Mani's Revelation
Mani (third century CE) founded a religious movement combining Christian, Iranian, and other late-antique elements. Its cosmic account is distinct from both Zoroastrianism and the diverse Gnostic schools.
The Two Principles
The Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness are primordial opposing realities in Manichaean myth. The drama begins when Darkness invades the Light.
The First Creation
The Father of Greatness calls forth divine beings, including the Mother of Life and the Primal Man. The Primal Man enters combat and portions of Light become mixed with Darkness.
The Second Creation
Further divine activity fashions the cosmos as part of a strategy to separate and redeem the captive Light. Sun, Moon, and cosmic mechanisms participate in liberation.
The Third Creation
A further phase involves divine messengers, living beings, and the ongoing conflict through which particles of Light are recovered.
The Human Condition
Human beings embody the mixture. Desire and ignorance can intensify captivity; disciplined religious life participates in liberation.
Ethical Community
The Manichaean tradition distinguishes rigorous ascetic Elect and supporting Hearers, with practices designed around the cosmic salvation of Light.
Mani and Christ
Mani presents himself within a lineage of revelations and assigns Jesus significant roles in the cosmic and salvific drama.
Historical Transmission
Manichaeism spread across the Roman world, Persia, Central Asia, and China. It should not be reduced to a merely Christian heresy.
The Royal Art
The Manichaean model makes cosmic fragmentation and the gathering of scattered light central. Its radical dualism differs from ACIM's view of the separation as impossible within God.