Board index ‹ Assorted Bible Questions

[Zeus]

What is your opinion on a non-dualistic christian belief?

I'd like to know various opinions of a non-dualistic christian belief. Meaning that separation does not exist.

What would this entail you might ask. I'm not that knowledgeable of either non-dualism or Christianity but maybe I can give some points that would be different from my perspective.

For one, Gods creation cannot be separated in any sense. Meaning that all of Gods creation has and always will remain, literally, as God. This would mean that you and everything around you would, by definition, be God. Have you ever heard the saying "To make an omelette, we need to start with the big bang"? This could, in a sense, be hinting on a non-dualistic relationship between the omelette and the creation of the universe. Without the creation, the omelette could not exist. Therefore, there's a relationship between the two. What we sense as separation between the omelette and creation would be our limited sense of experiencing the universe. For a infinite being, this relationship would be considered very obvious.

Another thing that just sprung to my mind would be that Jesus would not have been a son of God different from you and me. Maybe is this already a belief of many today but I often sense that Jesus was something declared by God, not the other way around. In a non-dualistic belief, Jesus would have not been declared by God to be his prophet. Rather, Jesus would attain certain understanding of his inner consciousness to experience from the perspective of God.

If you pressed the link above, you already know that this concept is most prominent in eastern philosophies. Sages from eastern philosophies often consider all prophets from all religions to have been "enlightened beings" that, with different definitions and techniques, tried to explain this "configuration" attained to see from the perspective of God. A strong similarity between most, if not all, enlightened beings would be that a very important "rule" or path would be to help and love all which, if I'm not mistaken, was a strong point in Jesus' teachings.

I'm sure there are many people more knowledgeable of all things I try to speak about. Obviously, this is a simple form of non-dualism since it cannot exclude nor include anything so even to say that all is God is not to give justice to the perspective of true non-dualism. If you sense I'm being mistaken by something then feel free to call me out on that.

How do you feel about this perspective? Is it something you've already considered or given thought? Or maybe have you never heard of this and find it not interesting at all? I'd love to know.

[jimwalton]

Non-dualism is not possible in Christian theology.

Subject-object reality is necessary in a Christian worldview as well as in the Godhead (Trinity) Himself. Dr. Joe Boot writes, "If God is not the triune Lord revealed in Jesus Christ, then the doctrine of creation is rendered impossible, and man is part of a cosmic chain of being. This is because a monadic conception of God as some kind of singularity leaves us with the emptiness and void of non-personality as ultimate. If there is no plurality within God's being, then there is no subject-object relationship, no particularity, only a blank unity. In such a view of God there can be no foundation for knowledge, love, morality, or ethics. Indeed, without an absolute personality, there is no diversity or distinction basic to reality at all; ultimate reality is a bare unity about which nothing may be said. This is why the Trinity is so important in tackling the philosophical problem of the one and the many. Moreover, because a denial of the Trinity leads to a denial of an absolute personality, we cannot speak coherently of the will of God. Only persons have a will. But if God has no will, then creation is not the free act of an absolute, personal God. Rather, the universe is the emanation of divine being, and what we call the universe is merely the extension of god, or, as some pagans would say, it is the body of god."

Francis Schaeffer writes that if pantheism is true (separation does not exist), then for us to be personal beings is impossible and we at best are "unfulfilled products of chance in a sterile sport." Only if there is subject-object separation is there a possibility for love, compassion, the real meaning of personality, and a real reason to keep humanity alive. If there is not personality, then there is no intrinsic meaning to personality.

Robert Walton writes, "Implicit in [pantheism] is a denial of the existence of matter, a rejection of individual identity, and an affirmation of the ultimate uniting of all things (in Nirvana or the World Soul), often after multiple reincarnations. If all is one, there is ultimately no difference between good and evil, though all Eastern religions distinguish between behavior that will enhance one's search for unity with the World Soul or journey to Nirvana and that which will not. The goal of human experience is not to be found in the course
of history, which is essentially unreal, but in a final escape from the endless round of reincarnations."

In other words, "non-dualistic" cannot possibly describe Christianity or Christian belief. It's an explicit contradiction to our theology.

[Zeus]

Thanks for the reply