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State of the question. It seems that the end of the
world is its order and peace, that is, something
intrinsic to the world for the good of the multitude is its
peace.
Reply. Nevertheless the reply is that God Himself is
the final end of the governance of the world.
Proof from Scripture. "The Lord hath made all things
for Himself";[930] "To make thee higher than all
nations which He hath created, to His own praise and
name and glory."[931] This thought is frequently
repeated in the psalms, namely, that God made all things
to manifest His goodness. This truth was defined by the
Vatican Council: "If anyone shall deny that the world
was established for the glory of God, let him be
anathema";[932] and in another chapter, "God, by
His goodness and omnipotent power, not to increase His
happiness or to acquire it, but to manifest His
perfection by the goods which He imparts to creatures, by
His most free counsel made all things."[933]
Proof from reason. Since every agent acts for a
proportionate end, the end corresponds to the principle.
But the efficient principle of the world is a cause
extrinsic to it. Therefore the final end of the world is
also some good extrinsic to it. In other words, and this
is a corollary of the principle of finality (every agent
acts for a proportionate end): the order of subordination
among agents must correspond to the order of ends.
Therefore corresponding to the supreme and most universal
agent we have a most universal ultimate end, namely, the
manifestation of the supreme goodness through the good
imparted to things.
Reply to second objection. "To this one thing every
thing tends, namely, to partake of the good and to be
assimilated to the supreme good as much as is possible."
Reply to third objection. The order of the universe is
its proximate end, but its ultimate end is God Himself,
or the manifestation of the divine goodness. Similarly,
the order of an army is ordered to something higher, to
victory and the defense of the country. Inferior
creatures cannot know and possess God, but intellectual
creatures can, especially when they are elevated to the
order of grace.
"God wills Himself as the end; He wills other things
as the means to the end."[934] If God were to act
on account of a created good as His ultimate end, the act
would be inordinate and absurd, something like a mortal
sin in God, and the creature thus inordinately desired
would be most unfortunate because it would be ordered to
itself and not to God the highest good. Here we see the
inanity of the doctrine according to which God created us
ultimately for ourselves and not to manifest His own
goodness. Evidently, if every agent acts for a
proportionate end, the subordination of agents must
correspond to the subordination of ends.
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