1 Objection 1: It would seem possible that some resistance can be made to the order of the Divine government. For it is written Is. 3, 8): Their tongue and their devices are against the Lord.
1 Ad octavum sic proceditur. Videtur quod aliquid possit reniti contra ordinem gubernationis divinae. Dicitur enim Isaiae III, lingua eorum et adinventiones eorum contra dominum.
2 Objection 2: Further, a king does not justly punish those who do not rebel against his commands. Therefore if no one rebelled against God's commands, no one would be justly punished by God.
2 Praeterea, nullus rex iuste punit eos qui eius ordinationi non repugnant. Si igitur nihil contraniteretur divinae ordinationi, nullus iuste puniretur a Deo.
3 Objection 3: Further, everything is subject to the order of the Divine government. But some things oppose others. Therefore some things rebel against the order of the Divine government.
3 Praeterea, quaelibet res est subiecta ordini divinae gubernationis. Sed una res ab alia impugnatur. Ergo aliqua sunt quae contranituntur divinae gubernationi.
4 On the contrary, Boethius says De Consol. iii): There is nothing that can desire or is able to resist this sovereign good. It is this sovereign good therefore that ruleth all mightily and ordereth all sweetly, as is said Wis. 8) of Divine wisdom.
4 Sed contra est quod dicit Boetius, in III de Consol., non est aliquid quod summo huic bono vel velit vel possit obsistere. Est igitur summum bonum quod regit cuncta fortiter, suaviterque disponit; ut dicitur Sap. VIII, de divina sapientia.
5 I answer that, We may consider the order of Divine providence in two ways: in general, inasmuch as it proceeds from the governing cause of all; and in particular, inasmuch as it proceeds from some particular cause which executes the order of the Divine government. Considered in the first way, nothing can resist the order of the Divine government. This can be proved in two ways: firstly from the fact that the order of the Divine government is wholly directed to good, and everything by its own operation and effort tends to good only, for no one acts intending evil, as Dionysius says Div. Nom. iv): secondly from the fact that, as we have said above Article 1, ad 3; Article 5, ad 2), every inclination of anything, whether natural or voluntary, is nothing but a kind of impression from the first mover; as the inclination of the arrow towards a fixed point is nothing but an impulse received from the archer. Wherefore every agent, whether natural or free, attains to its divinely appointed end, as though of its own accord. For this reason God is said to order all things sweetly.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod ordo divinae providentiae dupliciter potest considerari, uno modo in generali, secundum scilicet quod progreditur a causa gubernativa totius; alio modo in speciali, secundum scilicet quod progreditur ex aliqua causa particulari, quae est executiva divinae gubernationis. Primo igitur modo, nihil contranititur ordini divinae gubernationis. Quod ex duobus patet. Primo quidem, ex hoc quod ordo divinae gubernationis totaliter in bonum tendit, et unaquaeque res in sua operatione et conatu non tendit nisi ad bonum, nullus enim respiciens ad malum operatur, ut Dionysius dicit. Alio modo apparet idem ex hoc quod, sicut supra dictum est, omnis inclinatio alicuius rei vel naturalis vel voluntaria, nihil est aliud quam quaedam impressio a primo movente, sicut inclinatio sagittae ad signum determinatum, nihil aliud est quam quaedam impressio a sagittante. Unde omnia quae agunt vel naturaliter vel voluntarie, quasi propria sponte perveniunt in id ad quod divinitus ordinantur. Et ideo dicitur Deus omnia disponere suaviter.
6 Reply to Objection 1: Some are said to think or speak, or act against God: not that they entirely resist the order of the Divine government; for even the sinner intends the attainment of a certain good: but because they resist some particular good, which belongs to their nature or state. Therefore they are justly punished by God. Reply to Objection 2: is clear from the above.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod dicuntur aliqui vel cogitare vel loqui vel agere contra Deum, non quia totaliter renitantur ordini divinae gubernationis, quia etiam peccantes intendunt aliquod bonum, sed quia contranituntur cuidam determinato bono, quod est eis conveniens secundum suam naturam aut statum. Et ideo puniuntur iuste a Deo. Et per hoc patet solutio ad secundum.
7 Reply to Objection 3: From the fact that one thing opposes another, it follows that some one thing can resist the order of a particular cause; but not that order which depends on the universal cause of all things.
7 Ad tertium dicendum quod ex hoc quod una res alteri contrapugnat, ostenditur quod aliquid reniti potest ordini qui est ex aliqua causa particulari, non autem ordini qui dependet a causa universali totius.