The Wheat and the Tares

A Parable of Intrinsic Natures and Divine Order

The parable of the wheat and the tares, recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, is a familiar one. A farmer sows good seed, wheat, in his field, representing the Kingdom of Heaven. But an enemy, the devil, sneaks in at night and sows tares, a type of weed that closely resembles wheat in its early stages. The servants, recognising the problem, suggest uprooting the tares, but the farmer forbids it, explaining that in doing so they might also uproot some of the wheat. Instead, he declares, let both grow together until the harvest, when the tares will be gathered and burned, and the wheat gathered into the barn.

While often interpreted as a warning against judging others, this parable can also be understood through the framework of mitigated dualism and predestination, concepts that address the nature of good and evil and the destiny of souls.

A Dualistic Stage, Not a Cosmic Battle:

Traditional dualism often posits a stark, perpetual battle between equal powers of good and evil. However, the parable of the wheat and the tares, when viewed through a lens of mitigated dualism, suggests a different scenario. The original state of the field is described as perfect. It is when the “enemy” sows tares that duality enters the picture, not as a battle of equals or a flaw in God’s plan, but as an intrusion that corrupts the original state. The image suggests that the universe was initially a realm of pure potentiality, represented by the good wheat, but that the devil, through his actions, introduced a contrasting element: the tares.

This mitigated dualism acknowledges the existence of evil but doesn’t grant it an equal place in the divine order. The wheat represents the good, intrinsic nature of souls originating from the Divine source, while the tares symbolise the dark or corrupted souls, sown not by God, but the adversarial force. This isn’t a cosmic battle between equally powerful forces, but rather a corruption of an otherwise ordered and pure system. The tares do not originate from the same source as the wheat.

Predestined Natures and the Harvest:

This understanding leads to a nuanced view of predestination. The parable hints that the final separation – the harvest – is not an act of arbitrary judgment or unfair favouritism by God. Instead, it speaks to the intrinsic difference in the natures of the wheat and the tares. The tares are inherently different from wheat, and this difference determines their final fate.

This is not to say that individuals are devoid of free will, but rather that these ‘seeds,’ these fundamental natures, influence the choices made throughout life. The farmer’s decision to let both grow together is a testament to God’s patience and the unfolding of individual paths. The final sorting, rather than being an act of sudden divine decree, might be understood as the natural consequence of the inherent properties of each soul.

The farmer knows the wheat and tares are fundamentally different. One is destined for the barn, the other for the fire. Ultimately, the separation at harvest is not an imposition of an external judgement but a separation based on compatibility. Light and dark are fundamentally incompatible; what is good and what is corrupted cannot continue to exist in the same space and the same way.

A Natural Ordering:

The imagery of the harvest is crucial here. The separation of the wheat and tares is not a punitive act, but a process of natural ordering. The wheat, by its nature, is gathered into the barn, a place of preservation and abundance. The tares, by their nature, are gathered and burned, representing their incompatibility with the harmonious order of the Divine realm. This isn’t God arbitrarily choosing winners and losers, but rather souls going to their natural conclusion, a reflection of their inherent nature.

This perspective allows us to view the parable not as a stark, fearful warning of eternal punishment, but as a description of the cosmic order, a natural process where souls are sorted according to their essential nature. The separation is not a cruel act by the farmer, but a necessary one, ensuring that the harvest can reach its purpose; that the wheat is not spoiled by the presence of the tares.

The parable of the wheat and the tares, understood through the lenses of mitigated dualism and predestination, offers a complex and profound understanding of the divine order. It suggests that while evil may intrude into the world, it does not negate the underlying goodness and order of the Creator. The final separation, understood as a natural ordering of souls based on their intrinsic natures, is not arbitrary, but rather a consequence of the seeds that were sown, reflecting the choices made in the light of those natures. It invites us to consider the fundamental qualities of our own being, and to recognise the inherent nature of actions, choices, and the trajectory of our spiritual development.