The Manichees. Sect. IV. evidently appears our ancient original, that before the formation of the world souls were sent "We wrestle not only against the contrary nature to subdue it by their virtue and patience, that the victory and glory might be given to God. For, as the apostle says: (Eph. vi. 12.) against flesh and blood, but also against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickednesses, and the rulers of darkness." a b To proceed: The first work of the Creator was to separate the parts of the celestial substance, which, though mingled with matter, had preserved their purity, and to make of them the sun and the moon; which is agreeable to the words of Augustine: The Manichees say, that "those vessels, the sun and moon, were made of the pure substance of God; or of that substance of God which had preserved its purity.' He presently afterwards explains what is meant by the substance of God, saying, that the moon was made of the good water, the sun of the good fire;' that is, according to the Manichæan sentiment. с d But it should be observed, that whereas Augustine here and elsewhere often useth the phrase, "the substance of God," it seems likely, that thereby the Manichees (if they also used the same. phrase) did not mean the divine substance, or nature, which they always reckoned incorruptible, inviolable, immutable, but only the substance from God, the celestial substance, the substance of his kingdom or empire. I suppose that every one will perceive as much from what will be hereafter said of their denying the humanity of Christ, and the incarnation of the Word, and all union of the divine nature with the human. And it might be collected from what has been already produced concerning their sentiments of the divine perfections. e In a word, not to be too minute, the Creator formed the sun and moon out of those parts of light which had preserved their original purity. The visible or inferior heavens (for now we do not speak of the supreme heaven), and the rest of the planets, were formed of those parts of light which were but little corrupted by matter. The rest he left in our world, which are no other than those parts of light which had suffered most by the contagion of matter. The Creator formed not the earth until after he had made the heavens and the stars. This from the account before taken out of The Acts of Archelaus. appears And that we may the better conceive of all this, we may observe and rectify a wrong account of Augustine. ‹ Mani,' Mani,' says he, teaches not only that man, but that the whole world was formed by the mixture of two coeternal natures, one good, the other bad, in such a manner however as to ascribe the formation of the world to the good God.' This, says Beausobre, is not just. Do not the sun and moon, which were made out of the pure celestial substance, belong to the world? It is our earth properly, with its atmosphere, and its heavens, which were composed of two substances: which is the occasion that life and death, good and evil, reign here. The Manichees, certainly, as that learned writer goes on, were not orthodox upon the article of the creation of the world: but setting aside their particular error, they had noble ideas of the manner in which God made the world. The disorders that are in the world, says 'Fortunatus, sufficiently shew that it was made out of two substances; at the same time things have not come into that form and proportion which constitutes the world, but by the authority and command of one only. So my author. k IX. The Manichæan notion of the creation of man may be seen in Beausobre, taken from Mani himself, Archelaus, Augustine, Titus of Bostra, Theodoret and others. A succinct account of what he says at large is to this purpose: The dæmons, foreseeing that God would insensibly withdraw the light, or the reasonable soul which he had sent into matter, and leave them to themselves, or punish them for their late attempt, thought of a method to detain it. They had seen the first man, who came to fight them; and they still discerned his * See B. T. 2, p. 361, 362. b Quas itidem naves de substantiâ Dei purâ perhibent fabricatas.-Naves autem illas, id est, duo cœli luminaria, ita distinguunt, ut lunam dicant factam ex bonâ aquâ, solem vero ex igne bono. Aug. De H. c. 46. < Beausobre has spoken largely to this point. See him T. i. p. 227.234. p. 592, 593, 529, &c, and T. 2, p. 339, &c. d His quinque elementis debellandis alia quinque elementa de regno et substantiâ Dei missa esse, et in illâ pugnâ fuisse permixta. Aug. de Hær. cap. 46. * See B. ib. 364. P. Ib. p. 367. • Manichæus ex commixtione duarum naturarum coæternarum, boni scilicet et mali, non solum hominem, sed universum mundum, constare dicit, et ad eum omnia pertinentia: ita sane, ut ipsam fabricam mundi, quamvis ex commixtione boni et mali, Deo bono et artifici tribuat. Op. Imp. l. 3, c. h As before, p. 367, 368. 186. ¡ Facta consonant: sed, quia inconvenientia sibi sunt, aq per hoc ergo constat non esse unam substantiam, licet ex unius jussione eadem ad compositionem mundi hujus et faciem venerint. Fortunat. Disp. i. n. 13. * Hist. de Manich. T. 2, p. 399-418. 2 c 1 Ib. p. 410. form in the sun, or the heavens. Upon this model they formed the human body, thereby to attract souls; who, not perceiving the snare which the devil had laid for them, entered the body, and were touched with the pleasure afforded by the organs of the senses, and especially that of concupiscence. Pleasure seduces and transports them, and they become delighted with their new habitation. Hereby they are led to propagate, and thus they forge their own chains and build their own prisons.. Some passages of Mani's Epistle of the Foundation, concerning the formation of man, may be seen in Augustine. a b I think it is past dispute that Mani did ascribe the formation of the human body to matter, or the devil, or the evil principle. I refer for this purpose to some passages in The Acts of Archelaus and Epiphanius; and shall transcribe in the margin some passages of Mania in his letter to Menoch, where he speaks of Satan being the author of bodies, as God is of souls. Augustine's article upon this point in his summary account of Manichæism, as likewise what he says elsewhere, deserves our attention. f Alexander of Lycopolis speaks to this purpose: Matter [or Hyle] perceiving in the sun a human form, became ambitious to make a man out of his own substance. For this purpose he placed in him the utmost of his own powers, together with as much soul as he could obtain. By which means man became superior to all animals, who are mortal like him, and partook largely of the divine power; for he is an image of the divine power.' h What I have here transcribed from Alexander may be compared with The Acts of Arche laus, and Epiphanius. And Mani, in a passage of his Letter of the Foundation, preserved in Augustine, speaks of man as being a whole little world, uniting in himself the image of all powers, both celestial and terrestrial. Moreover, the Manichees, as Augustine says, believed that in Adam was a large portion of light, that is, of the heavenly substance. 13 Some passages of Faustus likewise may confirm the supposition of the Manichees not ascribing the formation of the human body to God. It is true,' says "he, God is not the author of ⚫ that birth which brings us into the world, men and women, males and females.' Again, says Faustus, there are two times of our nativity: one, when nature brings us into this world under ⚫the chains of carnal affections; the other when we are born again, and converted from error to truth, of which Christ speaks in the gospel, in his conference with Nicodemus, saying, “Unless a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Which doctrine Faustus endeavours to support by long quotations from several of St. Paul's epistles. As Beausobre says, they pretended it was impossible that a holy and good God should join a pure and celestial soul with a terrestrial, sensitive, animal soul, whose affections resist reason, and carry the man to actions he disapproves. And they argued, that the ordinary way in which bonæ, sed malam vult esse substantiam. Aug. Op. Imp. 1. 3, cap. 186. adicens, nôsse te cupere cujusmodi sit nativitas Adæ et Evæ, utrum verbo sint iidem prolati, an primogeniti ex corpore. Man, ap. Aug. contr. Ep. Manich. c. 12. n. 14. Vid. et Aug. de Natura Boni. cap. 46. b Vid. Arch. n. 10, p. 19, 20, n. 14, p. 27. < H. 66, n. 30. • Sicut ergo auctor animarum Deus est, ita corporum auctor per concupiscentiam diabolus est, &c. ap. Aug. op. Imp. 1. 3, c. 174. vid. et, c. 175, 176. Adam et Evam ex parentibus principibus fumi asserunt natos, cum pater eorum nomine Saclas sociorum suorum fetus omnium devorâsset, et quidquid inde commixtum divinæ substantiæ ceperat, cum uxore concumbens in carne, prolis tamquam tenacissimo vinculo colligâsset. De H. c. 46. fita sane, ut ipsam fabricam mundi, quamvis ex commixtione boni et mali, Deo bono et artifici tribuat; animalia vero, et cuncta quæ nascuntur e terrâ, et ipsum hominem, opera esse dicat malignæ mentis, quam genti adhibuit tenebrarum. Hinc est, quod animam primam dicit a Deo lucis manâsse, et accepisse illam fabricam corporis, ut eam fræno suo regeret. Non enim hoc de homine, sed de animâ bonâ dicit, quam Dei partem atque naturam universo mundo, et omnibus quæ in eo sunt, opinatur esse permixtam, in homine autem per concupiscentiam decipi. Quam concupiscentiam, quod sæpe inculcandum est, non vitium substantiæ * Και εικονα δε εν ἥλιῳ ἑωρασθαι τοιαύτην, οἷον εςι το τε άνθρωπο είδος, και αντιφιλοτιμησασθαι την ύλην ποιησαι τον ανθρωπον εξ αυτης, κατά την δια πάσης αυτής της δυναμεως μιξίν, έχοντα και αυτόν τι της ψυχής, πολυ μεντοι συμβεβλησ θαι το είδος, εις το πλείον τι παρα τα αλλα θνητα ζωα της δυνάμεως της θείας τον ανθρωπον μετασχειν ὑπάρχειν γαρ αυτον θειας δυναμεως εικονα. Alex. p. 5. Β. C. Ap. Arch. n. 7, p. 12. i H. 66, n. 26, et 30. In eâdem enim construebantur et contexebantur omnium imagines, cœlestium ac terrenarum virtutum; ut pleni videlicet orbis, id quod formabatur, similitudinem obtineret. Man. ap. Aug. de Nat. Bon. c. 46. Malâ non vacuum fuisse dicit Adam, sed ejus minus habuisse, multoque plus lucis. Aug. Op. Imp. 1. 3, c. 186. In Magis ac magis ostendit, nativitatem hanc, quæ nos mares fecit ac feminas, non eam esse in quâ Deus operatur,' cum hominem format. Faust. 1. 24, sub fin. " Quoniam quidem et nativitatis nostræ tempora duo sunt, unum illud, quo nos irretitos carnalibus vinculis in lucem hanc natura produxit, alterum vero, cum veritas nos ex errore conversos ad se regeneravit initiatos ad fidem. Quod tempus secundæ nativitatis in Evangelio Jesus significans dixit, &c.' Faust. 1. 24, sub in. T. 2, p. 416. men come into the world shewed it was not God who formed them at first. This argument of theirs is largely represented in the Acts of Archelaus. a с X. Moreover, the Manichees supposed that there were in man two souls. Augustine wrote " a book on purpose against this opinion: but it was a necessary consequence of their sentiment about two principles. There are, according to them, two eternal natures, both living and animated: and both enter into the composition of man. I place in the margin a passage of Augustine of some considerable length, taken from his summary account of Manichæism in his book Of Heresies. d This was in ancient times a common opinion of many people, and was held by the Manichees. They supposed that it was evidently taught by St. Paul in all those places where he opposes the Aesh and the spirit, the old man, and the new man, the law of the mind and the law of the members. These two men, these two laws, these two principles, are in man: and they are always contrary to each other: the spirit opposeth the desires of the flesh, and the flesh those of the spirit: but contrary desires and wills cannot proceed from one and the same cause purely spiritual. There are therefore two souls in man, two active principles; one the source and cause of vicious passions, deriving its origin from matter, the other the cause of the ideas of just and right, and of inclinations to follow those ideas, deriving its original from God. XI. Though the Manichees did not receive the Old Testament, nor admit the Mosaic account of the creation, they supposed the world to have had a beginning, as we have seen already; and Adam and Eve to have been the first pair, and the parents of mankind. This appears from the very beginning of the famous Epistle of the Foundation. The Manichees, as Augustine says, believed that in Adam was a large portion of light; that is, of the celestial substance. Again, we learn from him that Again, we learn from him that they said Adam and Eve were were made by the princes of darkness; but Adam had in him a great abundance of the particles of light, with but few particles of darkness: for that reason he lived holily a good while. At length the adverse part in him prevailed, and he knew Eve.' So then conjugal commerce was the first sin of these parents of mankind. h And, in The Acts of Archelaus it is said that the princes, having made Adam after the form of the first man whom they had seen, made Eve likewise, giving her some of their own concupiscence, that she might deceive Adam. XII. Hence we may be led to conclude that the Manichees must condemn marriage; and indeed those words of St. Paul, 1 Tim. iv. 3, are often applied to them. Mani himself says that' "concupiscence is the root of all evil," quoting in that sense 1 Tim. vi. 10. It may be thought that condemning all manner of concupiscence, however regulated, appears in some words of Faustus, which I put in the margin: where he speaks of the first or natural birth, and of the second or spiritual birth. m 1 This notion is handsomely confuted by Titus of Bostra, in a passage which may be seen translated by Beausobre: but I presume I need not to transcribe it here. Faustus has particularly considered the * Si vero consideretis, quomodo generentur filii hominum, invenietis, non esse Dominum hominis creatorem, sed alium. -Est igitur vobis hominibus commixtio cum uxoribus vestris de hujusmodi occasione descendens. Cum quis vestrûm carnalibus aliisque cibis fuerit satiatus, tunc ei concupiscentia boritur incitatio, &c. ap. Arch. c. 14, p. 27. De duabus Animabus contra Manichæos. Opp. T. 8. * See Beaus. T. 2, p. 420. charge brought against them, of teaching what the Longa fabula est, sed ex eâ adtingam quod in præsentia satis est. Adam dicitis sic a parentibus suis genitum, abortivis illis principibus tenebrarum, ut maximam partem lucis haberet in animâ, et perexiguam gentis adversæ. Qui cum sancte vive. ret propter exsuperantem copiam boni, commotam tamen in eo fuisse adversam illam partem, ut ad concubitum declinaretur; ita eum lapsum esse et peccâsse, sed vixisse postea sanc tiorem. De Mor. Manich. c. 19, n. 73. Carnalem concupiscentiam, quà caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, non ex vitiatâ in primo homine naturâ nobis inesse infirmitatem; sed substantiam volunt esse contrariam, sic nobis adhærentem, ut quando liberamur atque purgamur, separetur a nobis, et in suâ naturâ etiam ipsa immortaliter vivat: easque duas animas, vel duas mentes, unam bonam, alteram malam, in uno homine inter se habere conflictum, quando caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, et spiritus adversus carnem. De Hær. c. 46. sub fin. * Την δε Ευαν ὁμοίως εκτισαν, δοντες αυτή εκ της επιθυμίας αυτών, προς το εξαπάτησαι τον Αδαμ. ap. Arch. n. 10, p. 20. i Tolle denique malignæ hujus stirpis radicem, et statim te ipsum spiritalem contemplaris. Radix enim, ait scriptura, omnium malorum concupiscentia. Ap. Aug. Op. Imp. 1. 3, c. 175. Vid. et c. 176, 186, 187. * Modus quoque nascendi duplex est, unus ille furoris et intemperantia proprius, quo sumus a generatoribus turpiter et per libidinem sati; alius vero honestatis et sanctimoniæ, quo in Christo Jesu per Spiritum Sanctum sub bonorum doctrinis disciplinati sumus ad fidem, &c. Faust. 1. 24, c. 1. I Tit. contr. Manich. 1. 2, p. 130, 131. apostle calls "doctrines of devils," 1 Tim. iv. 1. And, if Faustus may be relied upon, their doctrine upon the article of marriage and virginity was much the same with that of the catholics, or orthodox Christians of that time. The churches of the catholics, he says, had in them almost as many professed virgins as married women. If the catholics made virgins, without being liable to the charge of forbidding to marry, the same was true of them: they did not compel, they only exhorted. And he boldly says, that text of St. Paul is no more against them than against the catholics. This defence of Faustus is the fuller, if by their elect, who alone were forbidden to marry, and were required to forbear eating flesh and drinking wine, be understood priests or ecclesiastics, as Faustus intimates. с More may be seen concerning this point in the author, to whom I have already often referred. Upon the whole, considering what has been observed above concerning the origin of mankind, it may be reckoned more probable, that they rather tolerated marriage as an imperfect state, in regard to human weakness, than approved it. Perhaps we may apply to this case what Augustine says of the Manichæan auditors eating flesh. They were indulged it, but yet it was a fault, he says, and to be forgiven only because they maintained the elect. And I question whether Faustus be sincere, and may be relied upon in what he says of this matter. My doubts are owing to the very disadvantageous expressions he makes use of in speaking of the natural birth, in the twenty-fourth book of his work: several of which passages I have transcribed, or referred to; and to a passage in his thirtieth book, where he is professedly treating on the point of marriage. For, having said, as before shewn, that they did not compel, but only commended and exhorted to virginity, as the catholics, he adds: And indeed it would be no less than madness, for private persons to forbid what is allowed by public authority.' It seems therefore that, following their doctrine, they might have been disposed to prohibit marriage, if it had been in their power. It is said that the Manichees were severely treated by a king of Persia for discouraging marriage. { I may mention another thought relating to this point, when I come to speak of their notion concerning the transmigration of souls. If the Manichees did not approve of marriage, they must have condemned fornication, and all such like irregularities. This is evident from The Acts of Archelaus, where Mani himself is made to say that adultery, fornication, covetousness, and other things, are fruits of the evil root. Nor is marriage here, mentioned among evil things. i Augustine indeed charges them with allowing wicked sensual gratifications rather than marriage. But then, as Beausobre observes, he presently adds: I doubt not but you, at 'hearing this, will exclaim against it as injustice and calumny. You will say that you praise and I a — nec videtis hinc, et virgines vestras dæmoniorum doctrinâ captas notari, et vos esse antistites dæmoniorum, qui certatim semper ad hanc eas incitetis professionem suasionibus vestris, ut pene jam major in ecclesiis omnibus virginum apud vos quam mulierum numerositas habeatur ? Faust. 1.-30, cap. 4. Non ergo est interim, quod vos existimetis solis hortamentis virgines facere, et non prohibitione nubendi. Nobis enim quoque hoc insitum est. Quapropter et nos hortamur quidem volentes ut permaneant, non tamen cogimus invitas ut accedant. Si igitur hoc modo virgines facere sine crimine est, extra culpam sumus et nos: sin quoquo genere virgines facere crimen est, rei estis et vos. Jam quâ mente aut consilio hoc adversum nos capitulum proferatis, ego non video. ibid. • Neque enim justa hæc nunc vestra sententia est, ut nos quidem, qui solum in plebe sacerdotale hominum genus censeamus a carnibus abstinere debere, dæmoniorum doctrinæ videamur vobis assectatores. ib. c. 1. 4 See Beaus. T. 2, p. 470, &c. ( e Auditoribus autem vestris secundum veniam hæc edenda conceditis.- -Neque enim conceditur secundum veniam, nisi peccatum. Hoc vos de omni carnium cibo sentitis, hoc et ipsi- vestros auditores docetis: sed illis quod sit ignoscendum, propter quod vobis necessaria ministrant, ut dixi, conceditis, non dicentes non esse peccatum, sed peccantibus veniam largientes. Aug. contr. Faust. 1. 30, c. 5. Et demens profecto ille, non tantum stultus, putandus est, qui id existimet lege privatâ prohiberi posse, quod sit publicâ concessum: dico autem hoc ipsum nubere. ib. c. 4. Rex vero Persarum, cum vidisset tam Catholicos et episcopos, quam Manichæos Manetis sectarios, a nuptiis abstinere; in Manichæos quidem sententiam mortis tulit. Ad Christianos vero idem edictum manavit.-Quum igitur Christiani ad regem confugissent, jussit ille discrimen, quale inter utrosque esset, sibi exponi. ap. Assem. Bib. Or. T. 3, p. 220. fructus autem fornicationes, adulteria, homicidia, avaritia, et omnes mali actus mala istius radicis. ap. Arch. c. 17. p. 30. h recommended perfect chastity, but you do not forbid marriage; forasmuch as you do not hinder your auditors, the second order among you, from marrying, and having wives.' It is not easy to conceive that they, who severely censured the polygamy of the patriarchs, should approve of worse things in Christians. a XIII. It is a difficult question whether the Manichees believed free-will. It is generally denied; but Beausobre does not concur in that sentence. He has discoursed largely upon this point, and I refer to him. I shall however cite a part of what he says. d If by free-will be meant a power of doing good, and resisting evil, it is certain that the • Manichees ascribed it to the soul, which was sent into matter. For, first, when we shewed the opinion of these men concerning the creation of the world, we saw that, among the souls which God sent to combat matter, there were some that preserved their purity entire; others that were but little affected with the contagion of matter; and others that were so corrupted, that they were left in this lower stage of the world. The Creator placed them according to their merits. Secondly, when Augustine asks Fortunatus why God sent souls into matter, that • Manichee answers, to tame it, and reduce it to order. They must therefore have had the " power of so doing. Finally, what suffers me not to doubt that Mani acknowledged the soul's liberty in its state of innocence, is a passage in his letter to Menoch; "the first soul that came from the God of light received the machine of the body to govern it with a rein." And, after a long discussion, that learned writer sums up all in these three propositions: 1. The Manichees allowed the soul to be free in its origin, and its state of innocence. For it 'had power to resist evil, and to overcome it. 2. After its fall it had not absolutely lost that · power, but it had lost the use, because it was ignorant of its nature, and its origin, and its true interests; and because concupiscence, which has its seat in the flesh, carries it away by an invincible force to do or allow that which it condemns; [or, in other words, the 'soul has not lost its liberty, but ignorance on the one hand, and violence of passion on the other, hinder it from making use of its power.] 3. The gospel of Jesus Christ delivers the 'soul from that servitude, and gives it sufficient power to subdue sin, and to obey the law of God, provided it make use of the helps therein afforded.' h After all which, Beausobre makes divers observations upon the controversy with the Manichees, as managed by ancient Christian authors, and then concludes in this manner: Finally, 'I' allow that those ancient writers in general say the Manichees denied free-will. The reason • is, that the fathers believed and maintained against the Marcionites and Manichees, that whatever state man is in he has the command over his own actions, and has equally power to do good and evil. Augustine himself reasoned upon this principle, as well as other catholics his predecessors, so long as he had to do with the Manichees. But when he came to dispute with the Pelagians he changed his system. Then he denied that kind of freedom which before he had defended: and, so far as I am able to judge, his sentiment no longer differed from theirs concerning ⚫ the servitude of the will. He ascribed that servitude to the corruption which original sin brought ⚫ into our nature: whereas the Manichees ascribed it to an evil quality, eternally inherent in matter." XIV. Socrates said that the Manichees held the doctrine of Fate. Whether, and how far, they did so may be seen in' Beausobre; for I do not chuse to stay upon this point. m XV. It is thought by some that the Manichees denied the lawfulness of war. n XVI. Socrates informed us, that the Manichees held the transmigration of souls; which is very true. It is taken notice of in The Acts of Archelaus, in Epiphanius, Theodoret, and other authors. See Beaus. T. 2, p. 797. and the authors quoted by him.. 9 H. Fab. 1. 1, c. 26, p. 214, A. • Κρατύνει δε και τας μετεμψυχώσεις, τες μεν εις άκρον αρετής εληλακοτας εις θεον αναλύων τας δε εις άκρον κακίας πυρι δίδες και σκότῳ τες δε μεσως πως πολιτευσάμενος παλιν as owpara ayur. Phot, cod. 179, p. 105. |