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Manichaeism (; in ; p=Móníjiào) was a major World religions founded in the third century CE by the Parthian EmpireYarshater, Ehsan The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3 (2), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1983. Iranian peoples prophet Mani (216–274) in the Sasanian Empire. It taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good spiritual world of Divine light, and an evil material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of the divine.
Mani's teachings were intended to integrate, succeed, and surpass the "partial truths" of various prior faiths and belief systems, including Platonism, (2026). 9789004223837, Brill. ISBN 9789004223837 Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnosticism, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian religion, other ancient Mesopotamian religions,Widengren, Geo Mesopotamian elements in Manichaeism (King and Saviour II): Studies in Manichaean, Mandaean, and Syrian-gnostic religion, Lundequistska bokhandeln, 1946. and the Greco-Roman mysteries.Arendzen, John (1 October 1910). " Manichæism ". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: The Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Some forms of Manichaeism viewed Mani as the Last prophet after Zoroaster, the Buddha, and Jesus. The canon of Manichaean scripture included seven works attributed to Mani, written originally in the Syriac language. Manichaean sacramental rites included prayers, almsgiving, and fasting. Communal life centered on confession and the singing of hymns.
With its message of universal salvation and emphasis on active proselytism, Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread throughout Aramaic-speaking regions, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. It thrived between the third and seventh centuries CE, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as Roman Iberia.Andrew Welburn, Mani, the Angel and the Column of Glory: An Anthology of Manichaean Texts (Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1998), p. 68 Before the spread of Islam, Manichaeanism was briefly the main rival to early Christianity. It was increasingly persecuted both by the Roman state and the nascent Christian church, largely disappearing from Roman lands by the end of the sixth century.R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37
Manichaeism survived and expanded in the East. It maintained its historic presence in West Asia until being repressed by the latter Abbasid Caliphate rulers in the 10th century. Trade and missionary activity brought Manichaeism to Tang dynasty in the seventh century, where it developed into its own local form. Manichaeism was the official religion of the Uyghur Khaganate until its collapse in 830; shortly thereafter, it was banned by the Tang court but experienced a resurgence under the later Mongol Yuan dynasty during the 13th and 14th centuries. Continued persecution by Chinese emperors led to Manichaeism becoming subsumed into Buddhism and Taoism before the end of the 14th century.
Some historic Manichaean sites still exist in China, including the temple of Cao'an in Jinjiang, Fujian, and the religion may have influenced later movements in the European Middle Ages, including Paulicianism, Bogomilism, and Catharism. While most original Manichean writings have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived.
In English, an adherent of Manichaeism is called a Manichaean, Manichean, or Manichee.
Mani composed seven works, six of which were written in the late-Aramaic Syriac language. The seventh, the Shabuhragan,Middle Persian Sources: D. N. MacKenzie, Mani's Šābuhragān, pt. 1 (text and translation), BSOAS 42/3, 1979, pp. 500–34, pt. 2 (glossary and plates), BSOAS 43/2, 1980, pp. 288–310. was written by Mani in Middle Persian and presented to the Sasanian emperor Shapur I by Mani himself. Although there is no evidence that Shapur I was a follower of Mani, he tolerated the spread of Manichaeism and refrained from persecuting it within his empire's boundaries.Welburn (1998), pp. 67–68
According to Michel Tardieu, Mani invented the unique version of the Syriac script known as the Manichaean alphabet, which was used in all Manichaean works written within the Sasanian Empire, whether in Syriac or Middle Persian, as well as in most works written within the Uyghur Khaganate. The primary language of Babylonia—and the administrative and cultural language of the Empire—at that time was Eastern Middle Aramaic, which had three principle dialects: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, the language of the Babylonian Talmud; Mandaic language, the language of Mandaeism; and Syriac, which was the language of Mani and the Syriac Christians.
During the spread of Manichaeism, established religions like Zoroastrianism remained prevalent, while early Christianity was gaining both social and political influence. Despite having fewer followers, Manichaeism attracted the support of several high-ranking political figures. With the backing of the Sasanian Empire, Mani embarked on missionary expeditions. However, after failing to gain the favor of the next generation of Persian royalty and facing disapproval from the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani was imprisoned and ultimately died awaiting execution by the Persian emperor Bahram I. His death is estimated to have occurred around 276–277 CE.
Mani began preaching at an early age and was possibly influenced by contemporary Babylonian-Aramaic movements like Mandaeism; Aramaic translations of Jewish canon Jewish apocalyptic works similar to those found at Qumran (e.g., the Book of Enoch); and by the Syriac dualist Gnostic writer Bardaisan (who lived a generation before Mani). With the discovery of the Cologne Mani-Codex, it also became clear that his history with the Elcesaites influenced his writings.
Mani taught that the soul of a righteous individual returns to Paradise upon death. In contrast, the soul of someone who indulges in earthly desires—such as fornication, procreation, accumulating possessions, cultivating the land, harvesting, eating meat, and drinking wine—faces condemnation and is destined to be reborn in a cycle of different bodies.
According to biographies preserved by ibn al-Nadim and the Persian polymath al-Biruni, Mani received a revelation as a youth from a spirit, whom he would later call his "Twin" (; ); (), in the Cologne Mani-Codex; "Double"; "Protective Angel"; or "Divine Self". This spirit taught him wisdom, which he later developed into a religion. It was his "twin" who brought Mani to self-realization. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete of the Truth promised by Jesus in the book of John 14:16 of the New Testament.
According to the scholar of Manichaeism Samuel N. C. Lieu, the theological roles of Jesus in Manichaeism were highly complex:
Augustine of Hippo also noted that Mani declared himself to be an "apostle of Jesus Christ". Manichaean tradition is noted to have claimed that Mani was the reincarnation of religious figures from previous eras, including the Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus himself.
Academics note that much of what is known about Manichaeism comes from later 10th- and 11th-century Muslims historians like al-Biruni and ibn al-Nadim in his al-Fihrist; the latter "ascribed to Mani the claim to be the Seal of the Prophets." However, given the Islamic milieu of Arabian Peninsula and Persia at the time, it stands to reason that Manichaeans would regularly assert in their evangelism that Mani, not Muhammad, was the Seal of the Prophets. In reality, for Mani, the metaphorical expression "Seal of Prophets" was not a reference to his finality in a lineage of prophets as it means in Islam, but rather as final to his followers (who attest to his message as a "seal").C. Colpe, "Das Siegel der Propheten: historische Beziehungen zwischen Judentum, Judenchristentum, Heidentum und frühem Islam", Arbeiten zur neutestamentlichen Theologie und Zeitgeschichte, 3 (Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1990), 227–243.G. G. Stroumsa, The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity, Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 68.
Other textual sources of Mani's scripture were the Aramaic Jewish Book of Enoch, 2 Enoch, and The Book of Giants. Mani quoted the latter directly and expanded upon it, making it—a specifically Manichaean version—one of the six original Syriac writings of the Manichaeans. Besides short references by non-Manichaean authors through the centuries, no original editions of the Manichaean Book of Giants were available until the 20th century.
Scattered fragments of both the original Aramaic Book of Giants, which was analyzed and published by Józef Milik in 1976,J. T. Milik, ed. and trans., The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976. and the Manichaean version of the same name (analyzed and published by Walter Bruno Henning in 1943)In: Henning, W. B., The Book of Giants, BSOAS, Vol. XI, Part 1, 1943, pp. 52–74. were discovered along with the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judaean Desert in the 20th century and the Manichaean writings of the Uyghurs Manichaean kingdom in Turpan. Henning wrote in his analysis of them:
By comparing the cosmology of the books of Enoch to the Book of Giants, as well as the description of the Manichaean myth, scholars have observed that the Manichaean cosmology can be described as being based, in part, on the description of the cosmology developed in detail within the literature.Reeves, John C. Jewish Lore in Manichaean Cosmogony: Studies in the Book of Giants Traditions (1992) This literature describes the being who the prophets saw in their ascent to Heaven as a king who sits on a throne in the highest of the heavens. In Manichaean myth, this being, the "Great King of Honor", became a deity who guards the entrance to the World of Light, placed at the seventh of ten heavens.See Henning, A Sogdian Fragment of the Manichaean Cosmogony, BSOAS, 1948 In the Aramaic Book of Enoch, the Qumran writings, overall, and in the original Syriac section of Manichaean scriptures quoted by Theodore bar Konai, he is called malkā rabbā d-iqārā ("the Great King of Honor").
Mani was also influenced by writings of the gnostic Bardaisan (154–222 CE), who, like Mani, wrote in Syriac and presented a dualistic interpretation of the world in terms of light and darkness in combination with elements from Christianity.
Noting Mani's travels to the Kushan Empire (several religious paintings in Bamyan are attributed to him) at the beginning of his proselytizing career, Richard Foltz postulates Buddhist influences in Manichaeism:
Lokakṣema, a Buddhist monk living in second-century Kushan, began translating the scriptures of Pure Land Buddhism into Chinese during the century preceding Mani's advent. Extant Chinese Manichaean texts frequently employ uniquely Buddhist terms taken from the Pure Land scriptures, including the term "pure land" (p=jìngtǔ) itself, argued Peter Bryder.Peter Bryder, The Chinese Transformation of Manichaeism: A Study of Chinese Manichaean Terminology, 1985. However, the central object of veneration in Pure Land Buddhism, Amitābha, the "Buddha of Infinite Light", does not appear in Chinese Manichaeism and seems to have been replaced by another deity.
In 291, persecution arose in the Sasanian Empire with the murder of the apostle Mar Sisin orchestrated by Emperor Bahram II and the slaughter of many Manichaeans. In 302, the first official Roman state reaction and legislation against Manichaeism was issued under Diocletian. In an official edict entitled De Maleficiis et Manichaeis, compiled in the Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum, and addressed to the proconsul of Africa, Diocletian wrote:
By 354, Hilary of Poitiers wrote that Manichaeism was a significant force in Roman Gaul. In 381, Christians requested that Theodosius I strip Manichaeans of their civil rights. Starting in 382, the emperor issued a series of edicts to suppress Manichaeism and punish its followers.Lieu, Samuel (1992) Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China 2d edition, pp. 145–148
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) converted to Christianity from Manichaeism in the year 387. The Roman emperor Theodosius I had issued a decree ordering the execution of all Manichaean monks in 382, and would establish Christianity as the Roman state religion in 391. Due to Roman persecution, Manichaeism nearly disappeared from Western Europe in the fifth century and from the Byzantine Empire of the empire in the sixth century.
According to his Confessions, after nine or ten years of adhering to the Manichaean faith as a member of the group of "hearers", Augustine of Hippo became a Christian and potent adversary of Manichaeism (which he expressed in writing against his Manichaean opponent Faustus of Mileve), seeing adherents' belief that knowledge (i.e., gnosis) was salvific as too passive and unable to affect change in one's life.
Some modern scholars have suggested that Manichaean ways of thinking influenced the development of some of Augustine's ideas, such as the nature of good and evil; the concept of hell; the separation of groups into 'elect', 'hearers', and 'sinners'; hostility toward human experience and sexual activity; and his dualistic theology.A. Adam, Das Fortwirken des Manichäismus bei Augustin. In: ZKG (69) 1958, S. 1–25.
After the Tang dynasty, some Manichaean groups participated in . Many rebel leaders used religion to mobilize followers. In Song dynasty and Yuan dynasty China, remnants of Manichaeism continued to leave a legacy, contributing to sects such as the Red Turbans. During the Song dynasty, the Manichaeans were derogatorily referred by the Chinese as Chīcài shìmó (c=吃菜事魔, meaning that they "abstain from meat and worship demons").
An account in Fozu Tongji, an important historiography of Buddhism in China compiled by Buddhist scholars during 1258–1269, states that the Manichaeans worshipped the "White Buddha" and that their leader wore a violet headgear, while their followers wore white costumes. Many Manichaeans participated in rebellions against the Song government, which were eventually quelled. After that, all governments suppressed Manichaeism and its followers, and the religion was banned in Ming dynasty in 1370. While it had long been thought that Manichaeism arrived in China only at the end of the seventh century, a recent archaeological discovery demonstrated that it was already known there in the second half of the 6th century.Étienne de la Vaissière, "Mani en Chine au VIe siècle", Journal asiatique, 293–1 (2005): 357–378.
The nomadic Uyghur Khaganate lasted for less than a century (744–840) in the southern Siberian steppe, with the fortified city of Ordu-Baliq on the Upper Orkhon River as its capital. (2026). 9781610695664, CA, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781610695664 Before the end of the year (763), Manichaeism was declared the official religion of the Uyghur state. Boku Tekin banned all shamanistic rituals previously in use. His subjects likely accepted his decision. That much results from a report that the proclamation of Manichaeism as the state religion was met with enthusiasm in Ordu-Baliq. In an inscription in which the Kaghan speaks for himself, he promised the Manichaean high priests (the "Elect") that if they gave orders, he would promptly follow them and respond to their requests. An incomplete manuscript found in the Turpan gives Boku Tekin the title of zahag-i Mani ("Emanation of Mani" or "Descendant of Mani"), a title of majestic prestige among the Manichaeans of Central Asia.
Nonetheless, despite the apparently willing conversion of the Uyghurs to Manichaeanism, traces of previous shamanistic practices persisted. For instance, in 765, only two years after the official conversion, during a military campaign in China, Uyghur troops called upon magicians to perform several specific rituals. Manichaean Uyghurs continued to treat with great respect a sacred forest in Otuken. The conversion to Manichaeism led to an explosion of manuscript production in the Tarim Basin and Gansu (the region between the Tibetan and the Huangtu plateaus), which lasted well into the early 11th century. In 840, the Uyghur Khaganate collapsed under the attacks of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, and the new Uyghur state of Qocho was established with a capital in the city of Gaochang.
Al-Jahiz (776–868 or 869) believed that the peaceful lifestyle that Manicheism brought to the Uyghurs was responsible for their later lack of military skills and eventual decline. This, however, is contradicted by the political and military consequences of the conversion. After the Uyghurs migrated to Turfan in the ninth century, the nobility maintained Manichaean beliefs for a time before converting to Buddhism. Traces of Manicheism among the Uyghurs in Turfan may be detected in fragments of Uyghur Manichaean manuscripts. In fact, Manichaeism continued to rival Buddhism in influence among the Uyghurs until the 13th century. The Mongols gave the final blow to Manichaeism among the Uyghurs.
Not only were the citizens of the Sasanian Empire intrigued by Manichaeism, but so was the ruler at the time of its introduction, Shapur I. As the Denkard reports, Shapur, the first King of Kings, was very well-known for gaining and seeking knowledge of any kind. Because of this, Mani knew that Shapur would lend an ear to his teachings and accept him. Mani had explicitly stated while introducing his teachings to Shapur, that his religion should be seen as a reform of Zoroaster's teachings. This was of great fascination to the king, for it perfectly fit Shapur's dream of creating a large empire that incorporated all people and their different creeds. Thus, Manichaeism became widespread and flourished throughout the Sasanian Empire for thirty years. An apologia for Manichaeism ascribed to ibn al-Muqaffa' defended its Phantasmagoria cosmogony and attacked the fideism of Islam and other monotheistic religions. The Manichaeans had sufficient structure to have a head of their community.
Tolerance toward Manichaeism decreased after the death of Shapur I. His son, Hormizd I, who became king, still allowed for Manichaeism in the empire, but he also greatly trusted the Zoroastrian priest, Kartir. After Hormizd's short reign, his oldest brother, Bahram I, became king. Bahram I held Kartir in high esteem, and he also had many religious ideals different from those of Hormizd and his father, Shapur I. Due to Kartir's influence, Zoroastrianism was strengthened throughout the empire, which in turn diminished Manichaeism. Bahram sentenced Mani to prison, and he died there.
During the early Abbasid period, the Manichaeans underwent persecution. The third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, persecuted the Manichaeans, establishing an inquisition against dualists who, if found guilty of heresy, refused to renounce their beliefs and were executed. Their persecution was ended in the 780s by Harun al-Rashid.Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the fourth century, 1984, p. 425. During the reign of the caliph al-Muqtadir, many Manichaeans fled from Mesopotamia to Greater Khorasan in fear of persecution, and the base of the religion was later shifted to Samarkand.
Mar Ammo traveled to the previous Parthian lands of eastern Iran, which bordered Bactria. A translation of Persian texts states the following from the perspective of Mar Ammo: "They had arrived at the watch post of Kushān (Bactria), then the spirit of the border of the eastern province appeared in the shape of a girl, and he (the spirit) asked me, 'Ammo, what do you intend? From where have you come?' I said, 'I am a believer, a disciple of Mani, the Apostle.' That spirit said, 'I do not receive you. Return from where you have come.'"
Despite the initial rejection Mar Ammo faced, the text records that Mani's spirit appeared to Mar Ammo and asked him to persevere and read the chapter "The Collecting of the Gates" from The Treasure of the Living. Once he did so, the spirit returned, transformed, and said, "I am Bag Ard, the frontier guard of the Eastern Province. When I receive you, then the gate of the whole East will be opened in front of you." It seemed that this "border spirit" was a reference to the local Eastern Iranian goddess Ardoksho, who was prevalent in Bactria.'', from left to right: Mani, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus]]
As the faith spread eastward and its scriptures were translated into Iranian languages, the names of the Manichaean deities were often transformed into those of Zoroastrian yazatas. Thus, Abbā ḏəRabbūṯā ("The Father of Greatness"), the highest Manichaean deity of Light, in Middle Persian texts might either be translated literally as pīd ī wuzurgīh or substituted with the name of the deity Zurvan.
Similarly, the Manichaean primordial figure Nāšā Qaḏmāyā ("The Original Man") was rendered Ohrmazd Bay after the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. This process continued in Manichaeism's meeting with Chinese Buddhism, during which, for example, the original Aramaic קריא (the "call" from the World of Light to those seeking rescue from the World of Darkness) is identified in the Chinese-language scriptures with Guanyin ( or Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, literally, "watching/perceiving sounds of", the bodhisattva of Compassion).
Manichaeism influenced some early texts and traditions of proto-orthodox and other forms of early Christianity, as well as doing the same for branches of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam.
Theodosius I issued a death decree for all Manichaean monks in 382. The religion was vigorously attacked and persecuted by both the Christian Church and the Roman state, and the religion almost disappeared from western Europe in the fifth century and from the eastern portion of the empire in the sixth century.
In 732, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang banned any Chinese from converting to the religion, calling it a heretical religion and confusing people by claiming it was Buddhism. However, the foreigners who followed the religion were allowed to practice it without punishment. After the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840, which was the chief patron of Manichaeism (which was also the state religion of the Khaganate) in China, all Manichaean temples in China except in the two capitals and Taiyuan were closed down and never reopened since these temples were viewed as a symbol of foreign arrogance by the Chinese (see Cao'an). Even those that were allowed to remain open did not for long.
The Manichaean temples were attacked by Chinese people who burned the images and idols of these temples. Manichaean priests were ordered to wear hanfu instead of traditional clothing, viewed as un-Chinese. In 843, Emperor Wuzong of Tang gave the order to kill all Manichaean clerics as part of the Huichang persecution of Buddhism, and over half died. They were made to look like Buddhists by the authorities; their heads were shaved, they were made to dress like bhikkhu, and then killed.
Many Manichaeans took part in rebellions against the Song dynasty. They were quelled by Song China and were suppressed and persecuted by all successive governments before the Mongol Yuan dynasty. In 1370, the religion was banned through an edict of the Ming dynasty, whose Hongwu Emperor had a personal dislike for the religion. Its core teaching influences many religious sects in China, including the White Lotus movement.
According to Wendy Doniger, Manichaeism may have continued to exist in the Xinjiang region until the Mongol conquest in the 13th century.
Manicheans also suffered persecution for some time under the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad. In 780, the third Abbasid Caliph, al-Mahdi, launched a campaign of inquisition against those who were "dualist heretics" or "Manichaeans," known as the zindīq. He appointed a "master of the heretics" ( ṣāhib al-zanādiqa), an official whose task was to pursue and investigate suspected dualists, who the Caliph then examined. Those found guilty who refused to recant their beliefs were executed.
This persecution continued under his successor, Caliph al-Hadi, and persisted for some time during the reign of Harun al-Rashid, who finally abolished it. During the reign of the 18th Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir, many Manichaeans fled from Mesopotamia to Greater Khorasan from fear of persecution by him, and about 500 of them assembled in Samarkand. The religion's base was later shifted to this city, which became its new Patriarchate.
Manichaean pamphlets were still in circulation in Greek in 9th-century Byzantine Empire Constantinople, as the patriarch Photios summarizes and discusses one that he has read by Agapius in his Bibliotheca.
Manichaeism could have influenced the Bogomils, Paulicians, and Cathars. However, these groups left few records, and the link between them and Manichaeans is tenuous. Regardless of its accuracy, the charge of Manichaeism was leveled at them by contemporary orthodox opponents, who often tried to make contemporary heresies conform to those combatted by the church fathers.
Whether the dualism of the Paulicians, Bogomils, and Cathars, and their belief that the world was created by a Satanic demiurge, were influenced by Manichaeism is impossible to determine. The Cathars apparently adopted the Manichaean principles of church organization. Priscillian and his followers may also have been influenced by Manichaeism. The Manichaeans preserved many Christian works, such as the Acts of Thomas, that would otherwise have been lost.Runciman, Steven, The Medieval Manichee: a study of the Christian dualist heresy. Cambridge University Press, 1947.
Some platforms on the internet and social media are spreading some of the teachings of Manichaeism. Some people are registered in these electronic sources, and some scholars and students in the field of religious studies and the arts continue to study Manichaeism. (2026). 9781610695664, CA, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781610695664
In 2018, rituals were conducted for the Lin Deng 林瞪 (1003–1059), a Chinese Manichaean leader who lived during the Song dynasty in the three villages of Baiyang 柏洋村, Shangwan 上万村, and Tahou 塔后村 in Baiyang Township, Xiapu County, Fujian.
The human person is seen as a battleground for these powers: the soul defines the person, but is influenced by light and dark. This contention plays out across the world, and the human body—neither the Earth nor the flesh was seen as intrinsically evil, but instead both possessed both light and dark aspects. Natural phenomena such as rain were seen as the physical manifestation of this spiritual contention. Therefore, the Manichaean view explained the existence of evil by positing a flawed creation in the formation of which God took no part and which constituted the product of a battle by the devil against God instead.
From these and other sources - the Hegemonius and the writings of Alexander of Lycopolis, Titus of Bostra, Severus of Antiochia, Theodoret, and Saint Augustine of Hippo - Hans Jonas developed a working description of the Manichaean cosmogony. A complete list of Manichaean deities is outlined below. The unfolding of the universe in the Manichaean cosmogony took place in three phases:
| Syriac | hawnā | maddeā | reyānā | maḥšavṯɑ | tariṯā |
| Parthian | bām | manohmēd | uš | andēšišn | parmānag |
| Chinese | |||||
| Turkic | qut | ög | köngül | saqinç | tuimaq |
| Greek | νοῦς (Nous) | ἔννοια (Ennoia) | φρόνησις (Phronēsis) | ἐνθύμησις (Enthymēsis) | λογισμός (Logismos) |
| Latin | mens | sensus | prudentia | intellectus | cogitatio |
The terms for these divisions were already common since the days of early Christianity, however, it had a different meaning in Christianity. In Chinese writings, the Middle Persian and Parthian terms are transcribed phonetically (instead of being translated into Chinese).G. Haloun and W. B. Henning, The Compendium of the Doctrines and Styles of the Teaching of Mani, the Buddha of Light, Asia Major, 1952, pp. 184–212, p. 195. These were recorded by Augustine of Hippo.
When Al-Nadim's account of daily prayers was the only detailed source available, there was a concern that Muslims only adopted these practices during the Abbasid Caliphate. However, it is clear that the Arabic text provided by Al-Nadim corresponds with the descriptions of Egyptian texts from the fourth century.Johannes van Oort Augustine and Manichaean Christianity: Selected Papers from the First South African Conference on Augustine of Hippo, University of Pretoria, 24–26 April 2012 BRILL, 01.08.2013 p. 74
Every prayer started with an ablution with water or, if water was not available, with other substances comparable to ablution in Islam,Charles George Herbermann The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, Band 9 Universal Knowledge Foundation, 1913 Digit. 16. Aug. 2006 p. 594 and consisted of several blessings to the apostles and spirits. The prayer consisted of prostrating oneself to the ground and rising again twelve times during every prayer.New Light on Manichaeism: Papers from the Sixth International Congress o p. 78 During the day, Manichaeans turned towards the Sun and during the night towards the Moon. If the Moon is not visible at night, they turned towards the north.
Evident from Faustus of Mileve, Celestial bodies are not the subject of worship themselves but are "ships" carrying the light particles of the world to the supreme god, who cannot be seen, since he exists beyond time and space, and also the dwelling places for Emanationism of the supreme deity, such as Jesus the Splendour.Johannes van Oort Augustine and Manichaean Christianity: Selected Papers from the First South African Conference on Augustine of Hippo, University of Pretoria, 24–26 April 2012 BRILL, 01.08.2013 p. 75 According to the writings of Augustine of Hippo, ten prayers were performed, the first devoted to the Father of Greatness, and the following to lesser deities, spirits, and angels and finally towards the elect, to be freed from rebirth and pain and to attain peace in the realm of light. Comparably, in the Uyghurs confession, four prayers are directed to the supreme God ( Äzrua), the God of the Sun and the Moon, and fivefold God and the buddhas.
The original six Syriac writings are not preserved, although their Syriac names have been. There are also fragments and quotations from them. A long quotation, preserved by the eighth century Nestorianism author Theodore Bar Konai,Original Syriac in: Theodorus bar Konai, Liber Scholiorum, II, ed. A. Scher, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium scrip. syri, 1912, pp. 311–8, ; English translation in: A.V.W. Jackson, Researches in Manichaeism, New York, 1932, pp. 222–54. shows that in the original Syriac Aramaic writings of Mani there was no influence of Iranian or Zoroastrianism terms. The terms for the Manichaean deities in the original Syriac writings are in Aramaic. The adaptation of Manichaeism to the Zoroastrian religion appears to have begun in Mani's lifetime however, with his writing of the Middle Persian Shabuhragan, his book dedicated to the Sasanian Empire, Shapur I.
In it, there are mentions of Zoroastrian divinities such as Ahura Mazda, Angra Mainyu, and Āz. Manichaeism is often presented as a Persian religion, mostly due to the vast number of Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian language (as well as Turkish) texts discovered by German researchers near Turpan in what is now Xinjiang, China, during the early 1900s. However, from the vantage point of its original Syriac descriptions (as quoted by Theodore Bar Khonai and outlined above), Manichaeism may be better described as a unique phenomenon of Aramaic Babylonia, occurring in proximity to two other new Aramaic religious phenomena, Talmudic Judaism and Mandaeism, which also appeared in Babylonia in roughly the third century.
The original, but now lost, six sacred books of Manichaeism were composed in Syriac language, and translated into other languages to help spread the religion. As they spread to the east, the Manichaean writings passed through Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian language, Tocharian, and ultimately Uyghur language and Chinese language translations. As they spread to the west, they were translated into Greek language, Coptic language, and Latin. Most Manichaean texts survived only as Coptic and Medieval Chinese translations of their original, lost versions.
Henning describes how this translation process evolved and influenced the Manichaeans of Central Asia:
In addition to containing hymns attributed to Mani, it contains prayers attributed to Mani's earliest disciples, including Mār Zaku, Mār Ammo and Mār Sīsin. Another Chinese work is a complete translation of the Sermon of the Light Nous, presented as a discussion between Mani and his disciple Adda."The Traité is, despite its title (Moni jiao cao jing, lit. "fragmentary Mathews, Manichean scripture"), a long text in an excellent state of preservation, with only a few lines missing at the beginning. It was first fully published with a facsimile by Edouard Chavannes (q.v.) and Paul Pelliot in 1911 and is frequently known as Traité Pelliot. Their transcription (including typographical errors) was reproduced in the Chinese translation of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka (Taishō, no. 2141 B, LIV, pp. 1281a16-1286a29); that text was in turn reproduced with critical notes by Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer (1987b, pp. T. 81–86). A more accurate transcription was published by Chen Yuan in 1923 (pp. 531–44), and a new collation based on a reexamination of the original photographs of the manuscript has now been published by Lin Wu-shu (1987, pp. 217–29), with the photographs",
In the time of the Apostles there lived a man named Scythianus, who is described as coming "from Scythia", and also as being "a Saracen by race" ("ex genere Saracenorum"). He settled in Egypt, where he became acquainted with "the wisdom of the Egyptians", and invented the religious system that was afterwards known as Manichaeism. Finally he emigrated to Palestine, and, when he died, his writings passed into the hands of his sole disciple, a certain Terebinthus. The latter betook himself to Babylonia, assumed the name of Budda, and endeavoured to propagate his master's teaching. But he, like Scythianus, gained only one disciple, who was an old woman. After a while he died, in consequence of a fall from the roof of a house, and the books that he had inherited from Scythianus became the property of the old woman, who, on her death, bequeathed them to a young man named Corbicius, who had been her slave. Corbicius thereupon changed his name to Manes, studied the writings of Scythianus, and began to teach the doctrines that they contained, with many additions of his own. He gained three disciples, named Thomas, Addas, and Hermas. About this time the son of the Persian king fell ill, and Manes undertook to cure him; the prince, however, died, whereupon Manes was thrown into prison. He succeeded in escaping, but eventually fell into the hands of the king, by whose order he was flayed, and his corpse was hung up at the city gate.
A. A. Bevan, who quoted this story, commented that it "has no claim to be considered historical".Bevan, A. A. (1930). "Manichaeism". Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume VIII. Ed. James Hastings. London.
Perhaps the most comprehensive of these publications was Manichaeische Dogmatik aus chinesischen und iranischen Texten ( Manichaean Dogma from Chinese and Iranian texts), by Ernst Waldschmidt and Wolfgang Lentz, published in Berlin in 1933.Waldschmidt, E., and Lentz, W., Manichäische Dogmatik aus chinesischen und iranischen Texten (SPAW 1933, No. 13) More than any other research work published before or since, this work printed, and then discussed, the original key Manichaean texts in the original scripts, and consists chiefly of sections from Chinese texts, and Middle Persian and Parthian texts transcribed with the Hebrew alphabet. After the Nazi Party gained power in Germany, the Manichaean writings continued to be published during the 1930s, but the publishers no longer used Hebrew letters, instead transliterating the texts into Latin letters.See this representative example, with the texts being published with Hebrew letters in 1932 and 1933, and in Latin letters in 1934: Mitteliranisch Manichaeica, SPAW 1932, 1933, 1934
The term is frequently used by critics to describe the attitudes and foreign policies of the United States and its leaders.
Philosopher Frantz Fanon frequently invoked the concept of Manicheanism in his discussions of violence between colonizers and the colonized.
In My Secret History, author Paul Theroux's protagonist defines the word Manichaean for the protagonist's son as "seeing that good and evil are mingled." Before explaining the word to his son, the protagonist mentions Joseph Conrad short story "The Secret Sharer" at least twice in the book, the plot of which also examines the idea of the duality of good and evil.
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