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Objection 1: It would seem that no man can hate God. For
Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv) that "the first good and beautiful
is an object of love and dilection to all." But God is goodness and
beauty itself. Therefore He is hated by none.
Objection 2: Further, in the Apocryphal books of 3 Esdras
4:36,39 it is written that "all things call upon truth . . .
and (all men) do well like of her works." Now God is the very
truth according to Jn. 14:6. Therefore all love God, and none
can hate Him.
Objection 3: Further, hatred is a kind of aversion. But according
to Dionysius (Div. Nom. i) God draws all things to Himself.
Therefore none can hate Him.
On the contrary, It is written (Ps. 73:23): "The pride of
them that hate Thee ascendeth continually," and (Jn.
15:24): "But now they have both seen and hated both Me and My
Father."
I answer that, As shown above (FS, Question 29, Article
1), hatred is a movement of the appetitive power, which power is not
set in motion save by something apprehended. Now God can be
apprehended by man in two ways; first, in Himself, as when He is
seen in His Essence; secondly, in His effects, when, to wit,
"the invisible things" of God . . . "are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made" (Rm. 1:20). Now God
in His Essence is goodness itself, which no man can hate---for it
is natural to good to be loved. Hence it is impossible for one who
sees God in His Essence, to hate Him.
Moreover some of His effects are such that they can nowise be contrary
to the human will, since "to be, to live, to understand," which
are effects of God, are desirable and lovable to all. Wherefore
again God cannot be an object of hatred if we consider Him as the
Author of such like effects. Some of God's effects, however, are
contrary to an inordinate will, such as the infliction of punishment,
and the prohibition of sin by the Divine Law. Such like effects are
repugnant to a will debased by sin, and as regards the consideration of
them, God may be an object of hatred to some, in so far as they look
upon Him as forbidding sin, and inflicting punishment.
Reply to Objection 1: This argument is true of those who see
God's Essence, which is the very essence of goodness.
Reply to Objection 2: This argument is true in so far as God is
apprehended as the cause of such effects as are naturally beloved of
all, among which are the works of Truth who reveals herself to men.
Reply to Objection 3: God draws all things to Himself, in so far
as He is the source of being, since all things, in as much as they
are, tend to be like God, Who is Being itself.
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