Chapter 162 — That God is not the cause of any man sinning

Although God does not convert certain sinners to himself, but leaves them in their sins, as they deserve to be, yet he does not lead them to sin.

For man sins through wandering away from him who is his last end, as we have already shown. (Cc. 139, 143.) Now, as every agent acts for an end proper and proportionate to it, it is impossible that God should, by his own action, turn anyone away from his last end, which is God. Therefore, it is impossible that God make any man sin.

Again, good cannot be a cause of evil. Now sin is man‘s evil: for it is contrary to man‘s proper good, which is to live according to reason. Therefore, God cannot be the cause of a man sinning.

Further. All human wisdom and goodness flow from the divine wisdom and goodness, and are a kind of likeness thereof. Now it is incompatible with human wisdom and goodness to make a man sin. Much more, therefore, is it incompatible with divine wisdom.

Moreover. All sin arises from a fault in the proximate agent, and not from the influence of the first agent. Thus the fault of limping is due to a defect in the tibia, and not to the motive power; to which, however, is due whatever there is of the perfection of movement in limping. Now, the proximate agent in human sin is the will. Therefore, the defect of sin arises from man’s will and not from God, who is the first agent, although whatever pertains to the perfection of action in the sinful act is due to him.

Hence it is said: Do not say, ‘It was he who led me astray,’ for he had no need of a sinful man (Sir 15:12). And further on: He has not commanded any one to be ungodly, and he has not given any one permission to sin (Sir 15:20). Also: Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God . . . himself tempts no one (Jas 1:13).

There are, however, a few passages in Scripture which would seem to indicate that God is the cause of some sinning. For it is said: I have hardened Pharoah’s heart and the heart of his servants (Exod 10:1); and: Make the heart of this people blind, and their ears heavy . . . lest they see with their eyes . . . I heal them (Isa 6:10); and: You make us err from your ways and harden our heart so that we fear you not (Isa 63:17). Again, it is said: Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct (Rom 1:28). All these passages are to be understood in the sense that God does not assist some to avoid sin, whereas he does assist others.

This assistance is not only the infusion of grace, but also external protection by which occasions of sin are warded off by divine providence, and incentives to sin restrained. God also assists man against sin by the natural light of reason and the other natural goods which he bestows on man. Hence when he withdraws these aids from some men, as their actions merit according to the demands of his justice, he is said to harden their hearts or blind their eyes, or deal with them in some other way as described in the passages above quoted.