Mani and Gnosticism

Mani (~216 - ~277 A.D.) was a Persian born in Babylon to a noble and religious family.  He was exposed to various religions as a child, including paganism, gnosticism, and an heretical Christian/Jewish sect called the Elcesaites.  By age 12 he claimed to have his first angelic visit and by age 24 he had a second revelation.  He espoused his doctrines to the Persian King Sapor I (or Shapur I) in 242 A.D. and was promptly run out of town.  He traveled through northern India and Turkestan founding communities that followed his new religion and had some success.  A few years later he got a favourable hearing from the Persian king's brother and once again got a chance to espouse his beliefs to Sapor.  Once again he became a fugitive and continued travelling and writing epistles to his communities to firmly establish his doctrines.  Sapor eventually imprisoned Mani, but Sapor died in 274 whereon Mani was granted release under the new but short-lived king.  The third king renewed Sapor's persecution of Mani's religion and had him crucified in either 276 or 277 A.D.

Manichaeism had some adherents in the western Roman Empire, but its main successes were in the near and far east.  Persia, India, Tibet, and even China had numerous Manichaen churches.  The Chinese Manichaens were still in existence as late as the 14th century.  In some areas, Manichaeism became more popular than any other religion, including the indigenous pagan beliefs.

Manichaeism's Beliefs

Mani cobbled together his religion from pieces of a number of different faiths.  He claimed that Jesus, Buddha, and Zoroaster's teachings were all incomplete and that he had been granted revelation that completed what other faiths were lacking.  He called his beliefs the "religion of light" but it was most commonly known by his name instead.

Manichaeism was essentially gnosticism.  At its heart was dualism, meaning good and evil forces battling it out in the cosmos.  The spirit world is good; the physical world is evil.  The spirit who created the world was the evil power, and therefore the Jewish and Christian God was deemed to be Satan in Mani's religion.

There were all kinds of expectations laid out for believers, but he established a sort of clergy and laity distinction.  Those who were committed to living out the requirements fully were called the "Elect" while the remaining attendees were called "Hearers."  The Elect were similar to priests or monks, expected to remain celibate, become vegetarians, and avoid all menial work and trades.  The Hearers, which made up 99% of the Manichaens, were responsible for feeding, caring for, and honouring the Elect with bended knee.  Mani's churches had equivalent holidays to other major religions, such as a festival at spring timed to coincide with the Christian Easter celebrations.

While not having anything to do with Christian doctrine in the least, some Christians were attracted to Manichaeism and church leaders taught strongly against its heresies.  For example, Augustine wrote an entire book dedicated to countering Manichean teachings, called De Moribus Manichaeorum.