The Devil Is Not The Polar Opposite of God

7/15/2021

Polarity is not a commonly-discussed theme in Christianity, which is a shame because I believe the further development of Christianity depends on a deeper, intuitive understanding of the nature and reality of polarity.

If Christians think about polarity at all, most tend to conceptualize it as an arrangement of extremes, with the Devil at one end and God at the other. Though this conceptualization is understandable, it misses the point entirely, as Nikolai Berdyaev explains in his The Divine and The Human (bold and line breaks added):

Man seeks to find refuge from the tormenting question of evil in the realm of neutrality, and by doing so seeks to conceal his treachery to God.

But in a deeper sense there is no neutrality; the neutral is on the surface. It might even be said that the devil is neutral.

It is a mistake to assume that the devil is the polar opposite of God. The pole which is the direct opposite of God is again God, the other face of God; extremes meet. The devil is the prince of this world and takes cover in neutrality.

One way to interpret the passage above is to recognize man as the other face of God and to regard the core of Christianity as the potential meeting of these extremes.

3 Comments

jorgen b

7/16/2021 03:50:58

There are 3 sides to every story. So there must be 2 devils.

bruce charlton

7/16/2021 12:24:04

I think I see what you/ Berdyaev are getting at - and agree with it; but I don't think this is well expressed as it stands - which seems mostly misleading.

I'd say the devil is in-opposition-to God, but not an opposite kind of being.

Since God is the creator, there cannot be an opposite kind-of-being; because although the devil is the destroyer - he can only destroy what God has already created - which is not the opposite of creation.

The term polarity is ambiguous, too - since it is specifically used by some (Coleridge, Steiner, Barfield) to refer to two linked extremes that are not divisible and which depend upon each other - analogous to the north and south *poles* of a magnet (which are real, can be distinguished functionally - but cannot be separated).

To say God is also the opposite of God seems like a pretentiously-clever paradox which is not really true... except by fiddling around with definitions and expectations in counter-intuitive ways that are probably net-unhelpful - and probably counter-productive.

Francis Berger

7/16/2021 12:52:16

@ Bruce - Yes, the devil is definitely in opposition to God, but as you say, it is misguided to consider the devil as an opposite kind of being.

Concerning the rest, your example of the magnet as two linked extremes that are not divisible is closer to what Berdyaev is communicating.

You have often referred to dyadic relationships - perhaps that's a better approach to this passage from B.

God and man are divided and related, but cannot be united. They can only "meet" through love.

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The Devil Is Not The Polar Opposite of God

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