Manichaeism is a religious doctrine promoted by Maní, also known as Manes, a Persian sage who lived between 215-276 AD. C., who also claimed to be the last prophet that God would send to Earth. This is defined as a universal religion, that is, it can be practiced by anyone on the face of the planet, regardless of their ethnicity, age, nationality, among other distinctive features. From its origins it was considered as the only and original religion, the true faith; With this, according to various analyzes, it was sought to invalidate, in some way, the teachings raised in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, among other universal religions.
This religion was widely distributed throughout the world. It spread throughout the Roman Empire, Sassanid Empire, China, as well as the Middle and Far East. That is why the sacred books of this religion are found in a variety of languages, such as Greek, Latin, Chinese, Coptic, Parthian, Middle Persian, among others. Its theological teachings divided critics; some chose to define it as a gnostic and dualistic religion, while for others it simply could not be reduced to such characteristics. Towards the Middle Ages, especially in the West, it was considered a heretical religion, so its practitioners were condemned to suffer a great deal of torture and public ridicule.
These were expressly dualistic, and believed that the soul was a kind of light arranged in the body; These, likewise, had very much in mind the struggle between good and evil. They divided their followers into two groups: those elected who were vegetarians, practiced celibacy and spent some time in prayer, as well as listeners who make a practice of fasting, getting married and should compulsorily serve the chosen.
