Manichaean Identity

Mr Andrew Wearring

Abstract: The study of Manichaeism has always been characterised by the view from the outside. The testimonies that comprised the sole sources of evidence until the 19th century are all polemical, and thus our view of the faith was shaped by its enemies. It was the discovery of new sources, primarily those from within the tradition itself, that have revolutionised how we see the Manichaeans. Even still, however, research has been focussed on Manichaean doctrine and, recently, practice: there has been little examination of how exactly they saw themselves. This paper will look at some of the ways we can rediscover their concepts of self, as a religion separate to all others, and examine the problems involved in such an undertaking.

Bio: Andrew Wearring is a second year Ph.D. student who completed his Honours thesis in the Department of Studies in Religion on the role of Indian thought on the prophet Mani. He has presented papers on multiculturalism in Sassanian Iran, and the historiography of the Da Vinci Code. His Ph.D. thesis focuses on the formation of self-identity in Manichaeism