In this profound lecture, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks about the concept of duality in human nature — the inner conflict between good and evil, body and spirit, desire and conscience. He explains that this struggle began after Adam’s fall and that the goal of the spiritual life is to reach inner unity and harmony between thought, heart, conscience, and action.

Main points:

• Origin of duality: God created man knowing only good. After the fall, knowledge of evil entered, and humanity began to live between good and evil, lawful and unlawful.

• Inner conflict: A constant struggle arose between body and spirit, as St. Paul said: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” This conflict did not exist before sin and will not exist in eternity.

• Division and fear: The divided person lives in fear, just as Adam feared after sinning. But the one united in God has no fear, being reconciled with himself.

• Forms of duality:

  • The struggle between desire and conscience in beginners in the faith.

  • Hypocrisy, when one is something inside but shows another face to others.

  • Double standards, when one judges others harshly but excuses oneself.

• Signs of inner unity: When the mind, heart, conscience, and tongue work in harmony, and the person lives with one standard and one face.

• Ways to achieve unity:

  • Reconcile first with God, then with oneself.

  • Reject deceit, hypocrisy, and flattery; live in truth and wisdom.

  • Let the heart and tongue agree in love and honesty.

  • Correct oneself before correcting others, following Christ’s teaching: “First remove the plank from your own eye.”

• Christ as the model of unity: He was one in word and deed, without contradiction, teaching truthful yet loving speech.

• Spiritual outcome: When the heart, mind, and body are reconciled, the person lives in inner peace, and—as St. Isaac said—“If your heart, mind, and body are at peace, heaven and earth will be at peace with you.”

Spiritual Message:
True peace comes when a person becomes one, undivided in heart and purpose—wholly devoted to God, truthful in word, and consistent in deed. This unity is the mark of spiritual maturity and holiness.

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