Back when I researching religions, I read about Manichaeism, a rather fascinating religious movement that combined eastern and western ways of thinking along with it being a gnostic tradition, which is rarely seen in the mainstream West. However, what really grabbed my attention was that it was briefly the rival of Christianity for usurping paganism in the Roman Empire?
This leads to the question: What if Manichaeism won? Say Constantinople favored it and it would become the new dominant religion of the Roman Empire. How would that change things, especially with Persia? After all, Mani was from Persia and while some would see it as a point of blasphemy and contention, others could see it as a bridging point? What would be the consequences in Arabia since Islam would like not rise without Christianity's prominence?
Now, we're not here to debate the plausability of this since so many factors go into it. I would just like to examine the consequences of this, especially on how the different religion would lead to differing relations with the neighbors.
This leads to the question: What if Manichaeism won? Say Constantinople favored it and it would become the new dominant religion of the Roman Empire. How would that change things, especially with Persia? After all, Mani was from Persia and while some would see it as a point of blasphemy and contention, others could see it as a bridging point? What would be the consequences in Arabia since Islam would like not rise without Christianity's prominence?
Now, we're not here to debate the plausability of this since so many factors go into it. I would just like to examine the consequences of this, especially on how the different religion would lead to differing relations with the neighbors.