Article 7 — Whether sinners are ruled by God's providence

Seventh, it is asked whether sinners are ruled by God’s providence? (Parallel texts: ST I.22.2; In I Sent., d. 39, q. 2, a. 2; Compendium theologiae, cc. 123, 132–33; On Separate Substances, cc. 13–15.)

Obj. 1: It seems that they are not, for what is left to its own devices is not ruled. But the evil are left to themselves: so I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they shall walk (Ps 81:12). The evil, therefore, are not governed by providence.

Obj. 2: It is part of the providence by which God rules over men that they are guarded by angels. But guardian angels sometimes abandon men. From their own lips we have these words: we would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed: let us forsake her (Jer 51:9). The evil, therefore, are not governed by God’s providence.

Obj. 3: What is given as a reward to the good should not be given to the evil. But government by God is promised as a reward to the good—the eyes of the Lord are upon the just (Ps 34:15). (Vulgate: Psalm 33:16.) Therefore.

On the contrary, no one justly punishes those who are not under his rule. But God punishes the evil for the sins they commit. Therefore, they are under his rule.

I answer that divine providence extends to men in two ways: first, in so far as men are provided for; second, in so far as they themselves become providers. If they fail in their own providence they are called evil; but if they observe the demands of justice they are called good. Moreover, in so far as they come under providence they are given both good and evil. Now, men are provided for in different ways according to the different ways they have of providing for themselves. For, if they keep the right order in their own providence, God’s providence in their regard will keep an ordering that is congruent with their human dignity; that is, nothing will happen to them that is not for their own good, and everything that happens to them will be to their own advantage, according to what is said in the Epistle to the Romans 8:28: to them that love God, all things work together unto good. However, if in their own providence men do not keep that order which is congruent with their dignity as rational creatures, but provide after the manner of brute animals, then God’s providence will dispose of them according to the order that belongs to brutes, so that their good and evil acts will not be directed to their own profit but to the profit of others, according to the words of the Psalmist: and man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared (Ps 49:20). (Vulgate: Psalm 48:13.)—From this it is evident that God’s providence governs the good in a higher way than it governs the evil. For, when the evil leave the order of providence, that is, by not doing the will of God, they fall into another order, (Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, bk. 4, prose 6 (PL 63:820A); cf. Aquinas, In I Sent., d. 47, q. 1, a. 3.) an order in which the will of God is done to them. The good, however, are in the true order of his providence in both respects.

Reply Obj. 1: God is said to abandon the wicked, not because they are entirely alien to his providence, but because their acts are not directed to their own profit. This is especially true of the depraved.

Reply Obj. 2: The angels in charge of guarding men never leave a man entirely. They are merely said to leave a man when, according to God’s just judgment, they permit a man to fall into sin or into some punishment.

Reply Obj. 3: A special kind of providence is promised to the good as a reward. As we mentioned above, this does not belong to the wicked.