98. Divine Providence and Necessity in Contingent Things

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Apparent Problem: Does Providence Impose Necessity? #

• The objections: Three main arguments suggest divine providence makes all things necessary:
  1. Every effect with a pre-existing cause becomes necessary; since God’s providence is eternal, its effects must occur necessarily
  2. A wise provider stabilizes his work; therefore God gives necessity to foreseen things
  3. Boethius teaches that fate constructs human acts by an indissoluble connection of causes
• The counter-principle: Dionysius argues that to corrupt nature does not belong to providence, and contingency belongs to the nature of some things

Thomas’s Resolution: Two Modes of Coming-About #

• God’s foresight ensures that whatever is foreseen will certainly occur (infallibility of providence)
• However, things occur in different modes: some necessarily, some contingently, some by chance, some by free choice
• God’s causality extends to the mode of being, not merely to the fact of being
• Example: If God foresees a contingent event, it will occur contingently; if He foresees a necessary event, it will occur necessarily

The Division of Being and Providence #

• Necessary and contingent are divisions of being as such (like odd and even divide number)
• Since God is the universal cause of being, His providence extends to all divisions of being
• Universal providence encompasses both the order of things to their end and the order of things among themselves
• The perfection of the universe requires all grades of being

Chance and Accidental Being #

• Aristotle’s teaching: Not everything happens by necessity. Two conditions would be needed for universal necessity:
  1. Everything must have a cause as such (proper cause, not accidental)
  2. Every cause must be unable to fail
• Neither condition holds: causes can be impeded, and accidental combinations (e.g., being a Christian geometer) have no cause as such
• Example of accidental being: A person is a Christian (by baptism and grace) and a geometer (by knowledge of geometry), but there is no cause of being a “Christian geometer”—this is an accidental coincidence
• Providential order: Something can escape the order of a particular cause (making it fortuitous) while remaining within the order of the universal cause (divine providence)

Stability vs. Necessity in Providence #

• The stability and certitude of divine providence lies in the unchangeability of the divine order itself
• This certitude ensures that things come about as foreseen, not that they come about necessarily
• The immutability of providence pertains to its execution—it cannot fail from its effect or from the way it provides that effect
• God’s causality is so powerful it ensures not just that things occur but how they occur

Key Arguments #

Reply to First Objection (Effects and Pre-existing Causes) #

• Objection: If a cause pre-exists (like God’s eternal providence), its effect must follow necessarily
• Response: The effect of divine foresight is not merely “that something come about” but “that something come about either necessarily or contingently.” What providence disposes comes about infallibly and necessarily in its coming-about, not necessarily in its nature

Reply to Second Objection (Provider’s Stability) #

• Objection: A wise provider makes his work stable; God is all-powerful; therefore He gives necessity to foreseen things
• Response: The order of divine providence is unchangeable and certain—those things foreseen will come to be in the way He foresees them. But the certitude of the order does not require the necessity of the effects. Some come about necessarily, others contingently

Reply to Third Objection (Boethius on Fate) #

• Objection: Boethius says fate constructs human acts by an indissoluble connection of causes
• Response: The indissolubility and immutability that Boethius touches upon pertain to the certitude of providence (which cannot fail), not to the necessity of effects themselves

Important Definitions #

Providentia (Providence): The eternal reason existing in God’s mind of the order of all things to their end. It extends to both the knowledge of this order and its execution through secondary causes.

Necessitas (Necessity): The mode of being of things that cannot not be; things whose non-being is impossible. Necessary things proceed from causes that cannot be impeded.

Contingentia (Contingency): The mode of being of things that can be or not be; things whose non-being is possible. Contingent things proceed from causes that can be impeded.

Causa per se (Cause as such/Proper cause): A cause that is ordered to its effect by its nature. Distinguished from accidental causes.

Ens per accidens (Accidental being): A being that results from accidental combination—a coincidence of two things that have no intrinsic connection. Has no cause as such.

Predestinatio (Predestination): The eternal reason in God’s mind of the order of rational creatures to eternal salvation. A part of providence specifically concerned with those ordered to a supernatural end exceeding created nature.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Christian Geometer #

A person is both a Christian (by baptism and grace) and a geometer (by knowledge of geometry). However, there is no cause “as such” of being a Christian geometer, nor is there any unified knowledge called “Christian geometry.” This is purely accidental coincidence, yet even such accidental beings fall under divine providence.

The Impeded Causes (Seeds and Defective Births) #

• Seeds planted in a garden sometimes fail to germinate—the cause is impeded
• Children are sometimes born without limbs—nature, like human art, sometimes fails
• These are causes that can be frustrated, so their effects occur “for the most part, not always”

The Cook and the Roasted Meat #

A cook sometimes overcooks meat. This shows that even in human craft, causes can be impeded and fail to achieve their perfect effect.

The Accident and Divine Foresight #

A man driving to give a class is struck by another car fleeing police. The accident is fortuitous to both parties (not intended by either), yet it was foreseen by God. This illustrates how something can be contingent and fortuitous from the perspective of particular causes while remaining within the order of divine providence.

Aristotle on Luck and Chance (Poetics) #

When a statue of Pompeii falls and kills the murderer of Pompeii’s enemy, the event seems fortuitous yet appears to have hidden purpose. Such chancey events can arouse wonder and suggest divine ordering, though natural philosophy limits itself to studying the causes as such.

Romeo and Juliet and Divine Providence #

In Shakespeare’s play, the Prince says after Romeo and Juliet’s deaths: “God has found a way to punish you.” The families are punished for their hatred through the love of their own children. This illustrates how God arranges contingent and chancey events toward His providential purposes.

The Statue of Caesar #

When Caesar is assassinated, Pompey’s statue stands nearby. This spatial relationship appears to suggest Pompey’s role in directing the assassination, showing divine ordering through what appears as chance.

Questions Addressed #

How can God’s providence be infallible if contingent things are truly contingent? #

Resolution: God’s infallible foresight extends not merely to whether something will occur, but to how it will occur. He foresees contingent things as contingent and ensures they occur contingently; He foresees necessary things as necessary and ensures they occur necessarily. The infallibility lies in the certitude of the order, not in the necessity of effects.

If God foresees all events, doesn’t seeing them make them necessary? #

Resolution: Seeing an event does not make it necessary. Thomas appeals to the principle that if you see someone sitting, your seeing them does not make them sit. Similarly, God’s seeing future contingent events does not impose necessity upon them—they occur as He foresees them to occur.

Why does Aristotle claim not everything happens by necessity? #

Resolution: Aristotle in Metaphysics VI shows that universal necessity would require both (1) that everything has a cause as such, and (2) that every cause is unable to fail. Neither is true. Accidental beings have no cause as such; impeded causes exist; therefore contingency is real.

How does predestination fit into this account of providence? #

Resolution: Predestination is the part of providence that orders rational creatures specifically to eternal salvation—an end exceeding their created nature. God’s predestination ensures the salvation of the predestined infallibly, yet respects their free will, moving them to choose freely.

Notable Quotes #

“God’s causality extends, right? Not only that something will be, but how it will be, right? Necessarily or contingently, right? So, in reply to the first objection… it comes about contingently what divine providence… will come about contingently.”

“He is the universal provider of the whole being. Not under the foresight of some… particular foreseeing.”

“[T]he way of contingency and of necessity falls under the foresight of God, which is, who is the universal provider of the whole being.”

“Something can escape the order of a particular cause (and thus be fortuitous) while remaining within the order of the universal cause (and thus foreseen).”