Manichaeism

(mani kē′iz′əm)

or Manicheism

noun

a dualistic religion that combined Zoroastrian, Christian, Gnostic, and other beliefs in a theology of cosmic struggle between Good (light, God, spirit) and Evil (darkness, Satan, matter): it was founded by Mani (L. name Manichaeus) in Persia in the 3d cent.

Related Forms:

See Manichaeism in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The syncretic, dualistic religious philosophy taught by the Persian prophet Manes, combining elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought and opposed by the imperial Roman government, Neo-Platonist philosophers, and orthodox Christians.
  2. A dualistic philosophy dividing the world between good and evil principles or regarding matter as intrinsically evil and mind as intrinsically good.
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