Latin dualis ("containing two") + -ism. From duo ("two"). As a philosophical/theological term, dualism denotes any worldview that posits two ultimate, irreducible, and often opposing principles β whether cosmic (good vs. evil as equal eternal powers), metaphysical (mind vs. matter), or anthropological (soul vs. body). The term was coined by Thomas Hyde in 1700 to describe Zoroastrian theology, but the underlying ideas are far older, appearing in Platonic philosophy, Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and various Eastern religious traditions. Biblical Christianity is explicitly and rigorously anti-dualistic in every sense that matters.
Scripture categorically rejects cosmic dualism β the idea that good and evil are co-equal eternal realities in combat. There is one God, and He alone is eternal, uncreated, and absolute (Isaiah 45:5β7, 46:9). Satan is a created being, a fallen angel β not an eternal co-equal of God. The "battle" between God and Satan is not a contest between equals; Satan acts only within limits God permits (Job 1β2), and his defeat was accomplished definitively at the cross (Colossians 2:15, John 12:31). Scripture also rejects Platonic soul/body dualism β the Greek idea that the material body is inherently inferior or evil and that salvation means the soul's escape from matter. The Hebrew worldview is thoroughly embodied: God created the physical world and declared it "very good" (Genesis 1:31); the resurrection of the body (not disembodied spiritual existence) is the Christian hope (1 Corinthians 15); and the New Creation is a renewed material order, not an escape from matter. The biblical distinction between flesh and spirit (sarx vs. pneuma) is not an ontological dualism of matter vs. immaterial soul, but a moral dualism of sin-directed life vs. Spirit-directed life β a category difference entirely different from Greek dualism.
DUALISM β The doctrine that the universe has two ultimate principles, as mind and matter, or good and evil. The doctrine of those who hold that there are two distinct principles in man, the soul and the body. [Webster 1828]
Webster's era saw dualism primarily through the lens of the Manichaean heresy (condemned by Augustine) and Cartesian mind-body philosophy. The Christian response in both cases was the same: God is the sole Creator and ultimate reality; matter is not evil but corrupted; redemption is restoration of the whole person, not escape from the body.
Practical dualism infects contemporary evangelicalism in ways that go unnoticed. The "sacred vs. secular" division β where Sunday worship is "spiritual" and Monday work is merely tolerated β is functional dualism that Christ rejected by His incarnation. "Soul-saving" theology that dismisses care for bodies, communities, and creation as unspiritual is Gnostic dualism with a evangelical accent. Charismatic streams sometimes veer into cosmic dualism by treating Satan as nearly God's equal β engaging in prolonged "spiritual warfare" that implies the outcome is uncertain. Conversely, the therapeutic model that reduces sin to psychological dysfunction and salvation to mental wellness is a secular body-soul dualism that privileges the "inner life" while ignoring the body's resurrection. The Incarnation is the ultimate anti-dualist declaration: God became flesh, and the flesh is redeemable.
β’ Isaiah 45:6β7 β "I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things."
β’ Genesis 1:31 β "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" β the anti-Gnostic, anti-dualist verdict on matter.
β’ Colossians 2:15 β Christ "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame" β Satan's defeat is decisive, not ongoing stalemate.
β’ 1 Corinthians 15:42β44 β The resurrection body: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" β embodied eschatology, not escape from matter.
β’ Romans 8:11 β "He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit" β bodily resurrection as the anti-dualist hope.
Greek ΟΞ¬ΟΞΎ (sarx, G4561) β flesh; in Paul, the sin-dominated disposition (NOT matter per se) β Romans 8:5β8: "Mind set on the flesh" = dualism of moral orientation, not substance β Galatians 5:16β17: Flesh vs. Spirit = competing allegiances, not matter vs. soul Greek ΟΞ½Ξ΅αΏ¦ΞΌΞ± (pneuma, G4151) β spirit, breath, wind β The Spirit (pneuma) indwells bodies (sΕma) β precisely anti-dualist β 1 Corinthians 6:19: "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" Greek ΟαΏΆΞΌΞ± (sΕma, G4983) β body β Paul uses sΕma positively: the body matters, will be resurrected, glorified β 1 Corinthians 6:20: "Glorify God in your body" Hebrew ΧΦΈΦΌΧ©ΦΈΧΧ¨ (basar, H1320) β flesh, body, person; used holistically β Hebrew anthropology does not divide body and soul as separate substances β A person is an animated body, not an imprisoned soul Historical heresies rooted in dualism: Gnosticism: material world evil, spiritual knowledge = salvation Manichaeism: God of light vs. equal God of darkness (Augustine refuted) Marcionism: OT God (material, harsh) vs. NT God (spiritual, loving) β rejected as heresy Docetism: Christ only appeared to have a body β condemned in 1 John 4:2
β’ "The Incarnation is the ultimate refutation of dualism: the eternal Son took on human flesh not as a concession but as the definitive declaration that matter, redeemed, can bear the presence of God."
β’ "Every time a Christian says 'the spiritual things are what really matter' and dismisses physical suffering, work, or embodied care, they are trafficking in Gnostic dualism β not biblical Christianity."
β’ "Paul's flesh vs. spirit language is not Platonic dualism in disguise. Sarx (flesh) is a moral orientation, not a substance β even glorified resurrection bodies will be pneumatikon (Spirit-animated), not immaterial."