Studies in The Sermon on the Great War: Investigations of a Manichaean-Coptic Text from the Fourth Century

Abstract

Mani, the founder of the Manichaean religion, was a Babylonian who lived from AD 216 to 277. His aim was to liberate the human soul from its enslavement in the world of material and secular reality. The way to salvation involved the observation of certain commandments, most of which were concerned with ritual and with abstinence from sensual pleasures. The Manichees also devoted much attention to spreading the true faith, and from their home in Babylon, Manichaen missionaries penetrated as far as Western Europe and China. Though Manichaeism never became a universal religion, it survived for more than 1000 years, and its extreme dualism served as inspiration for other movements on the fringe of the Christian Church. The Coptic text known as the Sermon on the Great War is a primary source for the philosophy and rituals of the Manichees. The narrative describes the great war in which the Manichees will be persecuted, the peaceable kingdom which will follow, the coming of Christ and the end of the world.