The Manichaean church maintained a formal ecclesiastical hierarchy within the Elect, traditionally reckoned as the Teacher at its head, beneath him twelve Apostles, then seventy two Bishops and three hundred and sixty Presbyters (Elders), each rank drawn from the ascetic Elect rather than the lay Hearers and responsible for the pastoral and administrative governance of Manichaean communities across a vast geographic range from North Africa to Central Asia and China.
Facts
Status
Status TodayHistorical; not practised continuously 1 Current StatusExtinct; organized Manichaeism survived longest in southeastern China, where its last traces in the Fujian region survived into the sixteenth or seventeenth century. 1 Significance
Sacred RoleOne of five ranks in the Manichaean hierarchy below the Teacher and the twelve Apostles; a bishop administered Manichaean communities within a region and, according to Manichaean tradition, numbered seventy two across the whole church at any time. 1 Origins
Origin of the NameThe title borrows the Greek episkopos, bishop, the same ecclesiastical term used by Christian churches, reflecting Manichaeism's extensive borrowing of Christian and Gnostic vocabulary. 1 Connections
Associated With
This source names Africa directly: "a vast geographic range from North Africa to Central Asia and China."
Source Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith RediscoveredNicholas Baker-Brian
This source names Asia directly: "range from North Africa to Central Asia and China."
Source Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith RediscoveredNicholas Baker-Brian
This source names China directly: "from North Africa to Central Asia and China."
Source Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith RediscoveredNicholas Baker-Brian
Belongs to Tradition
Source Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith RediscoveredNicholas Baker-Brian
Related To
Sources
1. Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith Rediscovered
Nicholas Baker-Brian, T&T Clark, 2011on the Manichaean ecclesiastical hierarchy
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