Philadelphia, Pa., Jun 6, 2017 / 23:04 pm
A society that relies on reason and technology, without faith, risks forgetting God and making a deal with the devil, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has warned.
"We're in a struggle for souls. Our adversary is the devil. And while Satan is not God's equal and doomed to final defeat, he can do bitter harm in human affairs," Archbishop Chaput said. "The first Christians knew this. We find their awareness written on nearly every page of the New Testament."
Writing in his June 5 column for Catholic Philly, titled "Sympathy for the Devil", he said: "The modern world makes it hard to believe in the devil. But it treats Jesus Christ the same way. And that's the point."
The archbishop noted a medieval Christian saying, "no devil, no Redeemer." When the devil is denied, it is difficult to explain why Christ came to suffer and die for humankind.