Zurvanism in Manichaean Creed

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student in Pre-Islamic Iran History, Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of History, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of History, Islamic Azad University, Shāhrūd, Iran

Abstract

The advent and rapid expansion of the emerging Manichaean creed in the third century AD using numerous and varied tools of religious propaganda that resulted from the genius of its creator, covered not only the Sassanid Empire’s territory but also parts of the Roman Empire in the east and near the borders of Iran, parts of China and Central Asia as well as Arabian Peninsula. One of the most effective methods of propaganda of Mani and his successors was to take advantage of the common beliefs of the masses and identify with them. The beliefs of the Zurvanism in the form of Zoroastrian religious teachings were popular among the people in most parts of the Iranian plateau. Mani cleverly used this capacity to make his teachings believable. The foundations of Zurvanism can be traced specifically in the principle of duality or dualism, as well as the belief in three time cycles in Manichaeism. Also, some of the moral foundations considered by Manichaeans have been influenced by Zurvani beliefs. On the other hand, the influence of Zurvani beliefs in Manichaeism had somehow even penetrated the divisions of its religious organization, although there are expressions in some later Manichaean texts that show the followers of this religion later repented of Zurvani beliefs of their predecessors, such as the belief in the common root of Good and Evil, Ahūrā Mazdā and Ahrīman.

Keywords

References

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Religious Research
Volume 8, Issue 15 - Serial Number 15
September 2020
Pages 185-210

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