Original Research - Special Collection: Augustinus Symposium

Mani, Augustine and the vision of God

Iain Gardner
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 69, No 1 | a1352 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v69i1.1352 | © 2013 Iain Gardner | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 31 October 2012 | Published: 10 April 2013

About the author(s)

Iain Gardner, Department of Studies in Religion, University of Sydney, Australia; Research Fellow, Department of Church History and Polity, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

The recovery of the text of the Manichaean daily prayers provides an opportunity to consider how their recitation and practice may have influenced the young Augustine. It is argued that the prayers focused the mental and indeed physical gaze of the believer on the manifestation of God in this present reality, and through that upon the transcendent eternal world of future hope. If one accepts that Augustine as a Manichaean catechumen would have partaken in this most basic of the community’s religious duties then one must consider what effect this could have had on the development of his own striking and influential teachings about the vision of God. The article discusses evident allusions to this Manichaean practice in Augustine’s writings, and suggests that its influence continued through his later life despite his disavowal of his former faith. In particular, attention is drawn to similarities between the Manichaean ‘new aeon’ and the ‘heaven of heaven’ in Augustine’s writings, where the pure of heart can look forward to unmediated contemplation of God.

Keywords

Augustine; Manichaean daily prayers; Vision of God

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