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Dualism- God and Devil?

Runt

Runt

Well-Known Member
Mr_Spinkles--

Not that I disagree with you... I just find it interesting to note that the scientific reality of almost every period of history was thrown out in large part by later scientists. That is what people seem to forget when looking at our world scientificially... it is very probable that over the next 100 years what we regard as scientific fact will be disproven or altered by later scientists.

As it it, new theories are already drastically changing scientific thought... even the idea you were talking about, that physics really IS random, whereas a few years ago scientists thought it only appeared random because of our limited understanding...

I believe scientific reality is able to coexist with spiritual reality... but in some cases I find spiritual truth MORE reliable than scientific truth because spiritual truth deals with easily understood, recognizable, archetypal universal truths that stand alongside science (or are sometimes considered PART of science in psychology... which recognizes that human perception of reality rests in large part on a symbolic system of meaning)...whether or not there really IS a God, or a soul...
 
Master Vigil

Master Vigil

Well-Known Member
I do believe in evolution. But I also believe that something caused evolution. And I understand that alot of physicists might disagree with me. So might a 5 year old child. It makes no difference for me. I understand that they think the events might be random. But no one knows for sure. And like I said, the cause or random things is randomness. What caused randomness? The Tao. The Tao was not caused by anything, for it is eternal. But since I believe that random quantum events to have a cause... its randomness. Than they cannot be the Tao. They are apart of the Tao however, especially being that they were created by the Tao. Anything that science discovers, was caused by the Tao. Will science ever discover the Eternal Tao? I am not sure, I highly doubt it. But in a million years, anything is possible.
 
Mr Spinkles

Mr Spinkles

Mr
I just find it interesting to note that the scientific reality of almost every period of history was thrown out in large part by later scientists.
Click to expand...
I agree with what you're saying here, but at the same time I think that science is always building upon and adding to the knowledge it has gained in the past, and a lot of the knowledge gained is only confirmed over and over again, rather than thrown out.
 
Runt

Runt

Well-Known Member
True true. But I have to wonder which of our present knowledge will be built on, and which will be thrown out. It all depends on future scientific experiements and discoveries... who knows WHAT scientists will find in the near future! *waits excitedly*
 
Ben Dhyan

Ben Dhyan

Veteran Member
Rex said:
When believing in God in the Christian sense, you must believe in the opposite the devil

And the devil has all of these god like powers.


Why does this not constitute Dualism?
Click to expand...

Hi Rex, not all those of the Christian faith understand God in the absolute sense to be the creator god, though is fair to say that probably most do because Christian theology does not make the distinction between the unity that is implied in monotheism of the one and only absolute God on the one hand, and the intrinsic duality of its manifestation involving ceaseless creative and destructive aspects on the other. Unfortunately the creator 'god' is conflated with the Absolute God, and the destructive 'god' (Satan/Devil) side becomes a separate entity altogether and not recognized as being an integral aspect of the unity of Absolute God.

In the Hindu religion for example, the Absolute one God is Brahman of which nothing can really be said except that all that exists , exists within Brahman, and nothing exists beyond Brahman. Within this absolute one God, is Brahma the creator god and Shiva the destroyer god. This to me is understandable and it is consistent with the idea of Taoism whereby the Tao is the non-dual Absolute from which the apparent duality of Ying and Yang is conceived.

Now the true understanding for the Abrahamic tradition is no different from the Indian or Chinese tradition, for in Isaiah 45:7 we have this "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things". The LORD in this case is clearly understood to be referring to the Absolute, not an identification with just one side of the complementary opposite concepts of light and dark, good and evil, creation and destruction, etc..

The bible even give a warning about the inherent error of falling away from the true understanding of the non-dual nature of Absolute God through the metaphorical story concerning the consequences of 'eating' (pablum) of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of 'good and evil' (duality).

So long as one understands that the god of creation is not to be confused with being the same as Absolute God, but is one of the Absolute God's apparent attributes along with the complementary opposite god of destruction, then it makes theological sense. In this case the god of creation and good is seen as merely the complementary opposite god of destruction and evil.

Now when the Divine judgement of the world takes place at the end of the age when the corrupt and unworthy are destroyed, this is not to mean that the creator god turns into a destroyer god, it means as per Isaiah 45:7, the one Absolute God is manifesting the appropriate divine aspect for the conditions that then prevail. Ecclesiastes 3:8 "There..is a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace..."

In conclusion, Monotheism is meant to refer to the One Absolute God that is the source of all creation, and the source of all destruction, the source of all good and the source of all evil, but Itself does nothing and forever remains transcendent from the eternal and ceaseless activity of its cosmic manifestation. The concepts of Deities of good and evil, creation and destruction, etc., are abstract dualistic qualities that are only determined in relation to each other, but beyond the conceptual reality there is only one God.
 
Renji

Renji

Well-Known Member
Rex said:
When believing in God in the Christian sense, you must believe in the opposite the devil

And the devil has all of these god like powers.


Why does this not constitute Dualism?
Click to expand...

Yes. But the devil is not as powerful as God. If he is as powerful as God, then he would have created another earth, human beings or other creatures with his power.
 
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