Mani was likely influenced by Mandaeanism and began preaching at an early age. According to biographical accounts preserved by Ibn an-Nadim and al-Biruni, Mani received a revelation as a youth from a spirit, whom he would later call his Twin, his Syzygos, his Double, his Protective Angel or 'Divine Self'. This 'spirit' allegedly taught him divine truths which developed into the Manichaean religion. (This Syzygos resembles greatly the Jibril of Mohammed). His 'divine' Twin or true Self brought Mani to Self-realization and as such he becomes a 'gnosticus', someone with divine knowledge and a liberating insight into things. He claimed to be the 'Paraclete of the Truth', as promised in the New Testament: the Last Prophet and Seal of the Prophets that finalized a succession of men guided by God and included figures such as Zoroaster, Hermes, Plato, Buddha, and Jesus. In 2005, the lecturer Francois Favre said of Mani:
While Manichaeism was spreading, the large existing religious groups such as Christianity and Zoroastrianism were competing for greater political and social power. Although having fewer adherents than either group, Manichaeism won the support of many high-ranking political figures. With the aid of the Persian Empire, Mani initiated missionary excursions. After failing to win the favor of the next generation, and having the disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani is reported to have died in prison awaiting execution by the Persian Emperor Bahram I. The date of his death is fixed at 276-277 CE.
In Egypt a miniscule Codex was found and became known via antique dealers in Cairo. It was purchased by the University of Cologne in 1969, and two of its scientists Henrichs and Koenen produced the first edition of this ancient manuscript known since as the Cologne Mani-Codex, which they published in four articles in the Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. The content of the small Papyrus manuscript contained a Greek text describing the life of Mani. From this recent discovery, we know much more about the man who founded one of the most influential world religions of the past.
The Manichees made every effort to include all known religious traditions in their faith. As a result, they preserved many apocryphal Christian works, such as the Acts of Thomas, that otherwise would have been lost. Mani was eager to describe himself as a "disciple of Jesus Christ", but the Early Christian Church rejected him as a heretic. Mani declared himself, and was also referred to, as the Paraclete: a Biblical title, meaning "comforter" or "helper", which the Catholic tradition understood as referring to God in the person of the Holy Spirit. The title was also later applied to Muhammad.
Following Mani's travels to the Kushan Empire (several religious paintings in Bamiyan are attributed to him) at the beginning of his proselytizing career, various Buddhist influences seem to have permeated Manichaeism: "Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. The transmigration of souls became a Manichaean belief, and the quadripartite structure of the Manichaean community, divided between male and female monks (the "elect") and lay followers (the "hearers") who supported them, appears to be based on that of the Buddhist Sangha" (Richard Foltz, "Religions of the Silk Road")
A key belief in Manicheanism is that there is no omnipotent good power. This claim addresses theoretical part of The Problem of Evil by denying the infinite perfection of God and postulating the two equal and opposite powers mentioned previously. The human person is seen as a battleground for these powers, the good part is the Soul (which is composed of Light) and the bad part is the Body (composed of dark Earth). The soul defines the person and is noncorruptible, but it is under the domination of a foreign power, which addressed the practical part of The Problem of Evil. A human is said to be able to be saved from this power (matter) if they come to know who they are and identify themselves with their soul.
The Manichaean faith was also widely persecuted. Mani was martyred by the religious establishment in 277, which ironically helped to spread the sect widely. In 291, persecution arose in the Persian empire with the murder of the apostle Sisin by Bahram II, and the slaughtering of many Manichaeans. In 296, Diocletian decreed against the Manichaeans: "We order that their organizers and leaders be subject to the final penalties and condemned to the fire with their abominable scriptures.", resulting in numerous martyrs in Egypt and North Africa. In 381 Christians requested Theodosius I to strip Manichaeans of their civil rights. He issued a decree of death for Manichaean monks in 382. The faith maintained a sporadic and intermittent existence in the west (Mesopotamia, Africa, Spain, France, North Italy, the Balkans) for a thousand years, and flourished for a time in the land of its birth (Persia) and even further east in Northern India, Western China, and Tibet, where (c. 1000 CE) the bulk of the population professed its tenets and where it died out towards the 13th century. The religion was adopted by the Uighur ruler Bugug Khan (759-780), and it remained state religion for about 500 years before the invasion of the Mongols. In the east it spread along trade routes as far as Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty in China. In the 9th century, it is reported that the Muslim Caliph Ma'mun tolerated a community of Manichee.
How much long-term influence the Manichees actually had on Christianity is still being debated. It has been suggested that the Bogomils, Paulicians, and the Cathars were deeply influenced by Manichaeism. However, the Bogomils and Cathars, in particular, left no records of their ritual or doctrine, and the charge of Manichaeism was levelled at them by contemporary orthodox opponents. The Paulicians, Bogomils, and Cathars were certainly dualists and felt that the world was the work of a Demiurge of Satanic origin (Cross), but whether this was due to influence from Manichaeism or another strand of Gnosticism is impossible to determine. In the case of the Cathars, it seems they adopted the Manichee principles of church organization, but none of its Cosmology. Priscillian and his followers apparently tried to absorb what they thought was the valuable part of Manichaeaism into Christianity.
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}}??2}}}} |. }} The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy.
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}}}}}} |. }} The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy.
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