St. Thomas Aquinas on God loving and hating

Reply to Objection 4. Nothing prevents one and the same thing being loved under one aspect, while it ishated under another. God loves sinners in so far as they are existing natures; for they have existence and have it from Him. In so far as they are sinners, they have not existence at all, but fall short of it; and this in them is not from God. Hence under this aspect, they are hated by Him.


from question 20, Article 2
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1020.htm  a further explanation of this here http://readingthesumma.blogspot.com/2010/07/question-20-gods-love.html

also I commented on a facebook site about this and said:
 I have heard it taught that love is an act of the will . Love is willing good to another (see 1 Cor 13). God wills some good to all creatures, as some have commented about common grace or the mercy he gives to men when he gives them rain, food, life/existence, and so forth---so in this way He has love and gives love. Because of this Thomas Aquinas felt that " Nothing prevents one and the same thing being loved under one aspect, while it is hated under another". For example God could love a person in one respect because God created the person. But there also could be what is referred to as Hatred because of the iniquity . An example in human terms would be the way God calls us to love and honor our parents, but also can call us to hate them here--"If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple

see also Jimmy Akin's discussion on Love and Hate concerning God
http://jimmyakin.com/show-032-transcript-does-god-hate-sinners-how-can-you-use-the-internet-to-serve-god-without-violating-canon-law

Read the whole thing--here is his summary:

 Again, he’s understanding God’s hatred in a metaphorical sense. It’s not that God hates those people in the way that we do, but he prefers, wills, and intends some good that is incompatible with letting those people getting away with everything that they’re doing.It’s not that he hates those individuals, but he prefers to maintain the good of justice or of the order of the universe and that ultimately means that evil will have to be checked and punished. That’s expressed metaphorically in Aquinas’ term by saying that God hates these people even though, more fundamentally he LOVES them enough to send His Son to die for them.

That’s the fundamental thing we need to keep in mind in analyzing all of these passages. We to recognize that when Scripture talks about God hating things, it’s expressing a profound truth about the reality of sin and the fact that we need to avoid it.
It’s not expressing the idea that God ‘has it out for sinners’ and that He’s just looking to punish them. On the contrary, He’s looking to save them. He’s so willing to save them that He gave His own Son for all of us while we were yet sinners.

see also this below--not sure of his orthodoxy but interesting explanation
 http://www.mercifultruth.com/doesgodhate.html