Manichaeism is ... Description, history, canons and interesting facts

History is constantly confronted with various religious trends stemming from the Christian doctrine, which somehow distorted it. The founders of such philosophical schools considered themselves to be enlightened messengers of God, who were given the right to possess the true. One of these was Mani. He became the ancestor of the strongest at the time the philosophical school of Manichaeism, which took hold of the minds of a large number of people, despite several fabulous and childish views on being.

The origin of the doctrine as a heresy in Christianity

под названием "манихейство" , широко распространившееся в своё время на Востоке и Западе, существовало скрыто, видоизменялось и в таких формах существует по сей день. Religious and philosophical doctrine called "Manichaeism" , widely spread in its time in the East and West, existed secretly, mutated and in such forms exists to this day. христианская ересь или обновлённый парсизм. There was a period when it was believed that Manichaeism is a Christian heresy or renewed parsism.

At the same time, there are authorities such as Harnack who recognize this current as an independent religion, placing it on a par with traditional world beliefs (Buddhism, Islam and Christianity). Мани, а место его происхождения – Месопотамия. The man who founded Manichaeism is Mani, and the place of his origin is Mesopotamia.

Spread

Gradually this direction spread throughout Central Asia throughout Central Asia, up to the Chinese Turkestan. Especially it was established in Carthage and Rome. But the influence of Manichaeism was not spared by other cultural centers of the West. It is known that the blessed Augustine Ipponius was a member of this philosophical society for ten years until he converted to Christianity. Even though the predominant religion of the East was Islam, the philosophy of Mani had followers there for many centuries. After it was eradicated. In the West and in the Byzantine Empire, it was not allowed to exist as an independent religious direction and subjected to cruel persecution.

Persecution and secret communities

As a result of this situation, religion was able to survive only in the form of secret communities under different names. It was these communities that began to support the new heretical currents that penetrated into Europe from the East in the 11th and 12th centuries. подверглись на Востоке и на Западе, не смогли помешать развитию этой философии. All the persecutions that Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism experienced in the East and in the West could not prevent the development of this philosophy. It grew into Pavlikianism, Bogomilism and after, already in the West, was transformed into the heretical current of the Albigensians.

The doctrine and essence of Manichaeism in the light of the history of the development of religious schools

Manichaeism can be interpreted as a transformed Zoroastrianism, in which there are quite a few impurities of other philosophies, from ancient Iranian to Christian. In terms of dualistic views, this philosophy resembles Gnosticism, which represented the world as two struggling forces - the forces of light and darkness.

и ещё некоторые религиозные школы. This idea, different from other philosophies, is practiced by Manichaeism, Gnosticism and some other religious schools. For the Gnostics, Spirit and matter are the two extreme expressions of being. But Mani defines his teaching in the religious and historical situation as the completion of all revelations, or the seal. He said that the teaching of kindness and wisdom came into the world continuously in the form of different teachings through God's messengers.

. As a result, the philosophy of "Manichaeism" came. Other evidence says that the founder called himself the comforter that Christ promised in the "Gospel of John."

The teachings of Mani (and Manichaeism) are based on this opinion: our reality is a mixture of the two main opposites - good and evil, light and darkness.

But the nature of the True Light is one and simple. Therefore, she does not allow any positive indulgence towards the unkind. Evil does not flow out of good and must have its own beginning. Consequently, it is necessary to recognize two independent first principles, unchanging in their essence and forming two different and separate worlds.

Being and Light

учение о простоте сущности света, которое не мешает различать формы. According to the theory of Mani, Manichaeism is the doctrine of the simplicity of the essence of light, which does not prevent distinguishing forms. However, in the field of good being, the philosopher first distinguishes the Divine as the "King of Light", his "light ether" and the kingdom (paradise) - "land of grace". The King of Light has five attributes of morality: wisdom, love, faith, faithfulness and courage.

The light ether is non-material and is the carrier of the five properties of the mind: knowledge, tranquility, reasoning, secrecy, understanding. Paradise has five special ways of being, which are analogous to the elements of the real world, but only in a good quality: air, wind, light, water, fire. Each quality of Deity, ether and light corporeality is endowed with its sphere of blissful existence, where it prevails.

On the other hand, all the forces of good being (light), converge to produce one of the first man - the heavenly Adam.

Opposites

, представляют тоже разделённым на составные части: яд (противоположность воздуху), бурю (вихрь), противопоставление ветру, мрак (антитеза свету), туман (против воды) и пламя (пожирающее) как антитеза огню. The dark world, M ani and Manichaeism , are also divided into components: poison (opposite to air), storm (vortex), opposition to wind, darkness (antithesis to light), fog (against water) and flame (devouring) as antithesis to fire.

All the elements of darkness gather together and concentrate forces for the prince of darkness, the essence of which is negative and not able to be satisfied, filled. Therefore Satan aspires beyond the boundaries of his possessions, to light.

Against the dark prince, the heavenly Adam aspires to fight. Having in its essence the ten foundations of the Godhead and the ether, he perceives five more elements of the "land of grace" as clothing and weapons.

The first man puts on his inner shell - a "quiet trend", and is clothed over with a rhythm of light. Then the heavenly Adam is covered with a shield of water clouds, takes a spear from the wind and a fiery sword. After a long struggle, he is defeated by darkness and imprisoned at the bottom of hell. Then sent by the most heavenly earth (the mother of life), the forces of good liberate the heavenly Adam and bring them into the world of the mountains. During a hard struggle, the first man lost his weapon: the elements from which it was composed mixed with the dark ones.

World Machine

When the light nevertheless triumphed, this chaotic matter remained in the possession of darkness. The Supreme Deity wants to extract from it that which belongs to the light. Angels sent by light, arrange the visible world as a complex machine for extracting the components of light. Мани) видит в световых кораблях — Солнце и Месяце. The main part of the world machine Manichaeism ( Mani religion ) sees in light ships - the Sun and the Month.

The latter continuously draws particles of heavenly light from the world under the moon. He gradually transmits them to the Sun (through invisible channels).

After they, already sufficiently purified, go to the world of the mountains. Angels, having arranged a physical universe, leave. But in the real sublunar world, both the beginnings of light and darkness remain. Therefore, there are forces from the dark kingdom that once absorbed and held the light-bearing carapace of heavenly Adam in him.

Earth people and their descendants

These dark princes (archons) took possession of the sublunar region and their behavior influenced the origin of earthly people - Adam and Eve. These people have in themselves particles of the heavenly "shell" and prints of darkness. After all this description begins like a biblical story about the division of mankind into Cain and Sifov descendants.

It is the descendants of the Sith family (Shitil) who are under the constant care of the heavenly powers, who periodically manifest their action through the chosen ones (for example, the Buddha). This is the philosophical essence of the doctrine that Manichaeism has . , на первый взгляд, детское представление о бытии. This , at first glance, is a childish idea of being.

Contradictions with Christianity

Mani's views on Christianity and the personality of Christ himself are very contradictory.

According to some information, he believed that the heavenly Christ works in the world through the person of Jesus. At the same time they are not connected internally. It is for this reason that Jesus remained abandoned during the crucifixion. According to another version, a man named Jesus was not at all. There was only the heavenly spirit of Christ, having a ghostly appearance of a man. Mani wanted to eliminate the idea of the incarnation or actual union of the divine and human nature in Christ.

извлечь и собрать все светлые элементы, заключённые в мире земном (человеческом). However, the result of his efforts was the teaching, where they were equally eliminated ... If we reveal Manichaeism briefly (in the light of Christian teaching), we can say that the angels must extract and collect all the light elements enclosed in the earthly (human) world. When the completion of this process is near, all of the physical universe will be kindled. The purpose of this ignition is to isolate the latter, still remaining light particles in it.

The result will be an eternal affirmation of the limits of the two worlds, which both will remain in unconditional and complete separation from each other.

Manichaeism about the future

Life that comes after the events described above will be based on the principles of dualism: the struggle between good and evil, spirit and matter. The souls of heaven, partially purified in mortal life, and partly after death (on various ordeals, which consist in terrible and disgusting visions), are established in the Paradise of Grace.

Souls with hell are forever fixed in the realm of darkness. The bodies of both categories of souls will be destroyed. The resurrection of the dead, as in Christianity, is excluded from Mani.

Asceticism and ritual

In Manichaeism, as in any teaching, there is a theory and is a practice that boils down to an ascetic way of life.

For this, the ascetic refrains from meat, wine and intimate sexual relations. Those who can not accommodate this should not be included in the number of believers, but they also have the opportunity to save themselves. To do this, you need to help the community of Manichaeans in various ways.

Believers are divided into three categories:

• Catechumens.
• Selected.
• Perfect.

The priesthood institute in Manichaeism was never destined to be established. However, according to Brockhaus's dictionary, there are indications of bishops and the supreme patriarch staying in the New Babylon.

In the Manichaeism of great development, the church side did not reach.

It is known that in the Later Middle Ages there was a ritual of laying hands called "consolation," and at the prayer meetings special hymns accompanied by instrumental music were performed and the sacred books that remained from the founder of religion were read.

Fragments of the Manichean works were found at the end of the XIX century. The place of the find was the Chinese Turkestan. And in 1930, papyri were found with the Coptic translation of the writings of Mani, as well as his first students. This happened in Egypt. The finds made it possible to clarify some details of the life of the founder of Manichaeism and the essence of the doctrine.