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SCG1.C80 sqq.; SCG3.C97; QDeVer.Q23.A4; QDePot.Q1.A5; QDePot.Q10.A2.Rep6
After we have covered the existence of the will and its objects in the first two articles, we now begin to discern more precisely the nature of God's will.
We begin by asking the question of the necessity of God's will. St. Thomas answers this question with a simple distinction. First, something may be *absolutely* necessary, i.e., when the predicate is contained in the nature of the subject, e.g., it is absolutely necessary that man be rational because "rational" is a part of the definition of man.
Second, something may be necessary by supposition, i.e., upon the positing of a certain condition, e.g., on the supposition that Socrates is sitting, it is necessary that he sit.
Before we even begin to solve the problem, we have to distinguish properly between the two objects of the will of God that we have already covered, i.e., God and creation.
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