Manichaeism
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Manichean priests, writing at their desk, with panel inscription in Sogdian. Manuscript from Khocho, Tarim Basin. |
Manichaeism (in Modern
Persian آیین مانی
Āyin e Māni) was one of the major ancient
religions of Iranian origin. Though its organized form is mostly extinct today, a revival has been attempted under the name of
Neo-Manichaeism. However, most of the writings of the founding
prophet Mani (
Syriac, ܡܐܢܝ) have been lost. Some scholars argue that its influence subtly continues in Western
Christian thought via Saint
Augustine of Hippo, who converted to Christianity from Manichaeism, which he passionately denounced in his writings, and whose writing continues to be enormously influential among Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox theologians.
Manichaeism originated in 3rd Century
Babylon (a province of
Persia at the time), and reached, over the span of the next ten centuries, from
North Africa in the west, to
China in the East. The original texts of Manichaeism were composed in
Syriac-
Aramaic. As they spread to the east, the writings of the religion passed through
Middle Persian,
Parthian,
Sogdian, and ultimately
Uyghur Turkish and
Chinese translations. As they spread to the west, they were translated into
Greek,
Coptic, and
Latin. As Manichaeism passed through time, location, and language, it also adapted new religious deities from the surrounding religions into the Manichaean scriptures. Thus, as the original Aramaic texts were translated into Iranian languages, the names of the Manichaean deities (or angels) were often transformed into the names of
Zoroastrian yazatas. Thus
' ("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 for by the name of the deity Zurwān. Likewise, the Manichaean primal figure ' "The Original Man" likewise was rendered "Ohrmazd Bay", after the Zoroastrian god
Ahura Mazda. This development continued to Manichaeism's ultimate meeting with
Chinese Buddhism, where, for example, the original Aramaic "karia" (the "call" from the world of Light to those seeking rescue from the world of Darkness), becomes identified in the Chinese scriptures with
Guan Yin (觀音, literally, "hearing sounds [of the world]", the
Bodhisattva of Compassion in Chinese Buddhism).
Because Manichaeism is a faith that teaches
dualism, in modern English the word "manichean" has come to mean dualistic, presenting or viewing things in a "black and white" fashion.
The religion was founded in the third century AD by
Mani, who reportedly was born in western
Persia and lived approximately 210–276 AD. Mani resided in Babylon, which at the time was one of the many provinces of the Persian Empire. The primary language of Babylon at that time was Aramaic, which included three main dialects: Jewish
Aramaic (the language of the Talmud),
Mandaean Aramaic (the language of the Mandaean religion), and
Syriac Aramaic - which was the language of Mani, as well of the Syrian (including Nestorian) Christians. Mani is a
Persian name and fairly common name among the Aramaic speakers, being found in all three Aramaic dialects. Mani composed seven writings, six of which were written in Syriac Aramaic, the seventh being written in
Middle Persian and dedicated to the current ruler of
Persia,
Shapuhr.
The original six Syriac writings are not preserved, although we have their Syriac names, as well as fragments and quotations from them. A lengthy quotation, brought by the Syrian
Nestorian Christian, Theodor bar-Khonai, in the 7th century, shows clearly that in the original Syriac Aramaic writings of Mani, there was absolutely no influence of Iranian or
Zoroastrian terms. All terms for the Manichaean deities in the original Syriac writings, are in pure Aramaic. The adaptation of Manichaeism to the Zoroastrian religion, however, did begin in Mani's lifetime, with his writing of the Middle Persian Shabuhragan, his book dedicated to the King Shapuhr. In it, we find mention of Zoroastrian deities such as Ohrmazd, Ahriman, and Az. Manichaeism is often presented as a Persian religion, mostly due to the vast number of Middle Persian, Parthian, and Soghdian (as well as Turkish) texts discovered by German researchers near
Turfan, in the
Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) province of China, during the early 1900s. Looking at the phenomenon of Manichaeism from the point of view of its origins, however, it is no more accurate to say that Manichaeism is a Persian or Iranian religion, than it would be to say that Jewish Talmudism or Babylonian Mandaeism (both writing in Aramaic, as did Mani, and both originating in roughly the same time and place as Manichaeism - Babylon in the 3rd century CE) are Iranian religions.
The name
Mani is mainly a title and term of respect rather than a personal name. This title was assumed by the founder himself and so completely replaced his personal name that the precise form of the latter is not known. Mani's holy book was called
Aržang a
Parthian word meaning "Worthy", and was beautified with paintings. Therefore Iranians gave him the title of "The Painter".
Early 3rd-4th century Christian writers such as
Hippolytus and
Epiphanius write about a
Scythianus, who visited
India around 50 AD from where he brought "the doctrine of the Two Principles". According to these writers, Scythianus' pupil
Terebinthus presented himself as a "Buddha" ( "He called himself a Buddas" writings of
Cyril of Jerusalem. Terebinthus went to
Palestine and
Judaea where he met the
Apostles ("becoming known and condemned" Isaia), and ultimately settled in
Babylon, where he transmitted his teachings to
Mani, thereby creating the foundation of
Manicheism.
In the story of the Death of Mani (According to the Gnostic Bible by Willis Barnstone, here is one of many authenticating references proving the centrality of
Buddhism in Mani's formulation of Gnosticism):::It was a day of pain ::and a time of sorrow::when the messenger of light::entered death::when he entered complete
Nirvana"
Also, in the Great Song of Mani (13th-14th century) Mani is many times referred to as
Buddha Mani.
Mani was likely influenced by
Mandaeanism and began preaching at an early age. According to biographical accounts 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, his Syzygos, his Double, his Protective Angel or 'Divine Self'. This 'spirit' allegedly taught him divine truths which developed into the Manichaean religion. 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.
Another source of Mani's scriptures, was a section of the original Aramaic "
Book of Enoch", entitled "The Book of Giants". This book was quoted directly, and expanded on by Mani, to become one of the original six Syriac writings of the Manichaean Church. Besides brief references by non-Manichaean authors through the centuries, we had no original sources of "The Book of Giants" (which is actually part six of the "Book of Enoch"). Then, with the discovery in the twentieth century of the
Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judaean Desert, and of the Manichaean writings of the
Uigur Manichaean kingdom in
Turfan, we came into possession of some scattered fragments of both the original Aramaic "Book of Giants" (which were analyzed and published by J. T. Milik in 1976), and of the Manichaean version of the same name (analyzed and published by W.B. Henning in 1943). Henning writes there:
It is noteworthy that Mani, who was brought up and spent most of his life in a province of the Persian empire, and whose mother belonged to a famous Parthian family, did not make any use of the Iranian mythological tradition. There can no longer be any doubt that the Iranian names of Sām, Narīmān, etc., that appear in the Persian and Sogdian versions of the Book of the Giants, did not figure in the original edition, written by Mani in the Syriac language.
From a careful reading of the Book of Enoch and Book of Giants, alongside the description of the Manichaean myth, it becomes clear that the "Great King of Glory" of the Manichaean myth (this is a being that sits as a guard to the world of light at the seventh of ten heavens in the Manichaean myth, see Henning, A Sogdian Fragment of the Manichaean Cosmogony, BSOAS, 1948), is identical with the King of Glory sitting on the heavenly throne in the Book of Enoch. In the Aramaic book of Enoch, in the Qumran writings in general, and in the original Syriac section of Manichaean scriptures quoted by Theodor bar-Khonai, he is called "malka raba de-ikara" (the great king of glory).
While Manichaeism was spreading, the large existing religious groups such as Christianity and
Zoroastrianism were gaining social and political influence. 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 AD.
In Egypt a minuscule
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 most striking principle of Manichee theology is its
dualism, a theme gleaned from the Persian religion of
Zoroastrianism. Mani postulated two natures that existed from the beginning: light and darkness. The realm of light lived in peace, while the realm of darkness was in constant conflict with itself. The universe is the temporary result of an attack from the realm of darkness on the realm of light, and was created by the Living Spirit, an emanation of the light realm, out of the mixture of light and darkness.
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. Certain Muslim writers claimed it is a prophecy of Jesus regarding
Muhammad.
A key belief in Manichaeanism is that there is no omnipotent good power. This claim addresses a 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 incorruptible, 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.
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")
In the
Gnostic Bible, in the writings of the Death of Mani, Mani attains
Parinirvana. The word "Buddha" is frequently used in Manichean writings of later centuries according to the same work.
Other Indian religions might have influenced Manicheasm. In the 4th century,
Ephraim criticized Mani for adopting "the Lie" from India, promoting "two powers which were against each other".
In China Manichaean theology featured structural repetitions of images of woken light liberated from darkness: the Son of God was woken from demonic imprisonment by the Holy Spirit and escaped its darkness; conversion to Manicheanism was depicted both as an awakening and an illumination; and in death the converted spirit would escape the darkness of the body. Converts were only guaranteed salvation if they could continue this repetition and convert another in turn.
One of the striking features of Manichaeism from its inception, is that it presents an elaborate description of the conflict between the spiritual world of light and the material world of darkness. The beings of the world of darkness all have names, and the beings they attack in the world of light also have names. There are numerous sources for the details of the Manichaean myth (see "Sources for Manichaeism", below). We do have two portions of Manichaean scriptures, however, that are probably as close as we will ever come to the original Manichaean writings in their original languages.
These are the Syriac-Aramaic quotation by
Theodoer bar-Khonai, in his Syriac "Book of Sects" (
8th century), and the Middle Persian sections of Mani's
Shabhuragan discovered at
Turfan (published in BSOAS, 1979). It is very likely that these two sections are the original Syriac and Middle Persian written by Mani himself. From these alone we can derive a short example of the detailed nature of the Manichaean vision: At one point, the God of Light sends a representative ("original man", in Aramaic), to battle with the attacking powers of Darkness, which include the
Demon of Greed.
The original man is armed with five different shields of light, which he loses to the forces of darkness in the ensuing battle. A call is then issued from the world of Light to the Original Man ("call" is thus a Manichaean deity), and an answer ("answer" being another Manichaean deity) returns from the Original Man to the world of Light. The myth continues with many details of how light is captured into the world of matter, and eventually liberated by entrapping some great demons and causing them to become sexually aroused by "Twelve Virgins of Light", and expelling, against their will, the light from within their bodies. The light, though, is again entrapped in the world of darkness and matter, and the myth continues, eventually arriving to the creation of living beings in the material world, Adam and Eve, and Jesus appearing at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden.
Until discoveries in the 1900s of original sources, the only sources we had for Manichaeism were descriptions and quotations from non-Manichaean authors, either Christian, Muslim, or Zoroastrian. While these writers were often criticizing Manichaeism, they also brought many quotations directly from Manichaean scriptures. Thus we have always had quotations and descriptions in Greek and Arabic, as well as the long quotations in Latin by Saint Augustine, and the extremely important quotation in Syriac by Theodor bar-Khonai.
Then, in the early 1900s, German scholars excavated at the ancient site of the Manichaean Uigur Kingdom near Turfan, in Chinese Turkestan (destroyed around 1300). While most of the writings they uncovered were in very bad shape, there were still hundreds of pages of Manichaean scriptures, written in three Persian languages - Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian, as well as in old Turkish. These writings were taken back to Germany, and were analyzed and published at the Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin. While the vast majority of these writings were written in a version of the Syriac script known as "Manichaean script", the German researchers, perhaps for lack of suitable fonts, published most of the writings using Hebrew letters (which could easily be substituted for the 22 Syriac letters). It is interesting to note that after the Nazi party attained power in Germany, while the Manichaean writings continued to be published during the remainder of the 1930s, the publishers no longer used Hebrew letters, but instead transliterated the texts into Latin letters.
Additionally, in the early 1900s, German researchers found a large body of Manichaean works in Coptic, in Egypt. Though also damaged, there were many complete pages of Manichaean works, which again, were published in Berlin before World War II. Unfortunately, during the war, some of the Coptic Manichaean writings were destroyed.
After the success of the German researchers, French scholars went into China and discovered perhaps the most complete set of Manichaean writings ever, written in Chinese. These three Chinese writings are today kept in London, Paris, and Beijing. The original studies and analyses of these writings, along with their translations, originally appeared in French, English, and German, before and after World War II. The complete Chinese texts themselves were originally published in Tokyo, Japan in 1927, in the Taisho Tripitika, volume 54. For many years the Japanese publication was the standard reference for the Chinese texts, but in the last 30 years or so, they have been completely republished both in Germany (with a complete translation into German, alongside the 1927 Japanese edition), and in a new edition in China.
In the latter part of the 20th century, another Manichaean work, written in Greek, and describing the life of Mani, was discovered.
[[Image:ManichaeismSpread.jpg|thumb|380px|The spread of Manichaeism (300– AD 500). Map reference: World History Atlas, Dorling Kindersly.]]Manichaeism spread with extraordinary rapidity throughout both the east and west. It reached Rome through the apostle Psattiq by AD 280, who was also in Egypt in 244 and 251. The faith was flourishing in the
Fayum area of Egypt in 290. Manichaean monasteries existed in Rome in 312 during the time of the Christian Pope
Miltiades. By 354,
Hilary of Poitiers wrote that the Manichaean faith was a significant force in southern France.
The Manichaean faith was also widely persecuted. Mani was
martyred by the Persian 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. The religion was adopted by the
Uyghur 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.
When Christians first encountered Manichaeism, it seemed to them to be a heresy, as it had originated in a heavily
Gnostic area of Persia (Cross). Initially,
Augustine of Hippo had been a Manichean. According to his
Confessions of St. Augustine, after eight or nine years abiding to the Manichaean faith, he became Christian and a potent adversary of Manichaeism.
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 few records of their rituals or doctrines, and the link between them and Manicheans is tenuous. Regardless of its historical accuracy the charge of Manichaeism was levelled at them by contemporary orthodox opponents, who often tried to fit contemporary heresies with those combatted by the church fathers. 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. Only a minority of Cathars held that the evil god (or principle) was as powerful as the good god (also called a principle) as Mani did, a belief also known as absolute dualism. In the case of the Cathars, it seems they adopted the Manichee principles of church organization, but none of its
religious cosmology.
Priscillian and his followers apparently tried to absorb what they thought was the valuable part of Manichaeaism into Christianity.
Augustine, who was a "hearer" of Manichaeanism for nine years, eventually criticised their beliefs that knowledge was the key to salvation as being too passive and not being able to effect any change in one's life.:I still thought that it is not we who sin but some other nature that sins within us. It flattered my pride to think that I incurred no guilt and, when I did wrong, not to confess it... I preferred to excuse myself and blame this unknown thing which was in me but was not part of me. The truth, of course, was that it was all my own self, and my own impiety had divided me against myself. My sin was all the more incurable because I did not think myself a sinner.Ironically, the terms 'Manichean' and 'dualist' are often used to disparage Christians and others who have no sympathy with Manicheanism, and who in the past persecuted Manicheans as heretics. This followed from the Christian tenet that there can be a Satan that is not of the totality of God, the duality that there can be a God the Creator and that which is not of God the Creator.
*
Religions of the Silk Road by Richard C. Foltz, St Martin's Griffin, New York, ISBN 0312233388
*
The Manichaean Body: In Discipline and Ritual by Jason David BeDuhn, ISBN 0801871077
*
Mani, the Angel and the Column of Glory by Andrew Welburn, ISBN 0863152740
*
Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire by Iain Gardner and Samuel N. C. Lieu, ISBN 0521568226
* Mani (216–276/7) and his 'biography': the Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis (CMC):
* Albert Heinrichs, Ludwig Koenen,
"Ein griechischer Mani-Kodex', 1970 (ed.)
Der Kölner Mani-Codex ( P. Colon. Inv. nr. 4780), 1975–1982.
* Sir Alfred Chester Beatty: Charles Allberry (ed.)
A Manichean Psalm-Book, Part II, Stuttgart 1938.
*
Isaac de Beausobre,
Histoire critique de Manichée et du Manichéisme, Amsterdam 1734–1739.
* F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone.
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. London: Oxford UP, 1974.
* Zsuszanna Gulácsi, Manichaen art in Berlin Collections, Turnhout 2001. (Original Manichean manuscripts found since 1902 in China, Egypt, Turkestan, China to be seen in the Museum of Indan Art in Berlin).
* Francois Favre,
Mani, the Gift of Light, 5 May 2005, 'Renova' symposium, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
* Francis Legge,
Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity, From 330 B.C. to 330 A.D. (1914), reprinted in two volumes bound as one, University Books, New York, 1964. LC Catalog 64-24125.
*
Manichaeism Religions & Beliefs in Ancient Iran (CAIS)*
Catholic Encyclopedia - Manichæism*
International Association of Manichaean Studies*
Dualism and the relationship between Manichaeism, Bogomilism and Catharism
*
Manichaean Chronology*
The Manichaean - Christian Revolution*
Manichean Christianity Discussion List
*
Manichaean Writings*
A summary of the Manichaean creation myth*
Books on (Religious) Dualism Recommendations and Reviews
*
Rosicrucians: Who Are the Manichees? by Charles Weber, 2003
*
The Book of the Giants by W.B. Henning, 1943
*
Religions of Iran: Manichaeism by I.J.S. Taraporewala
Original Manichaean Sources:*
The Original Chinese Manichaean Scriptures Online (requires Chinese fonts).
*
Photos of the Entire Koeln Mani-Kodex (Greek)
Original Manichaean Sources - non-Manichaean authors:*
Augustine's Contra Epistolam Manichaei (Latin).
