MAN'ICHIEISM. A speculative religious system of Western Asia. founded by Mani (q.v.) in the third century of our era. The ideas upon which it was based probably originated in Baby lonia, but it assimilated others of Persian (Zoro astrian) and Christian origin, and perhaps some from Buddhism, although this has been ques tioned by recent critics. The Christianity from which it borrowed was of the Gnostic type (see GNOSTICISM), and Maniclueisin has been called. not improperly, 'the most complete Gnosis.' Its western branch came closely in contact Mtith the Church, and appropriated so many Christian ideas and usages that. it was sometimes regarded as a heresy, although it. was properly a rival system. It differed from Christianity. among other things, in its complete rejection of the Old Testament.
The dualism which Mani taught was radical and matcrialiidie, postulating two opposite origi nal domains, represented respectively by light and darkness, good and evil. They are from eternity contiguous, yet distinct and separate. The kingdom of light included both a heaven and an earth, the latter guarded by angels (,roust. This kingdom lies its Good Spirit, or God, whose attributes are set forth in a series of ten (some say twelve) virtues. It is not certain that Alan] assumed a second god for his king dom of darkness, hut this kingdom was at least personified. and from it sprang Satan and the evil demons. There is an earth of darkness, analogous to the earth of light, and its live quali ties—all obviously evil—are mist, heat. the sirocco, darkness, and vapor. What might be called the equilibrium of the two kingdoms was destroyed by Satan, who overstepped his own boundaries amt invaded the light realm. To op pose him God created 'primal limn,' who should be the champion of the invaded kingdom and fight its battles against the evil demons. All this is the prelude to human history.
31ankind came into existence after a long cosmic process, everywhere attended by disturb ance and disaster. Light and dark elements had already become entangled with one another and the conflict had begun before the creation of our present world, but with the advent of humanity it began to wax keener and more tragic. All men
are compounds of light and darkness in varying proportion, and these wage their conflict in each individual. The destiny of the race is to have its light portions finally liberated, which result will accompany the restoration of the lost cosmic order in the universe. Some of the accounts rep resent the signs of the Zodiac as playing an im portant part in gathering together the scattered particles of light. We also hear of a great final catastrophe, which Filial] bring the whole process to an abrupt conclusion. The influence of a docetie Christianity appears in Western Mani elurism in the notion of the 'Jesus patihilis' and 'impatihilis.' The former term was applied to the light which had become diffused throughout the world, By a peculiar application of the proper name Jesus, the sum total of these par ticles came to be regarded as a being capable of suffering, and actually enduring it, through con tact with evil matter. The other term, 'Jesus impatibilis.' means a sort of phantom, attendant upon the historic Jesus, but not partaker of his human experiences or sufferings. Be was rather a messenger descended from the realm of light to aid in the world's redemption. In this work other prophets had taken part, and to crown the series llani himself appeared, the final prophet of human history.
The Maniehreans fall into two classes, the per feel i. or fully initiated members of the society, and the ant-Mores, hearers or novitiates. The 'hearers' constituted by far the larger body, and held the 'perfect' in the highest veneration. Saint Augustine, before his conversion to Chris tianity, was for nine years a Manichean 'hearer.' The elect followed the ascetic rule of life, being distinguished by their threefold 'seal' of mouth, bands, and bosom. The signneulum oris required abstinence from all defilement through evil speech or animal food; the signaeulunt mannum, abstinence from all avoidable contact with the 'material world; and the signaeulurn sinus, abstinence from and from all sexual indulgence. The uninitiated were satisfied with a less exacting moral standard, and lived very much as other men and women do.