Whether There Is Will in God?
Objection 1: It seems that there is not will in God. For the object of
will is the end and the good. But we cannot assign to God any end.
Therefore there is not will in God.
Obj. 2: Further, will is a kind of appetite. But appetite, as it
is directed to things not possessed, implies imperfection, which
cannot be imputed to God. Therefore there is not will in God.
Obj. 3: Further, according to the Philosopher (De Anima iii, 54),
the will moves, and is moved. But God is the first cause of movement,
and Himself is unmoved, as proved in Phys. viii, 49. Therefore there
is not will in God.
_On the contrary,_ The Apostle says (Rom. 12:2): "That you may prove
what is the will of God."
_I answer that,_ There is will in God, as there is intellect: since
will follows upon intellect. For as natural things have actual
existence by their form, so the intellect is actually intelligent by
its intelligible form. Now everything has this aptitude towards its
natural form, that when it has it not, it tends towards it; and when
it has it, it is at rest therein. It is the same with every natural
perfection, which is a natural good. This aptitude to good in things
without knowledge is called natural appetite. Whence also
intellectual natures have a like aptitude as apprehended through its
intelligible form; so as to rest therein when possessed, and when not
possessed to seek to possess it, both of which pertain to the will.
Hence in every intellectual being there is will, just as in every
sensible being there is animal appetite. And so there must be will in
God, since there is intellect in Him. And as His intellect is His own
existence, so is His will.
Reply Obj. 1: Although nothing apart from God is His end, yet He
Himself is the end with respect to all things made by Him. And this
by His essence, for by His essence He is good, as shown above (Q. 6,
A. 3): for the end has the aspect of good.
Reply Obj. 2: Will in us belongs to the appetitive part, which,
although named from appetite, has not for its only act the seeking
what it does not possess; but also the loving and the delighting in
what it does possess. In this respect will is said to be in God, as
having always good which is its object, since, as already said, it is
not distinct from His essence.
Reply Obj. 3: A will of which the principal object is a good outside
itself, must be moved by another; but the object of the divine will
is His goodness, which is His essence. Hence, since the will of God
is His essence, it is not moved by another than itself, but by itself
alone, in the same sense as understanding and willing are said to be
movement. This is what Plato meant when he said that the first mover
moves itself.
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