DP 70
There Are Laws of Divine Providence,
Which to People Are Unknown
People know of the existence of
Divine providence,
but they do not know the nature of it.
The reason people do not know
the nature of Divine providence
is that its laws are secret,
heretofore concealed in the wisdom
possessed by angels, but now to be revealed,
that people may ascribe to the Lord
what is the Lord's doing,
and not ascribe to any person
what is not the person's doing.
For most people in the world
attribute everything to themselves
and to their own prudence,
and what they cannot attribute to these
they call fortuitous and accidental,
not knowing
that human prudence is of no consequence,
and that the words "fortuitous" and "accidental"
are idle terms.
DP 71
It Is a Law of Divine Providence
That a Person Act in Freedom
in Accordance with His Reason
People know that a person has the
freedom
to think and will as he pleases,
but not the freedom to say whatever he thinks,
nor the freedom to do whatever he wishes.
Consequently by freedom here
we mean spiritual freedom and not natural freedom,
except when the two are in accord.
For thinking and willing are spiritual,
while speaking and acting are natural.
They are also clearly distinguished in a person,
as a person can think what he does not express,
and can will what he does not do.
It is apparent, therefore, that the spiritual and natural
components in a person have been made distinct,
so that a person cannot slip
from the one into the other
except as the result of a conscious decision.
This decision may be likened to a door
which must first be unlatched and opened.
However, the door stands open, so to speak,
in people who think and will rationally
in conformity with the civil laws of the kingdom
and the moral laws of society,
for they say what they think and do as they will.
But the door stands closed, so to speak,
in people who think and will
in opposition to those laws.
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