No. XXXI: Concerning The Manichæanism Of Paul

No. XXXI

CONCERNING THE MANICHÆANISM OF PAUL 1

AT this moment I hear a surge of waters. Out of the midst of them a voice seems to speak to me. This is what it says:--

"Many years before Paul wrote there arose a sect called the Manichæans. The founder of that sect, like the founder of the Epicureans, was inspired by US; but they, like the Epicureans, understood not the nature of sin. The founder of the Manichæans, whom we call Felix, saw this, that evil is the result of creation; but his disciples understood that all matter is evil. In this alone they erred. And Paul, following his reason, but uninspired, perceived only the doctrine of the disciples. It is true, then, as the founder of the Manichæans saw, that evil is the result of creation, but not that matter is evil. He who among you possesses the most vivid imagination, can project upon the retina palpable rings of his thought. Thus it is with Deity. I have said already that matter is the intensification of Idea, and that evil is the result of materialisation. 2 You have asked me, Why, then, did God create? I perceive that God created by force of will; and that, willing, God imparted to every thought the power of will which, but for the limitation, could not have existed. God, therefore, is so much the richer by the will of the thought which He projects."