[The faculty of reason solved practical problems.
The same faculty of reason allowed the possibility to escape slavery to the material world.
Reason could learn (recognize) the secret knowledge (gnosis) that would liberate the spirit from its material impediments.
Reason could learn the incantations to recite after death, when the spirit migrated back to the source.]
Summary of text [comment] page 82
[Common folk practiced a brutal style of Stoicism.
Reason was one of the characters that indicated the spiritual spark within this material being.
Yet, reason was confined to finding practical solutions to keeping the flesh alive.]
[No doubt, Manichean philosophers criticized common folk.
For common folk, reason was at the service of material need. The flesh (the practicality of living) dictated the situation. Only reasonable (or sensical) content was relevant.
Unreasonable content was situated through religious experience, regarded by the Manicheans as superstition.]
[What if this intersection resolved into interscoping forms?
What if the recognition of my spiritual spark cohered with the nitty gritty of surviving?
Well, participation of the flesh (the decision to keep on living) might go with the situation level.
The recognition of reason (one manifestation of the spark of the spirit) might go with content level.]
Summary of text [comment] page 82
[For the Manichaean, the passions were material and reason was spiritual.
The participation of the flesh and the recognition of reason belonged to one conflicting actuality.
The Manichean view fits an intersection.]
[In this way, Augustine defeated the Manicheans.
Today, Augustine points to the influence of each woman struggling in a world of ideological constructs.
These ideologies want to destroy her baby. They claim that babies are not convenient. Recognize this.
Plus, they call for the woman to reject her helper. Participate on your own. You will be your own salvation.
Like in the Manichean world, evil babies stand at the intersection of recognition and participation.]
