“... In the sect's belief, men are forced to go one way or the other and are denied the freedom of choice between the opposite ways: In the hand of the Prince of Lights (is) the dominion of all the Sons of Righteousness; in the ways of light they walk. But in the hand of the Angel of Darkness (is) the dominion of the Sons of Deceit; and in the ways of darkness they walk (1QS 3:20-21). The Essene concept of two spirits is closely connected with this notion of predetermination. There is no doubt that in the above quotation the Prince of Lights is synonymous with the Spirit of Truth and the Angel of Darkness is equivalent to the Spirit of Deceit. The function of the two spirits is to control all people for good and evil and men are assigned to one or the other spirit as a result of the will of God. In 1QS 3:13-4:26 it is not the Two Ways that are decisive but the two spirits. [...] How is this situation to be explained? The presence of the ways and spirits side by side tends to support the suspicion that in Qumran the Two Ways are substituted by the two spirits as a consequence of predestinarian thought. This suggestion is corroborated by other sources. Dualistic beliefs in terms of predetermination are found in various Jewish writings which, although not sectarian in character, probably belonged to the wider Essene movement such as Jub 10:1.9.11; 15:31b-32a; Sir 42:24-25; T. Asher 1:8-9; 3:3; 6:2, and 6:4-6. It was observed in the previous section, however, that almost all Two Ways metaphors (dualistic or otherwise) of the period presuppose man's free decision between the two alternative paths of conduct. It is not by the Two Spirits that each man is led astray or aright but by his own free will. In the dualistic form of the Two Ways – underlying the Didache, Doctrina and Barnabas – this same idea is echoed. The Two Ways are, really two paths open to man. One may thus argue with some assurance that in Qumran the emphasis might have been deliberately shifted from freedom of choice and moral responsibility, represented by the option on the part of man between the Two Ways, to man's incorporation into two cosmic and ethical domains ruled by the two spirits. ...”