Founder of a religious movement (Manichaeism). Mani was born in Mesopotamia.
Reared in a strict Jewish-Christian baptismal sect, at the age of 12 Mani
began to experience revelations from a heavenly being called
,
‘The Twin’. At
24, he received a divine calling to be the ‘apostle of light’, the incarnate
Paraclete of God, chosen to propagate his ‘lifegiving message’. Due to his
frequent travels and bold evangelistic proclamation — and the royal
protection of Shapur I (242–72) — Mani converted many people to his
religion. Manichaeism was a complex ascetic system based on Zoroastrian
dualism, that also included features of Gnostic cosmology, Judaism,
Christianity, Buddhism, and Babylonian myth. The practice of Manichaeism
allowed for two classes of followers: the ‘elect’, devoted to liberating
spiritual particles of light from their material imprisonment through full
adherence to the sect’s harsh ascetic rules, and the ‘auditor’, who provided
for the needs of the elect and followed a less severe code, in the hope of
eventual reincarnation as one of the elect. During the reign of Bahram I
(273–6), the Zoroastrian hierarchy instigated a widespread persecution of
minority religions, including Manichaeism. Mani was put to death ca. 276.
Nevertheless, Manichaean missionaries continued to attract converts
throughout Persia and the Roman empire, into central Asia, where it survived
into the Mongol period, and even as far as eastern [China](https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/China-Syriac-Christianity-in). The spread of Manichaeism and its use of Christian
elements elicited numerous polemical responses on the part of orthodox
Christians. Mani wrote books in [Aramaic](https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Aramaic) and
Pahlavi, though only fragments survive. Seeking to promote his
universalizing teaching across cultural barriers, he encouraged the
translation of Manichaean texts into different languages, for which a
distinctive Manichean script, akin to Syriac Esṭrangela, was devised.
Manichaean texts were eventually disseminated in a wide variety of
languages.