or (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, lit., 'divine concurrence') is a

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

and

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

teaching that divine activity runs parallel to the activity of people and things. This notion allegedly resolves the

dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

between "acts of nature or humans" vs. "acts of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

." According to , an event can be simultaneously an act of nature, c.q. humans, and an act of God. Thus, creatures immediately are propelled by God not only according to their origin (

creation Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...

) and conservation in existence, but also in their causal operations.

Biblical support

In support of the concept a biblical passage in the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...

is often cited: "indeed, all that we have done, you odhave done for us." (Isaiah 26:12 NRSV). In the New Testament

I Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in Anc ...

is often cited. There the

apostle Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

commented upon his missionary work, "I labored more than anyone else--yet it was not I but the grace of God working through me." (I Corinthians 15:10).

In Catholic theology

In Catholic theology, a distinction is made between and , the former being divine influence into the effect of a second cause, parallel, as it were, with its activity, whereas the latter involves divine influence into the causing agent.

Thomist Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed questions ...

s insist on both kinds of being required in any action of a created cause and provide an elaborate theory of the "previous ", calling it

physical premotion In the theory developed by Spanish theologian Domingo Báñez and other Thomists of the 16th-century second scholasticism, physical premotion () is a causal influence of God into a secondary cause (especially into a will of a free agent) which ...

. Other theological schools, especially the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, typically reject

and claim that is sufficient. The theory of is not meant to compromise freedom of will; however, the Thomist doctrine of is blamed of achieving precisely that by its opponents. Another distinction is between () and . Whereas the ordinary is part of the natural order and accompanies every causal activity of a secondary cause whatsoever, an extraordinary is of supernatural order, it is the extraordinary help of divine grace to a created free agent.

Proponents

Notable proponents of this teaching include the renowned German philosopher

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...

, as well as Descartes and

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

. It is also a concept invoked by modern

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

theologians.Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, III.3
/ref> In Catholic theology, the doctrine of divine is considered a

sententia communis The theological notes designate a classification of certainty of beliefs in Catholic theology. While theological notes qualify positively beliefs and doctrines, said beliefs and doctrines are qualified negatively by theological censures. The the ...

and is shared by almost all theologians (a notable exception being

Durandus of Saint-Pourçain Durandus of Saint-Pourçain (also known as Durand of Saint-Pourçain; – 13 September 1332 / 10 September 1334) was a French Dominican, philosopher, theologian, and bishop. Life He was born at Saint-Pourçain, Auvergne. Little is known ...

). The most important proponents of the Thomist version are

Domingo Báñez Domingo Báñez (29 February 1528 in Valladolid – 22 October 1604 in Medina del Campo) was a Spanish Dominican and Scholastic theologian. The qualifier ''Mondragonensis'' is sometimes attached to his name and seems to refer to the birthplace ...

and Diego Álvarez; while their most notable Jesuit opponents are

Luis de Molina Luis de Molina (29 September 1535 – 12 October 1600) was a Spanish Jesuit Catholic priest, jurist, economist and theologian renowned for his contributions to philosophy and economics within the framework of the second scholasticism. A ...

and

Francisco Suárez Francisco Suárez (; 5 January 1548 – 25 September 1617) was a Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, one of the leading figures of the School of Salamanca movement. His work is considered a turning point in the history of second ...

References

{{reflist Latin words and phrases Catholic theology and doctrine