Bruce Michael
Well-Known Member
Hi There,
Not all Christians will be alike. Manichaean Christianity is a spiritual stream as is Rosicrucian Christianity. The Manichaean stream continued on in Grail Christianity.
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/Classes/US310/Manichaeanism.html
Quoting a page:
Most of what you read on manichaeism is written by its enemies and not to be trusted for that reason. This group was subject to one of the most massive persecutions history has seen. The Manichaeans themselves were a non-violent people following the principles of the "sermon on the mount". It is true that some of the later sects did drift into the Lucifer/Gnosis ideas.
Though the Cathars were seen as a later form of Manichaeism there is no direct link.
Christianity became the culmination of all the ancient mysteries and
religions. It is not surprising then, that one finds elements of Buddhism,
Zorastrianism, Empedocles and Pythagoras in Mani's teachings.
In Christ,
Br. Bruce
Not all Christians will be alike. Manichaean Christianity is a spiritual stream as is Rosicrucian Christianity. The Manichaean stream continued on in Grail Christianity.
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/Classes/US310/Manichaeanism.html
Quoting a page:
"Notwithstanding the calumnies heaped on Manes, Dr. Lardner has shown that he was, in the best and strictest acceptation of the term, a sincere Christian, and has adduced many passages from his writings equally honourable to his understanding and to his heart. Not only the learned
Faustus,
Patron Saints Index: Heresy: Manichæism"One has to read St. Augustine's anti-Manichæan disputes to realize the
extreme ingenuity with which scripture texts were collected and interpreted. Though Mani called himself the Paraclete he claimed no divinity but with show of humility styled himself "Apostle of Jesus Christ by the providence of God the Father"; a designation which is obviously adapted from the heading of the Pauline Epistles. Mani, however, was the Apostle of Jesus Christ, i.e. the messenger of Christ's promise, In A.D. 1000 the Arab historian Al-Beruni wrote: "The majority of the Eastern Turks, the
inhabitants of China and Tibet, and a number in India belong to the religion
of Mani".
Most of what you read on manichaeism is written by its enemies and not to be trusted for that reason. This group was subject to one of the most massive persecutions history has seen. The Manichaeans themselves were a non-violent people following the principles of the "sermon on the mount". It is true that some of the later sects did drift into the Lucifer/Gnosis ideas.
- Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic"The Roman clergy was corrupt and suffered by comparison with the Cathar 'parfaits' or 'perfected ones' who passed for Cathar clergy. Indeed, Saint Bernard, who traveled to Languedoc to preach against these heretics in 1145 A.D., was impressed by them: 'No sermons are more Christian than theirs, and their morals are pure.'"
Though the Cathars were seen as a later form of Manichaeism there is no direct link.
- Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail"... The Albigensian Crusade was essentially a crusade against Manichaeanism....In 1209 an army of some 30,000 knights and foot-soldiers from Northern Europe descended like a whirlwind on the Languedoc - the mountainous north-eastern foothills of the Pyrenees in what is now southern France. In the ensuing war the whole territory was ravaged, crops were destroyed, towns and cities were razed, a whole population was put to the sword. This extermination occurred on so vast, so terrible a scale that it may well constitute the first case of 'genocide' in modern European history.
In the town of Beziers alone, for example, at least 15,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered wholesale - many of them in the sanctuary of the church itself.
Christianity became the culmination of all the ancient mysteries and
religions. It is not surprising then, that one finds elements of Buddhism,
Zorastrianism, Empedocles and Pythagoras in Mani's teachings.
In Christ,
Br. Bruce