Mark the Deacon claims that the Antiochian missionary Julia bribed churches to follow this figure in Gaza. This figure returned each spring to judge his followers from a throne placed on a five-tiered platform. The archegos (“ar-KEE-gohss”) led devotees of this figure who placed three metaphorical “seals” on their mouth, heart, and hands. The Bēma (“BEE-mah”) festival commemorated this man’s execution by the official Kartir (“car-TEER”). This man illustrated his own doctrines in the Arzhang and described three creations by the “Father of Greatness.” This man’s followers were divided into “hearers,” who sinned by gathering food, and the celibate “elect.” His followers briefly included Saint Augustine. For 10 points, name this 3rd-century prophet whose namesake religion centered on a dualistic struggle between the World of Light and the World of Darkness. ■END■
ANSWER: Mānī [or Manichaeus, Mānī Ḥāyya, Manes, or Móní; accept Manichaeism, Āyīn-e Mānī, Móníjiào, or Míngjiào] (The word for the five-tiered platform, “Bēma,” is a cognate with the bimah found in synagogues.)
<Religion>
= Average correct buzz position