Trump tweets Archbishop Viganò’s open letter published by LifeSiteNews: ‘I hope everyone…reads it’

[Maximian]

The doctors of the Church, including Augustine and Aquinas, were committed to the theology that evil does not exist,

That’s not exactly what they held. Evil exists: its nature is an absence of good. The Devil fights continually to push back the frontiers of good.

 

[Feanor2]

I just find this Vigano/Trump alliance so obnoxious.

 

[OneSheep]

That’s not exactly what they held. Evil exists: its nature is an absence of good. The Devil fights continually to push back the frontiers of good.

The idea of two separate powers is refuted by Church doctors:

If, then, they are deprived of all good, they will cease to exist. So long as they are,therefore, they are good. Therefore, whatsoever is, is good. Evil, then, the origin of which I had been seeking, has no substance at all; for if it were a substance, it would be good.

Confessions 7.4.18 - St. Augustine

Vigano is coming from essentially the gnostic position:

In society, Mr. President, these two opposing realities co-exist as eternal enemies, just as God and Satan are eternal enemies.

That was the Manichaean position, refuted by St. Augustine.

Aquinas:

But only good can be a cause; because nothing can be a cause except inasmuch as it is a being, and every being, as such, is good.

https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1049.htm

These philosophical statements can be verified through the process of psychological integration.

 

[Adamek]

Even if we as faithful Catholics endorse all of Trump’s positions and policies (which is a big if), and even if we agree that abortion is a terrible evil and that Trump has done objectively good things in regards to abortion (which he has)…I really struggle with the idea that someone who has lived a public life so objectively at odds with Catholicism could be singled out as a “champion of the light” as the archbishop seems to be implying here. Don’t get me wrong…God can use anyone…but doesn’t a “champion of the light” imply someone who is also a saintly role model???
Trump’s public life has been riddled with sex scandals, inappropriate remarks, divorces (including his current objectively invalid marriage to a Catholic), nasty insults, lies, close associations with criminals…even if he has and is doing some things that are very good, such as restricting legal abortion, I cannot comprehend the idea that he is our “champion of the light”, much less how a bishop can see it that way.

One respected scholar put it this way. In the famous move "the magnificent seven’, a poor village in Mexico is terrorized by local bandits. The mayor hires a group of outlaws to come to help fight the bandit. For a variety of reasons, the hired killers agree to help to poor peasants, with little or no money to be gained. We all know that the “good guys” do the job and free the village from oppression. And then comes the moral dilemma. How can these professional killers, bad guys by definition, suddenly and inexplicably become good guys? Can you deal with killers to do something good and moral?
After the job is done, the hired guns have to leave the village. They don’t belong there. Their life style does not fit “normal society”. They are hired, do their job, some die, but are not welcome. They must leave.

Hanson, the historian in question uses this example to explain the Trump phenomenon. The much hated orange man arrive to clean the town. An immoral man who speaks on behalf of Christianity. A selfish man who is a populist, creating jobs, challening Chinese takeover of production; a profit-driven individual who tries to uphold the unemployed.

Oh, how we love to posture, viture signal and display moral indignation at the orange man. The hated rogue who is trying to protect the poor and the disenfrenchised.

I can alreay see the eyes rolling and the fury rising in the throats of many here. The argument is not mine, but I found it compelling.

 

[Maximian]

The idea of two separate powers is refuted by Church doctors:

If, then, they are deprived of all good, they will cease to exist. So long as they are,therefore, they are good. Therefore, whatsoever is, is good. Evil, then, the origin of which I had been seeking, has no substance at all; for if it were a substance, it would be good.

That is not a refutation of the existence of an evil power.

 

[OneSheep]

That is not a refutation of the existence of an evil power.

If there is an “evil power” in opposition to God, then that is an “existence”, it is not merely a lack of awareness or lack of order, etc.

While it is very natural to perceive that there is a separate power, and the dualistic cosmology is basically tolerated in the Church, the belief is still clearly contrary to a commitment to monism.

Jesus does talk about the dangers of ascribing to satan what comes from God; indeed it is framed as the “unforgivable sin”. It is not so that God cannot forgive, but a person closed to the goodness of God in others is closed to God. You have to admit, Vigano’s words do not encourage an openness to seeing God in Bishop Gregory. Vigano’s words are schismatic; it would be best if he remained silent.

God can be seen in every human, and certainly in Bishop Gregory.