A Short Snippet of Manichaeism's History
In the second century AD of the Sasanian Persian Empire, a prophet by the name of Mani founded Manichaeism. This religion was thought to be a combination of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and ancient Greek ideas. Mani was born in 216 AD in Mesopotamia. His father was inclined to mysterious religions and studied religious sects, while his mother was related to the princely family that was ruling the Arsacid Dynasty. Once he was enlightened by his true self or twin, he started evangelizing and embarked on a journey for 40 years, reaching India, China, Turkey, and even Western Europe. But, Catholics had a different idea. They persecuted them and had many of them killed. Because of the massive numbers of followers killed, no one dared to follow in this religion openly for a long period of time. Most people consider this as a dead religion as well, but today, the Central Manichaean Temple stands as the most prominent group of Manichaeans. |