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1. THE DUALISTIC THEORY.
Dualism is not always presented in the same form, but in its most
usual form posits two self-existent principles, God and matter, which are distinct from and co-
eternal with each other. Original matter, however, is regarded as but a negative and imperfect
substance (sometimes regarded as evil), which is subordinate to God and is made the
instrument of His will (Plato, Aristotle, the Gnostics, the Manichaeans). According to this theory
God is not the creator, but only the framer and artificer of the world. This view is objectionable
for several reasons. (a) It is wrong in its fundamental idea that there must have been some
substance out of which the world was created, since ex nihilo nihil fit. This maxim is true only as
an expression of the idea that no event takes place without a cause, and is false if it means to
assert that nothing can ever be made except out of pre-existing material. The doctrine of
creation does not dispense with a cause, but finds the all-sufficient cause of the world in the
sovereign will of God. (b) Its representation of matter as eternal is fundamentally unsound. If
matter is eternal, it must be infinite for it cannot be infinite in one way (duration) and finite in
other respects. But it is impossible that two infinites or absolutes should exist side by side. The
absolute and the relative may exist simultaneously, but there can be only one absolute and self-
existent being. (c) It is unphilosophical to postulate two eternal substances, when one self-
existent cause is perfectly adequate to account for all the facts. For that reason philosophy does
not rest satisfied with a dualistic explanation of the world, but seeks to give a monistic
interpretation of the universe. (d) If the theory assumes — as it does in some of its forms — the
existence of an eternal principle of evil, there is absolutely no guarantee that good will triumph
over evil in the world. It would seem that what is eternally necessary is bound to maintain itself
and can never go down.
2. THE EMANATION THEORY IN VARIOUS FORMS.
This theory is to the effect that the world is a
necessary emanation out of the divine being. According to it God and the world are essentially
one, the latter being the phenomenal manifestation of the former. The idea of emanation is
characteristic of all pantheistic theories, though it is not always represented in the same way.
Here, again, we may register several objections. (a) This view of the origin of the world virtually
denies the infinity and transcendence of God by applying to Him a principle of evolution, of
growth and progress, which characterizes only the finite and imperfect; and by identifying Him
and the world. All visible objects thus become but fleeting modifications of a self-existent,
unconscious, and impersonal essence, which may be called God, Nature, or the Absolute. (b) It
robs God of His sovereignty by denuding Him of His power of self-determination in relation to
the world. He is reduced to the hidden ground from which the creatures necessarily emanate,
and which determines their movement by an inflexible necessity of nature. At the same time it
deprives all rational creatures of their relative independence, of their freedom, and of their
moral character. (c) It also compromises the holiness of God in a very serious manner. It makes
God responsible for all that happens in the world, for the evil as well as for the good. This is, of