Dualism.

Once again these principles of dualism, which we experience in the world, we confuse with the nature of God.

One definition of the divine is that it transcends evil and sin.

To transcend dualism does not mean to mingle the pairs of opposites :
light and darkness, good and evil, right and wrong etc..
Nor does it justify evil.

The divine is all good.
Without shadow.
Omniscient and omnipotent.

The new paradigm is holistic.
"the Lord will be one and his name one"  Zechariah 14:9b (NRSV)

On the earth we experience light and shadow, good fortune and misfortune.
But no good man is entirely good and no bad man is entirely bad.

We make the mistake of projecting this dualism onto the deity rather than experiencing the divine directly.

The definition of an authentic spiritual experience is that it has a wholly positive outcome.


(Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.)