Page "Manichaeism" Paragraph 32

How Manichaeism may have influenced Christianity continues to be debated.

Manichaeism may have influenced the Bogomils, Paulicians, and Cathars.

However, these groups left few records, and the link between them and Manichaeans is tenuous.

Regardless of its accuracy the charge of Manichaeism was levelled at them by contemporary orthodox opponents, who often tried to make contemporary heresies conform to those combatted by the church fathers.

Whether the dualism of the Paulicians, Bogomils, and Cathars and their belief that the world was created by a Satanic demiurge were due to influence from Manichaeism is impossible to determine.

The Cathars apparently adopted the Manichaean principles of church organization.

Priscillian and his followers may also have been influenced by Manichaeism.

The Manichaeans preserved many apocryphal Christian works, such as the Acts of Thomas, that would otherwise have been lost.