God made not death,
neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living.']." Now He
would seem to take pleasure in their destruction, if He did not turn
their blindness to their profit: just as a physician would seem to
take pleasure in torturing the invalid, if he did not intend to heal
the invalid when he prescribes a bitter medicine for him. Therefore
God turns blindness to the profit of those who are blinded.
Obj. 3: Further, "God is not a respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34).
Now He directs the blinding of some, to their salvation, as in the
case of some of the Jews, who were blinded so as not to believe in
Christ, and, through not believing, to slay Him, and afterwards were
seized with compunction, and converted, as related by Augustine (De
Quaest. Evang. iii). Therefore God turns all blindness to the
spiritual welfare of those who are blinded.
Obj. 4: On the other hand, according to Rom. 3:8, evil should not be
done, that good may ensue. Now blindness is an evil. Therefore God
does not blind some for the sake of their welfare.
_I answer that,_ Blindness is a kind of preamble to sin. Now sin has
a twofold relation--to one thing directly, viz. to the sinner's
damnation--to another, by reason of God's mercy or providence, viz.
that the sinner may be healed, in so far as God permits some to fall
into sin, that by acknowledging their sin, they may be humbled and
converted, as Augustine states (De Nat. et Grat. xxii). Therefore
blindness, of its very nature, is directed to the damnation of those
who are blinded; for which reason it is accounted an effect of
reprobation. But, through God's mercy, temporary blindness is
directed medicinally to the spiritual welfare of those who are
blinded. This mercy, however, is not vouchsafed to all those who are
blinded, but only to the predestinated, to whom "all things work
together unto good" (Rom. 8:28). Therefore as regards some, blindness
is directed to their healing; but as regards others, to their
damnation; as Augustine says (De Quaest. Evang. iii).
Reply Obj. 1: Every evil that God does, or permits to be done, is
directed to some good; yet not always to the good of those in whom
the evil is, but sometimes to the good of others, or of the whole
universe: thus He directs the sin of tyrants to the good of the
martyrs, and the punishment of the lost to the glory of His justice.
Reply Obj. 2: God does not take pleasure in the loss of man, as
regards the loss itself, but by reason of His justice, or of the good
that ensues from the loss.
Reply Obj. 3: That God directs the blindness of some to their
spiritual welfare, is due to His mercy; but that the blindness of
others is directed to their loss is due to His justice: and that He
vouchsafes His mercy to some, and not to all, does not make God a
respecter of persons, as explained in the First Part (Q. 23, A. 5, ad
3).
Reply Obj. 4: Evil of fault must not be done, that good may ensue;
but evil of punishment must be inflicted for the sake of good.
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