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Objection 1: It would seem that God is not the cause of spiritual
blindness and hardness of heart. For Augustine says (Qq. lxxxiii,
qu. 3) that God is not the cause of that which makes man worse.
Now man is made worse by spiritual blindness and hardness of heart.
Therefore God is not the cause of spiritual blindness and hardness of
heart.
Objection 2: Further, Fulgentius says (De Dupl. Praedest.
i, 19): "God does not punish what He causes." Now God
punishes the hardened heart, according to Ecclus. 3:27: "A
hard heart shall fear evil at the last." Therefore God is not the
cause of hardness of heart.
Objection 3: Further, the same effect is not put down to contrary
causes. But the cause of spiritual blindness is said to be the malice
of man, according to Wis. 2:21: "For their own malice blinded
them," and again, according to 2 Cor. 4:4: "The god of this
world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers": which causes seem to be
opposed to God. Therefore God is not the cause of spiritual
blindness and hardness of heart.
On the contrary, It is written (Is. 6:10): "Blind the
heart of this people, and make their ears heavy," and Rm.
9:18: "He hath mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He
hardeneth."
I answer that, Spiritual blindness and hardness of heart imply two
things. One is the movement of the human mind in cleaving to evil,
and turning away from the Divine light; and as regards this, God is
not the cause of spiritual blindness and hardness of heart, just as He
is not the cause of sin. The other thing is the withdrawal of grace,
the result of which is that the mind is not enlightened by God to see
aright, and man's heart is not softened to live aright; and as
regards this God is the cause of spiritual blindness and hardness of
heart.
Now we must consider that God is the universal cause of the
enlightening of souls, according to Jn. 1:9: "That was the true
light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world," even
as the sun is the universal cause of the enlightening of bodies, though
not in the same way; for the sun enlightens by necessity of nature,
whereas God works freely, through the order of His wisdom. Now
although the sun, so far as it is concerned, enlightens all bodies,
yet if it be encountered by an obstacle in a body, it leaves it in
darkness, as happens to a house whose window-shutters are closed,
although the sun is in no way the cause of the house being darkened,
since it does not act of its own accord in failing to light up the
interior of the house; and the cause of this is the person who closed
the shutters. On the other hand, God, of His own accord,
withholds His grace from those in whom He finds an obstacle: so that
the cause of grace being withheld is not only the man who raises an
obstacle to grace; but God, Who, of His own accord, withholds
His grace. In this way, God is the cause of spiritual blindness,
deafness of ear, and hardness of heart.
These differ from one another in respect of the effects of grace,
which both perfects the intellect by the gift of wisdom, and softens
the affections by the fire of charity. And since two of the senses
excel in rendering service to the intellect, viz. sight and hearing,
of which the former assists "discovery," and the latter,
"teaching," hence it is that spiritual "blindness" corresponds to
sight, "heaviness of the ears" to hearing, and "hardness of heart"
to the affections.
Reply to Objection 1: Blindness and hardheartedness, as regards
the withholding of grace, are punishments, and therefore, in this
respect, they make man no worse. It is because he is already worsened
by sin that he incurs them, even as other punishments.
Reply to Objection 2: This argument considers hardheartedness in so
far as it is a sin.
Reply to Objection 3: Malice is the demeritorious cause of
blindness, just as sin is the cause of punishment: and in this way
too, the devil is said to blind, in so far as he induces man to sin.
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