Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Illustrations -- plates -- maps -- Contributors -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Notes for the reader -- Abbreviations -- chapter 1 Introduction -- the purpose of this book -- the life of mani -- the manichaean system -- worship and ethic -- the development of manichaean studies -- the survival of manichaean texts from the roman empire -- chapter 2 The life of Mani -- childhood, youth and calling -- 1. Mani's parentage, birth, childhood and adolescence -- 2. Mani's own version of early revelations from his divine Twin -- 3. Incidents from Mani's youth showing his refusal to harm even plants -- 4. Mani's account of his call -- 5. Mani's conflicts and break with the baptist community -- 6. The beginning of Mani's mission -- mani at the court of the shahanshah (king of kings) -- 7. Mani's calling and his summons before Shapur I -- 8. Mani's first encounter with Shapur I -- 9. Mani recounts his travels -- the last days and death of mani -- 10. Mani's change of fortune after the death of Hormizd -- 11. The confrontation between Mani and King Vahram I -- 12. Mani's imprisonment and death -- 13. Mani's entry into parinirvana -- 14. Praise for the martyred Mani -- 15. The sufferings of Mani compared to those of other true apostles -- 16. The institution of the bema -- 17. The death of Mani compared to the trial and crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah -- 18. The death of Mani commemorated in two bema psalms -- the manichaean church under sisinnios and his successor innaios -- 19. Persecution of the Manichaean church -- 20. The prayer and martyrdom of Sisinnios (Mar Sisin) -- chapter 3 Manichaeism in the Roman Empire -- early mission and reaction -- 21. The mission of Mar Adda and Pattek the teacher -- 22. The healing of Nafsa of Tadmor (Palmyra) by Mar Adda.

23. A warning against Manichaean missionaries -- 24. Alexander of Lycopolis on the Manichaean mission in Egypt -- 25. Edict (rescript) of Diocletian against the sect (ad 302) -- 26. Warning against door-to-door missions by the Manichaeans -- manichaeans and christian ascetics in egypt -- 27. Manichaeans out-argued by Didymus the Blind -- 28. A travelling Manichaean converted by true 'hospitality' -- 29. A Manichaean missionary challenged to trial by fire -- 30. A food-test imposed by the Patriarch Timothy -- 31. A story of two Manichaean merchants -- manichaeism in the levant, asia minor and greece -- 32. The debate between the Manichaea Julia and Porphyry the bishop of Gaza -- 33. The conversion of the Manichaeans at Ziph -- 34. The works of Mani and of Mar Adda refuted by Heraclianus of Chalcedon -- manichaeism in italy and north africa -- 35. The young Augustine joins the sect at Carthage as a hearer -- 36. A Manichaean house at Rome -- 37. Letter of the Manichaean Secundinus to Augustine -- 38. The Manichaean Firmus converted by a sermon of Augustine's -- 39. Victorinus exposed as a crypto-Manichaean -- 40. Manichaeans detected and punished in Carthage -- select legislations against the manichaeans from theodosius to justinian -- 41. Anti-Manichaean legislation issued by Theodosius -- 42. The death penalty for Manichaeans -- 43. Mandate of Justinian I on Manichaeans' wills -- chapter 4 The scriptures of Mani -- 44. Mani's canon according to the Kephalaia -- 45. Canon lists from an Arabic and a Chinese source -- 46. From The Living Gospel -- 47. From The Treasure of Life -- 48. From an unnamed work of Mani, probably The Pragmateia -- 49. From The Psalms and Prayers (?) -- 50. The titles of Mani's Epistles -- 51. A quotation from 'the Letter to Edessa' -- 52. Passages from The Epistles preserved at Ismant el-Kharab -- 53. 'The Fundamental Epistle'.

54. 'The Letter to Menoch' -- 55. Spurious letters attributed to Mani -- chapter 5 Teachings -- 56. The community sing 'the knowledge of Mani' -- 57. Alexander of Lycopolis on the Manichaean system -- 58. The Acta Archelai on cosmogony -- 59. Augustine's summary of the teaching -- 60. An account of the evocation of the gods -- 61. 'The prayer of the emanations' -- 62. Concerning the coming of the soul -- 63. The five worlds of the kingdom of darkness -- 64. The 'three days' and the 'two deaths' -- 65. The seven works of the Living Spirit -- 66. Mani discusses astrology -- 67. The Coptic treatise on the Light Mind -- 68. The descent of Jesus -- 69. Augustine on Manichaean Christology -- 70. A psalm by Herakleides -- 71. The great war and the last judgement -- 72. Four recently edited Kephalaia -- 73. Manichaean and other 'errors' concerning the destiny of the soul after death (Christian polemic) -- chapter 6 Worship and ethic -- 74. The essential precepts of the elect and the catechumens -- 75. The archetypes of ritual action -- 76. The three seals -- 77. Augustine on the bema festival -- 78. A bema psalm -- 79. The profits of fasting -- 80. A psalm of endurance -- 81. Augustine on Manichaean ethics -- 82. Augustine on the redemption of the light particles -- 83. A psalm of the universal soul -- 84. A psalm to glorify the Mind -- 85. Mani's discourse on the 'assent' and the 'amen' -- 86. The nature of love -- 87. A psalm in praise of Jesus -- 88. A psalm to the Trinity -- 89. A prayer for the ascent of the soul -- chapter 7 Community texts -- 90. The advent of Mani -- 91. On the ten advantages of the Manichaean religion -- 92. An apologia for the distinction between elect and hearer -- 93. A father instructs his young son -- 94. The son writes to his mother -- 96. An elect writes to ask for alms -- 97. A Manichaean scribe sends a spell to a colleague.

98. Horion discusses preparations for the agape -- List and concordance of texts -- LIST OF TEXTS -- CONCORDANCE -- (a) greek -- (b) latin -- (c) coptic -- (d) middle persian -- (e) sogdian -- (f ) parthian -- (h) chinese -- (a) greek -- (b) latin -- (c) syriac -- (d) arabic -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.