Thomas Aquinas and The Providential Order of Nature with Dr Joseph Milne

For Thomas Aquinas everything in the creation is ordered toward the Good as its proper end. This means that each created being has its own natural perfection which in some way embodies God’s goodness or perfection. This natural perfection of created beings is governed by Divine Providence. The perfection of each created being is also part of the perfection of the universe as a whole which is united through Divine Providence.

Human nature, through practical reason, has a share in providential intelligence in its capacity to guide action towards the Good, both for itself and for all other created beings. Human life in the universe has a part to play in bringing all beings to their natural perfection in God.

Thomas’s vision has deep roots in ancient philosophy and in the Christian understanding that all things ultimately seek to unite with God. There is at once a perfection of the created universe within itself, and a perfection beyond it in mystical union with God. This natural order is sustained by Divine Providence.

In this talk we shall try to recover something of Thomas’s understanding of Providence and how it might enable human society to live in accord with the true order of nature.

Dr Joseph Milne is a Trustee of The Eckhart Society, Fellow of the Temenos Academy, and Editor of Land & Liberty. His most recent publication is a contributed chapter to Subtle Agroecologies: Farming With the Hidden Half of Nature (2021). He is currently writing a book on the classical and medieval understanding of Natural Law.