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Bianry and Supplmentary Relationships in Scripture

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mwkruse
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Just Genesis: How to Invite Ridicule

To understand the biblical worldview we must grasp the supplementary nature of the binary opposites. This involves understanding of what is meant by binary opposites and supplementary.

Supplementary is about meaning.  It is not an egalitarian principle. That is to say that meaning is derived from the relationship of the binary opposites. I experience hateful acts as evil because I have experience of loving acts and know them to be good. The reverse is also true. The male-female relationship has meaning because of the supplementary nature of male-female.

Supplementary doesn’t mean equal, since one of the opposites is perceived as greater in some way. This is how the biblical worldview avoids dualism.

Supplementary is what makes a relationship meaningful. In fact, meaning is derived from the supplementary nature of two things.  …

Comments

3 responses to “Bianry and Supplmentary Relationships in Scripture”

  1. Alice C. Linsley Avatar
    Alice C. Linsley

    Michael, that’s for the link to Just Genesis. The sequel to essay will appear tomorrow. It is titled “Sweeping Away Gender and The Biblical Worldview.” I respond to Oxford Bioethicist Julian Savulescu’s ridiculous statement: “The old binary categories are falling – tall and short, talented and untalented, smart and stupid, male and female. Human life is incredibly diverse. All states and talents affecting humans occur in shades of grey. We should make our choices in recognition of the shades of grey. And it makes sense to make decisions not based on crude categories but fine-grained realities.”

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  2. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    Thanks Alice. I look forward to the next post. I’m intrigued by the supplementary nature of binaries you present here. I don’t know that I had thought of it quite that way.
    I also tend to see binaries as mutually supporting. Which is more important … inhaling or exhaling? 🙂 A few years ago Barry Johnson published a business book “Polarity Management.” He notes that most challenges we face are not problems to be solved but polarities to be managed. The answer is usually not in grabbing on to one pole or trying to find the middle between them, but rather to embrace them both and appreciate the interrelated dynamic.
    Look forward to your next post.

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  3. Alice C. Linsley Avatar
    Alice C. Linsley

    So true! The binary distinctions come first and meaning is found in a dialectical consideration of both. Easter focuses us on the ultimate binary opposites: life and death.
    (The photo of the empty tomb is awesome!)

    Reply

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