An Historical Study of Christian Cosmic Dualism

Abstract

Cosmic dualism presented one of the most pervasive and challenging alternatives to Christian orthodoxy from early Christian times through to the Middle Ages. Manichaeism was the most prominent sect to purposefully promulgate dualism within the Christian Church, and its success can be measured by the fact that for centuries the Church tended to label anything that seemed to be dualistic as "Manichaean". The problem for the historian is to determine whether the sects on the fringe of the Church were indeed dualistic and whether they, in fact, had any common link with Manichaeism. Time and space preclude an exhaustive treatment of all the so-called dualistic sects. Attention has been focused on a few of the more prominent ones-the Priscillianists, the Paulicians, the Bogomils, the Albigensian Cathari, and the Waldensians-in order to give an overview of dualism from just after Mani's death through to the High Middle Ages. Where they have been available, translated primary source materials have been used in order to give the most accurate view possible.