One of the reasons why Manichaeism is sometimes termed the first ‘religion’, in the modern sense, is that it was deliberately constructed; and a vital element in the foundation for this were the revealed scriptures written down by Mani himself. Indeed, Mani repeats that this is one of the advantages of his church, that its apostle (i.e. himself) has written down the teachings, and thus it will endure and not be led astray (see e.g. 91, below). In contrast, previous apostles had not written down their teachings, and it had been left to their disciples to put down what they remembered. This important theme enabled Mani to hold fast to the principle of a line of true apostles, in which he placed himself; while at the same time explaining the corruption of previous churches, and also the reason why his own would stand fast to the end. And this provided a suitable key for polemic against other religions, and for Manichaean exegesis of their scriptures as containing both truth and falsity.

Nevertheless, just as we should be cautious in our use of the term ‘religion’, and not impose anachronistic conceptions derived from the modern discipline of the history of religions; so, we also need to consider what exactly Mani and his followers meant by the concepts of scripture and canon.