Manichaeism

British  

/ ˈmænɪkiːˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the system of religious doctrines, including elements of Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc, taught by the Persian prophet Mani about the 3rd century _ad . It was based on a supposed primordial conflict between light and darkness or goodness and evil

2. RC Church any similar heretical philosophy involving a radical dualism

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Manichee
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Manichaeism

C14: from Late Latin Manichaeus, from Late Greek Manikhaios of Mani

Example Sentences

Sogdians also brought Manichaeism, a dualistic philosophy of good versus evil that emerged in the Sasanid Empire and blended Persian Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Christianity.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

That was during the reign of Tengri Bögü Qaghan, a Uyghur monarch who converted to Manichaeism, a religion that views existence as an epic struggle between good and evil.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 13, 2023

I’d like to believe I wasn’t susceptible to the Manichaeism of good guys and bad guys, but I took the meeting.

From Slate • Dec. 16, 2020

A million people lived within Chang’an’s pounded-earth walls, including travelers and traders from Central, Southeast, South and Northeast Asia and followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity and Manichaeism.

From New York Times • May 11, 2020

Manichaeism spread quickly, through the Roman world as well as through Persia; in the former it replaced Mithraism, another Persian growth, that had come to be preeminently the religion of the Roman soldier.

From The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19 by Morris, Kenneth