Differences between Manichaeism and

Christianity

A Publication of the Holy and Ancient Manichaean Church

2012

Who is Christ?

Christianity

Christians claim Christ was Godincarnated in the flesh.

Since Christ = God, according to Christian theology, God did not create Christ.

Manichaeism

Manichaeans, however, consider Christ a manifestation of the Living Spirit (the One Created Being, the entire Creation in all its dimensions, realities,and worlds, including both physical and spiritual realities), which is distinct from the Divine Source outside of Creation (the Divine source = the Creator God who created the Living Spirit).

This means that according to Manichaeans Christ is not God, but rather Christ = the reflection of God, the Son of God.

Without realizing it, Christians are committing idolatry by worshiping Christ as God because that's the same as worshiping all of Creation, and they are alsotwisting the message of Christ who always emphasized that He was doing thewill of the Father, not His own.

Who was Jesus?

Christianity

Christians believe Jesus was a Jewish rabbi who lived in 1st century Judea. John the Baptist baptized him, Pontius Pilate ordered his Crucifixion, and three days later he resurrected from the dead.

Through his crucifixion, Jesus saved mankind from all its sins, and by his resurrection, he destroyed death and allowed for the possibility of a future resurrection in a spiritual body.

Manichaeism

Manichaeans, however, believe Jesus did not exist as a physical man in 1st century Judea.

Instead, Jesus Christ manifested Himself in 1st century Judea to the Apostles as a spirit to restore the 12 Tribes of Israel to the heart and spirit of the original Torah of Moses.

We believe that this appearance was the fulfillment of the Jewish nations expectation of the coming Messiah.

We believe that while the Hebrew people were the central focus of that specific manifestation, Christ also provided a means to the Gentile nations, who had heard of the Messiah, to also seek His presence in the form of a writing called the Teaching of the Apostles, also known as the Didache.

It is our belief that the Didache was actually part of the original Letter of St. James to the gentiles but was removed from the body of the text by the gentile churches and presented as a separate text that was not binding on the gentiles (the Apostles taught that it was binding on the gentiles).

We believe that the letter of St. James, while binding on the gentile followers of Christ, was not the only covenant with the world.

We believe that Christ appeared to Mani and taught Him directly, the final form of this teaching was the Religion of Light, or as most people refer to it today: Manichaeism.

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Jesus Christ

So if the name Jesus refers to a physical Jewish man who lived in 1st century Judea, who was crucified and later resurrected in order to redeem mankind, then we do not believe he ever existed.

But if the name Jesus refers to the spiritual manifestation of Christ in 1st century Judea to the Apostles, then we do believe in Jesus.

In fact, if you read any of our Psalms or other writings from the Prophet Mani, you will realize they mention Jesus several times.

What Christians have to be aware of, however, is that when we say Jesus we are referring to someone completely different from the Jesus they believe in.

What about Torah, Judaism, and Jews?

Christianity

Many Christians believe that when he was crucified, Jesus crucified the Torah (the Law of the Old Testament, 613 commandments to be followed by the Jewish people) with him.

In the minds of Christians, this act made the Mosaic Law (i.e. Torah) completely irrelevant for all people, including the Jews. The Jews are still expecting the Coming of the Messiah, but for Christians, Jesus was the Messiah the Jews have always been expecting.

Given this belief, many Christians view Jews as incomplete followers of God who need to abandon the Torah, turn to Christ,

and acknowledge that the Church has supplanted Israel.

Needless to say, such theology has embedded into the Western/European psyche an anti-Semitic attitude expressed in the idea that Jews are "Christ-killers",that they committed deicide, the Jewish blood libel, conspiracy theories claiming that the Jews/Zionists run the world, and other such fabrications that are still widespread throughout the world.

The worst thing about this hatred for the Torah and the Jewish people is that Christian writers projected it onto the Prophet and Apostle Mani by accusing him of looking down on the Old Testament, the Torah, and the Jewish people.

Manichaeism

Manichaeans know, however, Mani never said anything against the Torah or the Jewish people. On the contrary, he said that the Torah was valid for the Jewish people since this was the Covenant that God had established with them.

In fact, Jesus appeared spiritually in 1st

century Judea to restore and extend the Covenant of Sinai (the Covenant that required the Jews to follow the Torah) to the 12 Tribes of Israel!

Since the Prophet Mani received revelation from Jesus, it's impossible to conceive that he would ever say anything negative about the Torah.

Nevertheless, this doesn't mean Manichaeans have to follow the Torah.

We are beholden to our own 10 Commandments, but we know that the Torah has a place and purpose within God's plan for salvation, and that no theology or

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Torah Scroll

religion can discard it by relegating it to the dustbin of history.

What about Augustine and what he wrote on the Manichaeans?

Christianity

The Catholics and Anglicans consider Augustine to be a saint and Doctor of the Church, which makes Augustine a foundational pillar of Western theology.

Leaders of the Reformation such as Martin Luther (an Augustinian monk) and Calvin borrowed heavily from Augustine's ideas on salvation, free will and divine grace, which is why some Protestants, specially Calvinists, turn to him for inspiration and ideas.

For the Eastern Orthodox, Augustine is considered blessed, but they don't take his theology quite as seriously as the Catholics and Protestants do.

Despite these differences, all Christian denominations accept Augustine's mischaracterization of Manichaeism, and most Christians consider it to be a heresy that is to be avoided or think that it died off the face of the planet a long time ago.

Manichaeism

Manichaeism, however, is not a heresy but the Religion of Light decreed by God, and is certainly not dead as it has been restored in March of 2011 by God Himself for all of humanity.

To understand the Manichaean point of view on Augustine, please read these words of Melekh Shubkha:

“Some have said it was due to his disappointing meeting with Mar Faustus or that Mar Faustus lacked knowledge in relation to the topics in which Augustine made inquiries. Augustine did not leave the Holy Church for any of those reasons. Those are lies propagated by Augustine himself.

Our Scriptures and Third Pillar inform us that Augustine had a very proud heart and desired to lead others rather than to humble himself and be a servant in the Faith. He made several attempts to enter into the “inner sanctum” of the Elect. He made it a point to let others know that he was of the company of Elect, when in fact, he was a Hearer (layman).

After Augustine was rejected for the last time, he went on a tirade with writing against Mar Mani and the Blessed Church. Brethren within the Holy Church attempted several times to assist Augustine before it was too late for him. But he turned down all of their efforts, instead making fun of them for wearing plain clothes and for using such plain words.

As a result of his writings, Augustine caused a countless number of deaths!

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Augustine

Thousand upon thousand of innocent peoples in many different nations were murdered by the Catholic church, whose adherents even to this day, still believe Augustine’s lies. There is no wonder why Manichaean Scriptures refer to him with such names as “Augustine the Heretic” and “Augustine the Murderer.”

– Melekh Shubkha, the King of Honor

Note: a Melekh is a very powerful non-physical being, an Aeon who serves the One Created Being and God.

Extent and Nature of Divine Revelation

Christianity

Christianity seems to be closed to the idea of Divine Revelation happening throughout the world and throughout time.

It confines itself to the Hebrew prophets, Christ, and the saints of their own church. Outside of that, God seems to have forgotten about the rest of the world and stopped revealing Himself at a certain point in history.

Manichaeism

The Manichaean Scriptures, the Karuzuta d'Mar Mani, mention the following Divine Messengers: Seth, Mahavira, Zoroaster, Buddha, and Christ.

God has revealed Himself throughout the ages and in many locations. He is still sending Messengers to this day as seen by the appearance of Mir Izgaddah from 2008 to 2011, and the manifestation of the World Teacher in Feb. 21St, 2012.*

*Note: The purpose of Mir Izgaddah's manifestation was to remind believers that God had not abandoned them, and He also reinstituted the Manichaeism on March 22nd, 2011. The World Teacher has arrived on earth to return humanity to its purified state.

Revelation can never be contained in time and space, and is thus always ongoing within the Manichaean Church.

Salvation and Paradise

Christianity

For Protestants, salvation is usually by faith alone (sola fide), whereas for Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, salvation is due to both faith and works.

By putting one's faith in Jesus, the Christian becomes justified in the eyes of God because the blood shed by Jesus on the cross covers over the sins of all those who believe in him.

Christians believe than whey they die, they will enter Paradise although some believe in the eternal existence of Hell.

There is no consensus as to where Paradise and Hell reside, but the idea is that they are both somewhere beyond this world.

Manichaeism

For Manichaeans, salvation is mainly about liberating the Light Sparks within ourselves from the Illusion of Matter.

This process of liberation is composed of three elements:

1) Worship God and not Creation (this means not worshiping Christ as if

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He were the Divine Source)

2) Get rid of all worldly attachments since the world is illusion and our true Home is beyond the material world.

3) Cultivate virtue.

In Manichaeism, Paradise and Hell are temporary states, and thereby not eternal.

Also, Paradise and Hell are located in the atmosphere of Earth, not in some distant realm beyond the World.

Those who are in Paradise will not necessarily be saved because one day Paradise will also be destroyed.

Only those souls who served the Divine Source selflessly (with no or little hint of selfishness) will be chosen from Paradise to be transported to the Kingdom of Lights, which is our true Home beyond the physical world.

The Kingdom of Lights is eternal, spiritual, a place full of peace and harmony where no evil is present.

Eschatology

Christianity

Christians believe in the Second Coming of

Christ who will come to judge the world in the Last Judgment.

Before the End of Times, there will be birth pangs such as wars, rumors of war, famines, death, pestilence, etc.

Most of Christian eschatology is taken from John's Book of Revelation. Some believe that when Christ comes, He will set up a Millennial Kingdom on Earth which will be like Heaven on Earth.

Others think that this Millennial Kingdom is symbolic and refers to the era when the church has been influential in the world, and that the Kingdom being referred to is not of this world.

Manichaeism

In Manichaeism, we believe that we are living in the End Times right now. We know this through Revelation, not through mere human speculation.

We also believe that the signs of the times are clear to all who want to see them: wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, moral degradation, corruption, pestilence, famine, etc.

These are birth pangs for the oncoming Great Purification that will take place on Earth, where all the bad spiritual and

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Four Horses of the Apocalypse

material elements will be erased from the face of the planet.

A remnant on planet Earth will escape on the Ships of Light, and then the Earth will be burned by solar flares.

After the destruction of the Earth, the entire universe will also be dissolved.

Please don't take this as a precise timeline. We humans are not meant to know the exact timing of things nor the precise sequence of events that will lead to the End of Times.

But we know for sure that we are living in those times, and that this is the time to purify ourselves and prepare ourselves to go to our Homeland: the Kingdom of Lights.

If looked at this way, the End of Times is

not all doom and gloom, but an actual liberation from this evil and dark world.

Thus, although great suffering will take place, we must bear in mind that at the end of it all we will be happy and full of joy, worshiping the Divine Source in the Kingdom of Lights.

If you would like to know more about the Manichaean religion or the Holy and Ancient Manichaean Church, please contact:

manichaeaninfo@gmail.com

Join our Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/406623919353398/

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Bibliography of Images

On Cover Page:

JesusOnCross.jpg. Ron Buch. Christianity that Works. <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-

xwIAY2uCHpU/TyWwaHSQ67I/AAAAAAAAATs/30xDANsJcAg/s1600/JesusOnCross.jpg>.

March 6th, 2012.

First Page:

Jesus_brown2.jpg. Russell Anderson. Light Planet.

<http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/images/savior/jesus_brown2.jpg> March 6th, 2012.

Second Page:

TorahScroll.jpg. Rick Brentlinger. GayChristian101.

<http://www.gaychristian101.com/images/TorahScroll.jpg> March 6th, 2012.

Third Page:

Tiffany_Window_of_St_Augustine_-_Lightner_Museum.jpg. Wikipedia.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tiffany_Window_of_St_Augustine_-

Lightner_Museum.jpg> March 6th, 2012.

Fifth Page:

New_jerusalem.jpg. Divine

Revelations.<http://spiritlessons.com/documents/7_Jovenes/new_jerusalem.jpg> March 6th,

2012.

Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. ViktorVasnetsov. Wikipedia.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apocalypse_vasnetsov.jpg> March 6th, 2012.

Sixth Page:

Heavenonearth.jpg. Wikiality. <http://images.wikia.com/wikiality/images/b/bd/Heavenonearth.jpg>

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March 6th, 2012.

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