Christianity and Dualism

Tuesday November 22, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Appeasing the side of my brain that wants to write non-homework stuff, 10:01 PM
Weather = White, fluffy, and melting.


Christianity is not a Dualism.

But what is Dualism you ask? I'll be happy to tell you! Dualism is the contrast of light and darkness, good and evil, the yin and the yang. It is the belief that for every good force there as a bad force to oppose it and for every bad force there is a good force to oppose it. There is no purely good thing and there is no purely bad thing. Light and darkness are like two fish constantly trying to devour the other and never succeeding. It is a belief of balance.

Historically Judaism and the Christianity that came out of it have had nothing to do with Dualism. Yahweh is the all powerful God of creation who holds both light and darkness in his hands. It is estimated that Job may be the earliest book written in the Bible, and the message is clear right from the beginning that there is no Dualism at work but only the will of sovereign God. From Genesis to Revelation there is no hint of Dualism to be found.

Oh sure there are forces that oppose God, there is darkness in the world and there is light, but they are not in Dualism, they are firmly and immovably in the will of God in whom there is no darkness or evil thing. God is God, and the devil, all the demons, and every evil thing is as a tiny cornflake compared to God. The same can be said of the Christian who's identity is in Christ. Sure we live in this world struggling against sin and darkness, but in Christ (ie: in God) the light burns away the darkness and our sins are obliterated. Rejoice! Our God has conquered sin and death and there is no power above the earth or below it that can sway His eternal victory both in the lives of believers and in all things in all eternity! The cross of Christ has become the eternal anthem of victory and glory of the greatest story ever told, how the God of creation came down as a man, lived among us, died so that we might not die in our sins, raised back to life so that we might live, and now intercedes on our behalf to the Father so that we might know God in all his fullness from the inside.

We as Christians are called to live in the light, to live in the Spirit which is the reality of the relationship of God both above and distinct from us as well as inside of us. This always results in living wisely, which often looks like the sort of balance that yin and yang strives to inspire. The difference is of eternal consequence though, Christianity is the repair of a relationship with the almighty eternal God resulting in eternal life whereas Dualism is a fatalistic attempt at living well in the midst of powers that are beyond our control ending in death.