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Audiobook edition · 4 h 45 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 138 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 138 pagesAbout this book
Does evil belong to creation, or does it come from an eternal power opposed to good?
The Acts of the Disputation of Archelaus brings that question into public debate. In this fourth-century Christian account, traditionally attributed to Hegemonius, Archelaus, a bishop in Mesopotamia, confronts Mani, the founder of Manichaeism. Their dispute turns on God, evil, and salvation—and on competing ways of understanding the world.
Letters, reports of teaching, and public argument frame the encounter. Archelaus defends the goodness of the creator and the unity of Scripture against Mani’s teaching of light and darkness. This is no neutral transcript: its Christian author seeks to discredit a rival, and historians distinguish its religious arguments from reliable evidence about Mani’s life.
What you’ll discover
- A public clash of beliefs Meet Archelaus and Mani as the account sets their rival teachings against each other.
- The problem of evil Explore the dispute over two eternal principles and the Christian defense of a good creator.
- Scripture under debate Follow Archelaus’s argument for continuity between the Old and New Testaments.
- A rival through hostile eyes Encounter Manichaean cosmology through a Christian account intent on challenging its claims.
- Letters, teaching, and argument Watch the text prepare its central confrontation through reports of doctrine and exchanges of letters.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy courtroom drama, lively arguments about good and evil, early Christian history, or the story of a lost world religion told by its rivals.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Generosity brings strangers to the door
- Courtesy opens the way to debate
- Two powers explain a divided world
- Neutral judges hear both sides
- Two eternal powers invite searching questions
- Human actions give evil its fruit
- A claim to authority needs proof
- Faith holds its teachings together
- The argument asks where evil begins
Who’s who
- ArchelausThe bishop of Carchar, learned and fiery, who defends his flock by debating Mani in public.
- ManiThe Persian prophet who claims to be the promised Paraclete and teaches that Light and Darkness are two eternal powers.
- MarcellusA wealthy, generous believer who ransoms thousands of captives and invites both sides to debate in his house.
- TurboA disciple of Mani who explains his master's myth, then stays in the house of Marcellus.
- DiodorusA gentle presbyter in a distant village who writes to Archelaus for help against Mani's claims about the law.
- ManippusOne of four pagan judges, a master of grammar and rhetoric, chosen to decide the debate fairly.
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The Acts of the Disputation of Archelaus
by Attributed to Hegemonius · 330
A bishop on the Roman frontier faces the prophet Mani before four pagan judges, and the whole city comes to listen.
Challenging2–5 hours to readEnglish
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“For it is written that a tree is known by its fruits.”
In short
What would you do if a stranger from Persia wrote to say your faith was wrong and promised to come and explain? In a city of Mesopotamia, a rich man named Marcellus answers with courtesy, while Bishop Archelaus grinds his teeth.
The Acts of the Disputation of Archelaus at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 25 min2 h 45 min fast, 4 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 49,400 words16 chapters
- Pages
- 138 pages224 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- about AD 330by Attributed to Hegemonius
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rich man buys freedom for thousands
The story opens in Carchar, a city of Mesopotamia, with a man named Marcellus. He is rich, respected and devout, and he gives to the poor without being asked. The first encounter brings the two opponents together at his house.
Soldiers bring seven thousand seven hundred captives to Bishop Archelaus and demand a huge sum for their release. The bishop is sick with worry. Marcellus opens his storerooms and pays the full price, so lavishly that it looks like a gift. Many soldiers are so moved that they lay aside their belts and join the Christian faith.
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A bishop on the Roman frontier faces the prophet Mani before four pagan judges, and the whole city comes to listen.
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Details
- First published
- 330
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 4 h 45 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 138 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 138 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 224 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 224 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Hegemonius. The Acts of the Disputation of Archelaus. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acta-archelai.
Hegemonius. (2026). The acts of the disputation of Archelaus. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acta-archelai (Original work published ca. 330)
Hegemonius. The Acts of the Disputation of Archelaus. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acta-archelai.
@book{hegemonius2026acts,
author = {Hegemonius},
title = {The Acts of the Disputation of Archelaus},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acta-archelai},
note = {First published ca. 330}
}
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What is the Acts of Archelaus about?
It tells of a public debate in a Mesopotamian city between Bishop Archelaus and the prophet Mani. The two argue over good and evil, the Old and New Testaments, and whether Mani is the promised Paraclete, before four pagan judges.
Who wrote the Acta Archelai and when?
Tradition names Hegemonius as the author. A Latin translation and fragments of the Greek preserve this work, which was probably composed in Greek near the close of the third century or the start of the fourth. Scholars still discuss the exact date.
Did the debate between Archelaus and Mani really happen?
Scholars are divided. Many think the story is shaped for effect, with the author giving his hero the best lines. Yet the work quotes real Manichaean teaching, and finds in Central Asia and Egypt have often matched its account.
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