Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/507

Rh MANIC HJEISM 483 which, is in all probability identical with the &quot; holy gospel &quot; of the Maniclueans (mentioned in the Acta Archel. and many other authorities). It was this work which the Manichaians set up in opposition to the Gospels. Besides these principal works, Mani also wrote a large number of smaller treatises and epistles. The practice of writing epistles was continued by his successors. These Manichsean dissertations also became known in the Grseco-Roman empire, and existed in collections. 1 There also existed a Manichsean book of memorabilia, and of prayers, in Greek, as well as many others, 2 all of which were destroyed by the Christian bishops acting in conjunction with the authorities. A Manichsean epistle, addressed to one Marcellus, has, however, been preserved for us in the Ada Archelai. 3 Though the leading features of Manichaaan doctrine can be exhibited clearly even at the present day, and though it is undoubted that Mani himself drew up a com plete system, many details are nevertheless uncertain, since they are differently described in different sources, and it often remains doubtful which of the accounts that have been transmitted to us represents the original teaching of the founder. The Manichaean system is one of consistent, uncompro mising dualism, in the form of a fantastic philosophy of nature. The physical and the ethical are not distinguished, and in this respect the character of the system is thoroughly materialistic ; for when Mani coordinates good with light, and evil with darkness, this is no mere figure of speech, but light is actually the only good, and darkness the only evil. From this it follows that religious knowledge can be nothing else than the knowledge of nature and her elements, and that redemption can only consist in a physical process of freeing the element of light from the darkness. Under such circumstances ethics becomes a doctrine of abstinence in regard to all elements which have their source within the sphere of darkness. The self-contradictory character of the present world forms the point of departure for Mani s speculations. This contradiction presents itself to his mind primarily as elemental, and only in the second instance as ethical, jnasmuch as he considers the sensual nature of man to be the outflow of the evil elements in nature. From the contradictory character of the world he concludes the existence of two beings, originally quite separate from each other light and darkness. Each is to be thought of according to the analogy of a kingdom. Light presents itself to us as the good primal spirit (God, radiant with the ten [twelve] virtues of love, faith, fidelity, high-minded- ness, wisdom, meekness, knowledge, understanding, mystery, and insight), and then further as the heavens of light and the earth of light, with their guardians the glorious aeons. Darkness is likewise a spiritual kingdom (more correctly, it also is conceived of as a spiritual and feminine person ification), but it has no &quot;God&quot; at its head. It embraces an &quot; earth of darkness.&quot; As the earth of light has five tokens (the mild zephyr, cooling wind, bright light, quickening fire, and clear water), so has the earth of darkness also five (mist, heat, the sirocco, darkness, and 1 A /3ij3A.ioj/ eirirrTo&amp;gt;v is spoken of in the formula of abjuration, and an Epistola ad mrginem Menoch by Augustine. Fabricius has collected the &quot;Greek fragments of Manichasan Epistles &quot; in his Biblio- theca Orssca (vii. p. 311 sq. ). 2 The Canticum amatorium is cited by Augustine. 3 Zittwitz assumes that this epistle was in its original form of much larger extent, and that the author of the Acts took out of it the matter for the speeches which he makes Mani deliver during his disputation with Bishop Archelaus. The same scholar traces back the account by Turbo in the Acts, and the historical data given in the fourth section, to the writings of Turbo, a Mesopotamian, who is assumed to have been a Manichsean renegade and a Christian. But as to this difference of opinion is at least allowable. vapour). Satan with his demons was born from the kingdom of darkness. These two kingdoms stood opposed to each other from all eternity, touching each other on one side, but remaining unmingled. Then Satan began to rage, and made an incursion into the kingdom of light, into the earth of light. The God of light, with his syzygy, &quot; the spirit of his right hand,&quot; now begot the primal man, and sent him, equipped with the five pure elements, to fight against Satan. But the latter proved himself the stronger, and the primal man was for a moment vanquished. And, although the God of light himself now took to the field, and with the help of new aeons (the spirit of life, &amp;lt;fec.), inflicted total defeat upon Satan, and set the primal man free, the latter had already been robbed of part of his light by the darkness, and the five dark elements had already mingled themselves with the generations of light. It only remained now for the primal man to descend into the abyss, and prevent the further increase of the generations of darkness by cutting off their roots ; but he could not immediately separate again the elements that had once mingled. These mixed elements are the elements of the present visible world, which was formed from them at the command of the God of light. The forming of the world is in itself the beginning of the deliverance of the imprisoned elements of light. The world is represented as an orderly structure of various heavens and various earths, which is borne and supported by the seons, the angels of light. It possesses in the sun and moon, which are in their nature almost quite pure, large reservoirs, in which the portions of light that have been rescued are stored up. In the sun dwells the primal man himself, as well as the glorious spirits which carry on the work of redemption ; in the moon the mother of life is enthroned. The twelve constellations of the zodiac form an ingenious machine, a great wheel with buckets, which pour into the sun and moon, those shining ships that sail continually through space, the portions of light set free from the world. Here they are purified anew, and attain finally to the kingdom of pure light and to God Himself. The later Western Manichseans termed those portions of light which are scattered throughout the world in its ele ments and organisms awaiting their deliverance, the Jesus patibilis. It is a significant mark of the materialistic and inhuman character of the system that, while the formation of the world is considered as a work of the good spirits, the creation of man is referred to the princes of darkness. The first man Adam was engendered by Satan in conjunc tion with &quot;sin,&quot; &quot;cupidity,&quot; &quot;desire.&quot; But the spirit of darkness drove into him all the portions of light he had stolen, in order to be able to dominate them the more securely. Hence Adam is a discordant being, created in the image of Satan, but carrying within him the stronger spark of light. Eve is given him by Satan as his com panion. She is seductive sensuousness, though also having in her a small spark of light. But if the first human beings thus stood entirely under the dominion of the devil, the glorious spirits took them under their care from the very outset, sending aeons down to them (including Jesus), who instructed them regarding their nature, and in particu lar warned Adam against sensuality. But this first man fell under the temptation of sexual desire. Cain and Abel indeed are not sons of Adam, but of Satan and Eve ; Seth, however, who is full of light, is the offspring of Adam by Eve. Thus did mankind come into existence, its various members possessing very different shares of light, but the men having uniformly a larger measure of it than the women. In the course of history the demons sought to bind men to themselves by means of sensuality, error, and false religions (among which is to be reckoned above all