Lexic.us

Definition of Manichaeism

1. Noun. A religion founded by Manes in the third century; a synthesis of Zoroastrian dualism between light and dark and Babylonian folklore and Buddhist ethics and superficial elements of Christianity; spread widely in the Roman Empire but had largely died out by 1000.

Definition of Manichaeism

1. Proper noun. (religion) A syncretic, dualistic religion that combined elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought, founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in 3rd century AD. ¹

2. Proper noun. (philosophy) A dualistic philosophy dividing the world between good and evil principles, or regarding matter as intrinsically evil and mind as intrinsically good. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Manichaeism

Literary usage of Manichaeism

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Philosophical Basis of Religion: A Series of Lectures by John Watson (1907)
"In the end of the third century, three great religious I creeds were struggling for the mastery : Manichaeism, I Neoplatonism, and Catholic Christianity. ..."

2. Church History by Johann Heinrich Kurtz (1889)
"Manichaeism (§ 29) had still numerous adherents not merely in the far off eastern provinces but also in Italy and North Africa; and isolated Marcionite ..."

3. A History of the Christian Church by Karl August von Hase, Charles Edward Blumenthal, Conway Phelps Wing (1855)
"The religions conflicts which took place on the confines of the Eastern world finally gave birth to Manichaeism. The history of its origin is founded upon ..."

4. History of the Christian Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Reformation by James Craigie Robertson (1874)
"It would seem that, by the time of Augustine, Manichaeism had been developed by being carried out into minute detail, and by being rested on an elaborate ..."

5. The doctrine of sacred scripture, a critical, historical and dogmatic by George Trumbull Ladd (1883)
"... Manichaeism took the place of Gnosticism as the principal heresy whose view of the Scriptures must be combated by the doctrine of the Church. ..."

6. A Manual of the History of Dogmas by Bernard John Otten (1922)
"... Originally Manichaeism was not a Christian heresy, but in its westward course, during the fourth and fifth centuries, it adopted many Christian elements ..."

7. The North African Church by Julius Lloyd (1880)
"... was favourable to the reception .a mixed religion, and the city appears to ha1 been one of the strongholds of Manichaeism, bo at first and afterwards. ..."

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