*"You are aware indeed, that the goal of this most iniquitous plot is to drive people to overthrow the entire order of human affairs and to draw them over to the wicked theories of this Socialism and Communism, by confusing them with perverted teachings. But these enemies realize that they cannot hope for any agreement with the Catholic Church, which allows neither tampering with truths proposed by faith, nor adding any new human fictions to them. This is why they try to draw the Italian people over to Protestantism, which in their deceit they repeatedly declare to be only another form of the same true religion of Christ, thereby just as pleasing to God. Meanwhile they know full well that the chief principle of the Protestant tenets, i.e., that the holy scriptures are to be understood by the personal judgment of the individual, will greatly assist their impious cause. They are confident that they can first misuse the holy scriptures by wrong interpretation to spread their errors and claim God's authority while doing it. Then they can cause men to call into doubt the common principles of justice and honor"* Encyclical On the Church in the Pontifical States by Pope Pius IX, 1849

Protestantism is the gateway to Socialism.

Protestantism is the gateway to a lot of things

Most of them not very good

My brain is being hurt. I'm gonna go take a step away.

Ok

My brain hurt for several days on this topic.

(in short, night guys. God bless)

Have a good rest.

Goodnight

Marxism is also strictly atheist.

Opiate of the masses

Distributism is critical of both Socialism and Capitalism, which puts it on an awkward place on the political spectrum.

The political spectrum is only so versatile

I can already predict the Marxist arguments.

What are they?

"If you are not for complete public ownership, you are with the bourgeoisie"

Does that criticism hold any weight?

Only if God doesn't exist.

If God exists, it changes the whole social dynamic, as quoted in above passages.

The Church is not publicly owned. If it was it would be destroyed.

Yes, the hierarchy of the church is essential to it's survival.

This is way Aquinas is so important. He uses natural reason to prove that God exists. Basically constructing a material basis for His existence. Marxists have no counterargument, They have to dismiss it as an abstraction or a spook etc.

*"Putting it succinctly, Christ's Church has no intention of yielding ground to her avowed enemy, atheistic communism, without a struggle. This battle will be fought to the end, but with the weapons of Christ!"* Encyclical On Guiding Principles of the Lay Apostolate by Pope Pius XII to the Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate, 1957

The tradition of scholasticism in the church is a very important one.

It's allowed the Church's theology to be built and strengthened over a period of 2,000 years

Aquinas never could have done what he did without the Church fathers, and going back even farther, aristotle.

When you linked Compendium of Theology, I couldn't believe what I was reading. It is a remarkable achievement that singlehandedly persuated me that Christianity does indeed have intellectual nerve.

The image of Christinaity being a backwards and anti-reason comes mostly from the modern day manifestation of cultural Christianity. It's particularly evident in protestantism.

At first it was extremely disjointing. Up until this point I thought such an achievement was impossible. You are right, Luther ruined everything.

I searched high and low for a coherent counterargument, and found none. I was met with strawmen and stabs in the dark which are individually very weak.

There's a reason most atheists don't really bring up Aquinas.

Like a deer in the headlights. That was me.

But I could have easily resorted to emotion or arbitrary justification and handwaving.

"It's an obscurity" "What could a fat virgin possibly know"

lol

Or better yet, "He was from the 13th century!"

TJ sodomized himself with a banana.

Go figure.

He did worse

Abused a mentally ill girl