According to Catholic teaching that is biblically supported, who are "the enemies of Christians?"
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According to perennial Catholic teaching, the traditional enemies of Christians are the devil, the world, and the flesh.
PENNY CATECHISM Q348. Which are the enemies we must fight against all the days of our life?
A. The enemies which we must fight against all the days of our life are the devil, the world, and the flesh.
Biblical basis (not exhaustive)
The devil:
8 Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. - 1 Peter 5:8 (RSVCE).
The world:
The Worldβs Hatred 18 βIf the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." - John 15:18-19 (RSVCE).
The flesh: cf. The Inner Conflict - Rom 7:13-25 (RSVCE).
Upvote:-1
The enemies are spiritual, not temporal. This can be inferred from v. 73-4
The oath which he sware to Abraham our father, that he would give to us that without fear being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him.
The oath is from Gen. 22:16:
By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thine only begotten son for my sake:
cf. Heb. 6:13-14:
For God promising to Abraham, because he had none great by whom he might swear, he sware by himself, saying, Unless blessing I shall bless thee, and multiplying shall multiply thee
Upvote:1
Regarding the promise to Abraham:
Christians consider themselves to be the (spiritual) descendants of Abraham, certainly as it applies to inheriting the promises of God to Abraham. This is based on passages such as Matthew 3:9, Luke 3:8, Romans 9, and Galations 3:7. Therefore the passage you quote is taken to mean that God promises to protect Christians from their enemies.
Regarding Enemies
As for the interpretation of the word 'enemies', there appears to be no reason not to take this word in its straightforward meaning - i.e. those who are opposed to you and would do you harm. That's almost certainly how it was intended in the original. There is nothing inconsistent with Christians having enemies - how could we be commanded to 'love your enemies' if we didn't have them? Note that the prayer does not ask for evil or punishment to be done to those enemies, but only that Christians are protected from them.
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