1 Objection 1: It seems that whatever God wills He wills necessarily. For everything eternal is necessary. But whatever God wills, He wills from eternity, for otherwise His will would be mutable. Therefore whatever He wills, He wills necessarily.
1 Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod quidquid Deus vult, ex necessitate velit. Omne enim aeternum est necessarium. Sed quidquid Deus vult, ab aeterno vult, alias, voluntas eius esset mutabilis. Ergo quidquid vult, ex necessitate vult.
2 Objection 2: Further, God wills things apart from Himself, inasmuch as He wills His own goodness. Now God wills His own goodness necessarily. Therefore He wills things apart from Himself necessarily.
2 Praeterea, Deus vult alia a se, inquantum vult bonitatem suam. Sed Deus bonitatem suam ex necessitate vult. Ergo alia a se ex necessitate vult.
3 Objection 3: Further, whatever belongs to the nature of God is necessary, for God is of Himself necessary being, and the principle of all necessity, as above shown Question 2, Article 3). But it belongs to His nature to will whatever He wills; since in God there can be nothing over and above His nature as stated in Metaph. v, 6. Therefore whatever He wills, He wills necessarily.
3 Praeterea, quidquid est Deo naturale, est necessarium, quia Deus est per se necesse esse, et principium omnis necessitatis, ut supra ostensum est. Sed naturale est ei velle quidquid vult, quia in Deo nihil potest esse praeter naturam, ut dicitur in V Metaphys. Ergo quidquid vult, ex necessitate vult.
4 Objection 4: Further, being that is not necessary, and being that is possible not to be, are one and the same thing. If, therefore, God does not necessarily will a thing that He wills, it is possible for Him not to will it, and therefore possible for Him to will what He does not will. And so the divine will is contingent upon one or the other of two things, and imperfect, since everything contingent is imperfect and mutable.
4 Praeterea, non necesse esse, et possibile non esse, aequipollent. Si igitur non necesse est Deum velle aliquid eorum quae vult, possibile est eum non velle illud; et possibile est eum velle illud quod non vult. Ergo voluntas divina est contingens ad utrumlibet. Et sic imperfecta, quia omne contingens est imperfectum et mutabile.
5 Objection 5: Further, on the part of that which is indifferent to one or the other of two things, no action results unless it is inclined to one or the other by some other power, as the Commentator says in Phys. ii. If, then, the Will of God is indifferent with regard to anything, it follows that His determination to act comes from another; and thus He has some cause prior to Himself.
5 Praeterea, ab eo quod est ad utrumlibet, non sequitur aliqua actio, nisi ab aliquo alio inclinetur ad unum, ut dicit Commentator, in II Physic. Si ergo voluntas Dei in aliquibus se habet ad utrumlibet, sequitur quod ab aliquo alio determinetur ad effectum. Et sic habet aliquam causam priorem.
6 Objection 6: Further, whatever God knows, He knows necessarily. But as the divine knowledge is His essence, so is the divine will. Therefore whatever God wills, He wills necessarily.
6 Praeterea, quidquid Deus scit, ex necessitate scit. Sed sicut scientia divina est eius essentia, ita voluntas divina. Ergo quidquid Deus vult, ex necessitate vult.
7 On the contrary, The Apostle says Eph. 1, 11): Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will. Now, what we work according to the counsel of the will, we do not will necessarily. Therefore God does not will necessarily whatever He wills.
7 Sed contra est quod dicit apostolus, Ephes. I, qui operatur omnia secundum consilium voluntatis suae. Quod autem operamur ex consilio voluntatis, non ex necessitate volumus. Non ergo quidquid Deus vult, ex necessitate vult.
8 I answer that, There are two ways in which a thing is said to be necessary, namely, absolutely, and by supposition. We judge a thing to be absolutely necessary from the relation of the terms, as when the predicate forms part of the definition of the subject: thus it is absolutely necessary that man is an animal. It is the same when the subject forms part of the notion of the predicate; thus it is absolutely necessary that a number must be odd or even.
In this way it is not necessary that Socrates sits: wherefore it is not necessary absolutely, though it may be so by supposition; for, granted that he is sitting, he must necessarily sit, as long as he is sitting. Accordingly as to things willed by God, we must observe that He wills something of absolute necessity: but this is not true of all that He wills. For the divine will has a necessary relation to the divine goodness, since that is its proper object.
Hence God wills His own goodness necessarily, even as we will our own happiness necessarily, and as any other faculty has necessary relation to its proper and principal object, for instance the sight to color, since it tends to it by its own nature. But God wills things apart from Himself in so far as they are ordered to His own goodness as their end. Now in willing an end we do not necessarily will things that conduce to it, unless they are such that the end cannot be attained without them; as, we will to take food to preserve life, or to take ship in order to cross the sea.
But we do not necessarily will things without which the end is attainable, such as a horse for a journey which we can take on foot, for we can make the journey without one. The same applies to other means. Hence, since the goodness of God is perfect, and can exist without other things inasmuch as no perfection can accrue to Him from them, it follows that His willing things apart from Himself is not absolutely necessary. Yet it can be necessary by supposition, for supposing that He wills a thing, then He is unable not to will it, as His will cannot change.
8 Respondeo dicendum quod necessarium dicitur aliquid dupliciter, scilicet absolute, et ex suppositione. Necessarium absolute iudicatur aliquid ex habitudine terminorum, utpote quia praedicatum est in definitione subiecti, sicut necessarium est hominem esse animal; vel quia subiectum est de ratione praedicati, sicut hoc est necessarium, numerum esse parem vel imparem. Sic autem non est necessarium Socratem sedere. Unde non est necessarium absolute, sed potest dici necessarium ex suppositione, supposito enim quod sedeat, necesse est eum sedere dum sedet. Circa divina igitur volita hoc considerandum est, quod aliquid Deum velle est necessarium absolute, non tamen hoc est verum de omnibus quae vult.
Voluntas enim divina necessariam habitudinem habet ad bonitatem suam, quae est proprium eius obiectum. Unde bonitatem suam esse Deus ex necessitate vult; sicut et voluntas nostra ex necessitate vult beatitudinem. Sicut et quaelibet alia potentia necessariam habitudinem habet ad proprium et principale obiectum, ut visus ad colorem; quia de sui ratione est, ut in illud tendat. Alia autem a se Deus vult, inquantum ordinantur ad suam bonitatem ut in finem. Ea autem quae sunt ad finem, non ex necessitate volumus volentes finem, nisi sint talia, sine quibus finis esse non potest, sicut volumus cibum, volentes conservationem vitae; et navem, volentes transfretare.
Non sic autem ex necessitate volumus ea sine quibus finis esse potest, sicut equum ad ambulandum, quia sine hoc possumus ire; et eadem ratio est in aliis. Unde, cum bonitas Dei sit perfecta, et esse possit sine aliis, cum nihil ei perfectionis ex aliis accrescat; sequitur quod alia a se eum velle, non sit necessarium absolute. Et tamen necessarium est ex suppositione, supposito enim quod velit, non potest non velle, quia non potest voluntas eius mutari.
9 Reply to Objection 1: From the fact that God wills from eternity whatever He wills, it does not follow that He wills it necessarily; except by supposition.
9 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod ex hoc quod Deus ab aeterno vult aliquid, non sequitur quod necesse est eum illud velle, nisi ex suppositione.
10 Reply to Objection 2: Although God necessarily wills His own goodness, He does not necessarily will things willed on account of His goodness; for it can exist without other things.
10 Ad secundum dicendum quod, licet Deus ex necessitate velit bonitatem suam, non tamen ex necessitate vult ea quae vult propter bonitatem suam, quia bonitas eius potest esse sine aliis.
11 Reply to Objection 3: It is not natural to God to will any of those other things that He does not will necessarily; and yet it is not unnatural or contrary to His nature, but voluntary.
11 Ad tertium dicendum quod non est naturale Deo velle aliquid aliorum, quae non ex necessitate vult. Neque tamen innaturale, aut contra naturam, sed est voluntarium.
12 Reply to Objection 4: Sometimes a necessary cause has a non-necessary relation to an effect; owing to a deficiency in the effect, and not in the cause. Even so, the sun's power has a non-necessary relation to some contingent events on this earth, owing to a defect not in the solar power, but in the effect that proceeds not necessarily from the cause. In the same way, that God does not necessarily will some of the things that He wills, does not result from defect in the divine will, but from a defect belonging to the nature of the thing willed, namely, that the perfect goodness of God can be without it; and such defect accompanies all created good.
12 Ad quartum dicendum quod aliquando aliqua causa necessaria habet non necessariam habitudinem ad aliquem effectum, quod est propter defectum effectus, et non propter defectum causae. Sicut virtus solis habet non necessariam habitudinem ad aliquid eorum quae contingenter hic eveniunt, non propter defectum virtutis solaris, sed propter defectum effectus non necessario ex causa provenientis. Et similiter, quod Deus non ex necessitate velit aliquid eorum quae vult, non accidit ex defectu voluntatis divinae, sed ex defectu qui competit volito secundum suam rationem, quia scilicet est tale, ut sine eo esse possit perfecta bonitas Dei. Qui quidem defectus consequitur omne bonum creatum.
13 Reply to Objection 5: A naturally contingent cause must be determined to act by some external power. The divine will, which by its nature is necessary, determines itself to will things to which it has no necessary relation.
13 Ad quintum ergo dicendum quod causa quae est ex se contingens, oportet quod determinetur ab aliquo exteriori ad effectum. Sed voluntas divina, quae ex se necessitatem habet, determinat seipsam ad volitum, ad quod habet habitudinem non necessariam.
14 Reply to Objection 6: As the divine essence is necessary of itself, so is the divine will and the divine knowledge; but the divine knowledge has a necessary relation to the thing known; not the divine will to the thing willed. The reason for this is that knowledge is of things as they exist in the knower; but the will is directed to things as they exist in themselves. Since then all other things have necessary existence inasmuch as they exist in God; but no absolute necessity so as to be necessary in themselves, in so far as they exist in themselves; it follows that God knows necessarily whatever He wills, but does not will necessarily whatever He wills.
14 Ad sextum dicendum quod, sicut divinum esse in se est necessarium, ita et divinum velle et divinum scire, sed divinum scire habet necessariam habitudinem ad scita, non autem divinum velle ad volita. Quod ideo est, quia scientia habetur de rebus, secundum quod sunt in sciente, voluntas autem comparatur ad res, secundum quod sunt in seipsis. Quia igitur omnia alia habent necessarium esse secundum quod sunt in Deo; non autem secundum quod sunt in seipsis, habent necessitatem absolutam ita quod sint per seipsa necessaria; propter hoc Deus quaecumque scit, ex necessitate scit, non autem quaecumque vult, ex necessitate vult.