Divine Causality and Human Free Choice: Domingo Banez, Physical Premotion and the Controversy de Auxiliis Revisited

In Divine Causality and Human Free Choice, R.J. Matava explains the idea of physical premotion defended by Domingo Banez, whose position in the Controversy de Auxiliis has been typically ignored in contemporary discussions of providence and freewill. Through a close engagement with untranslated primary texts, Matava shows Banez’s relevance to recent debates about middle knowledge. Finding the mutual critiques of Banez and Molina convincing, Matava argues that common presuppositions led both parties into an insoluble dilemma. However, Matava also challenges the informal consensus that Lonergan definitively resolved the controversy. Developing a position independently advanced by several recent scholars, Matava explains how the doctrine of creation entails a position that is more satisfactory both philosophically and as a reading of Aquinas.