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as follows: The beginning of the godless dogmas of Manes. If you wish to learn the faith of Manes, hear it from me in brief. This man reveres two unbegotten, self-existent, eternal gods, one 3.54 opposed to the other; and he introduces one as good, the other as evil, giving the name light to the one and darkness to the other; and that the soul in men is a part of the light, but the body and the creation of matter is of the darkness. He says that a mixing or blending of these came about in this manner, comparing the two gods to this example: just as two kings fighting against each other, being enemies from the beginning and each holding his own territory, by chance the darkness, having come out of its own boundaries, made war against the light. And the good Father, knowing that the darkness had encroached on his land, put forth from himself a power, called the 3.55 Mother of Life, and she put forth the First Man * the five elements; and they are wind, light, water, fire and † matter. And having put these on as equipment for war, he went down below and made war on the darkness. But the rulers of darkness, warring against him, devoured from his panoply, which is the soul. Then the First Man was terribly afflicted there below 3.56 by the darkness. And if the Father had not heard him when he prayed and sent another power put forth by him, called the Living Spirit, and if he had not gone down and given him his right hand and brought him up from the darkness, the First Man, being held fast, would have long since perished. From that time, therefore, he left the soul below. And for this reason, Manichaeans, if they meet one another, give each other their right hands as a sign of being saved from darkness. For he says that all the heresies are in the darkness. Then the Living Spirit created the world, and it, having put on three other powers, went down and brought up the rulers and crucified them in the firmament, which is their body, the sphere. 3.57 26. Then again the Living Spirit created the luminaries, which are the remnants of the soul, and made them circle the firmament. And again he created the earth into eight forms. And the Shoulder-bearer below * carries it, 3.58 and whenever he grows weary of carrying it, he trembles and becomes the cause of an earthquake beyond the appointed time. For this reason the good Father sent his son from his own bosom to the heart of the earth and to its lowest parts, so that he might give him the fitting punishment. For whenever an earthquake occurs, he either trembles from weariness or shifts it to the other shoulder. Then, therefore, matter from itself created the plants and, when these were despoiled by certain rulers, it called all the foremost of the rulers and took from them one power each and fashioned this man according to the idea of that First 3.59 Man, and bound the soul in him. This is the hypothesis of the blending. But when the living Father saw the soul afflicted in the body, being compassionate and merciful he sent his beloved Son for the salvation of the soul; for he sent him for this reason and that of the Shoulder-bearer. And having come, the Son transformed himself into the form of a man, and appeared to men as a man, though not being a man, and men supposed him to have been born. Having come, therefore, he makes the creation for the salvation of souls, and he constructed a machine having twelve buckets, which, being turned by the sphere, draws up the souls of the dying. And the great luminary, taking these with its rays, 3.60 purifies them and transfers them to the moon, and thus the disk of the moon, which is called among us, is filled for he says the two luminaries are ships or ferries; then if the moon is filled, it ferries them over to the east and thus it makes a discharge of its cargo, being lightened; and again it fills the ferry and again unloads it as they are drawn up

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τάδε· Ἀρχὴ τῶν τοῦ Μάνεντος ἀθέων δογμάτων. Εἰ τὴν τοῦ Μάνη πίστιν θέλετε μαθεῖν, παρ' ἐμοῦ ἀκούσατε συντόμως. οὗτος δύο σέβει θεοὺς ἀγεννήτους, αὐτοφυεῖς, ἀιδίους, ἕνα 3.54 τῷ ἑνὶ ἀντικείμενον· καὶ τὸν μὲν ἀγαθόν, τὸν δὲ πονηρὸν εἰσηγεῖται, φῶς τῷ ἑνὶ ὄνομα θέμενος καὶ τῷ ἑτέρῳ σκότος· καὶ τοῦ μὲν φωτὸς εἶναι μέρος τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ψυχήν, τοῦ δὲ σκότους τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸ τῆς ὕλης δημιούργημα. μῖξιν δὲ ἤτοι σύγκρασιν τούτων τοῦτον λέγει γεγονέναι τὸν τρόπον, ἀπεικάζων τοὺς δύο θεοὺς τῷδε τῷ παραδείγματι· καθάπερ δύο βασιλεῖς ἀντιμαχόμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὄντες ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἐχθροὶ καὶ ἀνὰ μέρος ἑκάστου τὰ ἴδια ἔχοντος, κατὰ δὲ σύμβασιν τὸ σκότος ἐπελθὸν ἐκ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτοῦ προσεμαχήσατο τῷ φωτί. γνόντα δὲ τὸν ἀγαθὸν πατέρα τὸ σκότος ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ ἐπιδεδημηκὸς προβάλλειν ἐξ αὐτοῦ δύναμιν, λεγομένην 3.55 μητέρα τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ αὐτὴν προβεβληκέναι τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον * τὰ πέντε στοιχεῖα· εἰσὶ δὲ ἄνεμος, φῶς, ὕδωρ, πῦρ καὶ † ὕλη. καὶ ταῦτα ἐνδυσάμενον ὡς πρὸς κατασκευὴν πολέμου κατελθεῖν κάτω καὶ πολεμῆσαι τῷ σκότει. οἱ δὲ τοῦ σκότους ἄρχοντες ἀντιπολεμοῦντες αὐτῷ ἔφαγον ἐκ τῆς πανοπλίας αὐτοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή. τότε δεινῶς 3.56 ἐθλίβη ἐκεῖ κάτω ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ὑπὸ τοῦ σκότους. καὶ εἰ μὴ εὐξαμένου εἰσήκουσεν ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἑτέραν δύναμιν προβληθεῖσαν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, λεγομένην ζῶν πνεῦμα, καὶ εἰ μὴ κατελθὼν δέδωκεν αὐτῷ δεξιὰν καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν ἐκ τοῦ σκότους, πάλαι ἂν ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος κατεχόμενος ἐκινδύνευσεν. ἔκτοτε οὖν κατέλειψε κάτω τὴν ψυχήν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Μανιχαῖοι ἐὰν συναντήσωσιν ἀλλήλοις, δεξιὰς διδόασιν ἑαυτοῖς σημείου χάριν ὡς ἀπὸ σκότους σωθέντες. ἐν γὰρ τῷ σκότει πάσας τὰς αἱρέσεις εἶναι λέγει. τότε ζῶν πνεῦμα ἔκτισε τὸν κόσμον, καὶ αὐτὸ φορέσαν ἑτέρας τρεῖς δυνάμεις κατελθὸν ἀνήνεγκε τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ ἐσταύρωσεν ἐν τῷ στερεώματι, ὅ ἐστιν αὐτῶν σῶμα, ἡ σφαῖρα. 3.57 26. Τότε πάλιν τὸ ζῶν πνεῦμα ἔκτισε τοὺς φωστῆρας, ἅ ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς λείψανα, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐποίησε τὸ στερέωμα κυκλεῦσαι. καὶ πάλιν ἔκτισε τὴν γῆν εἰς εἴδη ὀκτώ. ὁ δὲ Ὠμοφόρος κάτω * βαστάζει 3.58 καὶ ἐπὰν κάμῃ βαστάζων, τρέμει καὶ σεισμοῦ αἴτιος γίνεται παρὰ τὸν ὡρισμένον καιρόν. τούτου ἕνεκα τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς πατὴρ ἐκ τῶν κόλπων αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν τῆς γῆς καὶ εἰς τὰ ταύτης κατώτατα μέρη, ὅπως αὐτῷ τὴν προσήκουσαν ἐπιτιμίαν δῷ. ὁσάκις γὰρ ἂν σεισμὸς γένηται, ἢ τρέμει κάμνων ἢ ἀντιφέρει εἰς τὸν ἕτερον ὦμον. τότε τοίνυν καὶ ἡ ὕλη ἀφ' ἑαυτῆς ἔκτισε τὰ φυτὰ καὶ συλωμένων αὐτῶν ἀπό τινων ἀρχόντων ἐκάλεσε πάντας τοὺς τῶν ἀρχόντων πρωτίστους καὶ ἔλαβεν ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἀνὰ μίαν δύναμιν καὶ κατεσκεύασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον κατὰ τὴν ἰδέαν τοῦ πρώτου 3.59 ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου, καὶ ἔδησε τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν αὐτῷ. αὕτη ἐστὶ τῆς συγκράσεως ἡ ὑπόθεσις. ὅτε δὲ εἶδεν ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ζῶν θλιβομένην τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν τῷ σώματι, εὔσπλαγχνος ὢν καὶ ἐλεήμων ἔπεμψε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν ἠγαπημένον εἰς σωτηρίαν τῆς ψυχῆς· διὰ γὰρ ταύτην τὴν πρόφασιν καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ὠμοφόρου ἀπέστειλεν αὐτόν. καὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ υἱὸς μετεσχημάτισεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἀνθρώπου εἶδος, καὶ ἐφαίνετο τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὡς ἄνθρωπος, μὴ ὢν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ὑπελάμβανον αὐτὸν γεγεννῆσθαι. ἐλθὼν οὖν ποιεῖται τὴν δημιουργίαν πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῶν ψυχῶν, καὶ μηχανὴν συνεστήσατο ἔχουσαν δώδεκα κάδους, ἥτις ὑπὸ τῆς σφαίρας στρεφομένη ἀνιμᾶται τῶν θνῃσκόντων τὰς ψυχάς. καὶ ταύτας ὁ μέγας φωστὴρ ταῖς ἀκτῖσι 3.60 λαβὼν καθαρίζει καὶ μεταδίδωσι τῇ σελήνῃ, καὶ οὕτως πληροῦται τῆς σελήνης ὁ δίσκος ὁ παρ' ἡμῖν προσαγορευόμενος πλοῖα γὰρ ἤτοι πορθμεῖα εἶναι λέγει τοὺς δύο φωστῆρας· εἶτα ἐὰν γεμισθῇ ἡ σελήνη, μεταπορθμεύει εἰς ἀπηλιώτην καὶ οὕτως ἀπόκρουσιν ποιεῖται τοῦ γόμου ἐλαφρυνομένη· καὶ αὖθις πληροῖ τὸ πορθμεῖον καὶ πάλιν ἀπογομοῖ ἀνιμωμένων