Ch. 33 - "Identity of God's Will With His Intellect" from "The Compendium of Theology" by St. Thomas Aquinas

CHAPTER 33 IDENTITY OF GOD’S WILL WITH HIS INTELLECT

Patet autem quod oportet ipsam Dei voluntatem nihil aliud esse quam eius intellectum. Bonum enim intellectum, cum sit obiectum voluntatis, movet voluntatem, et est actus et perfectio eius. In Deo autem non differt movens et motum, actus et potentia, perfectio et perfectibile, ut ex superioribus patet. Oportet igitur voluntatem divinam esse ipsum bonum intellectum. Idem autem est intellectus divinus et essentia divina. Voluntas igitur Dei non est aliud quam intellectus divinus et essentia eius.

Evidently God’s will cannot be anything other than His intellect. For, since a good that is apprehended by the intellect is the object of the will, it moves the will and is the will’s act and perfection. In God, however, there is no distinction between mover and moved, act and potency, perfection and perfectible, as is clear from the truths we have already gained. Also, the divine intellect and the divine essence are identical. Therefore the will of God is not distinct from the divine intellect and God’s essence.

Item. Intra alias perfectiones rerum praecipuae sunt intellectus et voluntas, cuius signum est quod inveniuntur in rebus nobilioribus. Perfectiones autem omnium rerum sunt in Deo unum, quod est eius essentia, ut supra ostensum est. Intellectus igitur et voluntas in Deo sunt idem quod eius essentia.

Another consideration: among the various perfections of things, the chief are intellect and will. A sign of this is that they are found in the nobler beings. But the perfections of all things are one in God, and this is His essence, as we showed above.” In God, therefore, intellect and will are identical with His essence.