Dualism is dangerous, false — and popular. Here’s how you can learn to recognize it

[Michie]

I’ve been reading a fair bit about angels and demons recently. An excellent new book The Other World We Live is subtitled, A Catholic Vision of Angelic Reality. It’s a good primer written in a punchy, accessible style and outlines the reality and relevance of the angelic in the world today. I have also completed a ten module course on the deliverance ministry provided by Monsignor Stephen Rossetti- author of The Diary of an American Exorcist. The study of angels and demons is fascinating, but it can lead to an error in spiritual understanding called dualism.

Dualism is essentially the idea that the cosmos consists of two powers: the light and the dark and that these two powers are always at war with one another. Dualism is the spiritual philosophy you would come up with if you were making up your own religion. It seems obvious that there is good and evil, light and dark–two forces in opposition. Furthermore, dualism is a popular trend in contemporary culture. The Star Wars philosophy is dualistic. The hero can go with “the Dark Side” or not. Eastern religious philosophies tend toward dualism also and dualism is the assumption lying beneath most New Age religions and philosophies.

Continued below.
The Dangers of Dualism | Fr. Dwight Longenecker