Augustine became quite involved with Manichaeism in his youth, and he was very familiar with its concepts. He, and others that he talks to seem to think of Manichaeism as a Christian religion, though one corrupted by falsehoods. Augustine continues to speak highly of the piety of the Manichaens, even after becoming a Catholic Christian, and their example (likely) influenced his own emphasis of piety.
The Manicheans sought to explain the origins of evil by positing the existence of opposed dieties in conflict over creation, with the physical world being the realm of darkness, and the spiritual realm being the source of good. Augustine’s exegesis and interpretations of Genesis, and his explanation of Original Sin seem to be anti-manichean arguments.
The Manichean cosmogony separates things into a spiritual world of light and good, and a material world of darkness and evil. The creation of the physical world, in Manichean thought, was achieved by evil deities, opponents of Christ.
as Van Oort says:
It is notable that, in the years after his conversion, Augustine repeatedly tried to produce an adequate interpretation of Genesis: especially its Creation narratives. All these endeavors are clearly anti-Manichaean interpretations: First his De Genesi contra Manichaeos of 388-390; then his De Genesi ad litteram liber imperfectus of 393; after that his Genesis Interpretation in books 11-13 of the Confessiones and Finally his De Genesi ad litteram libri XII of 401-414. But elsewhere, too, for instance in his City of God, we find this anti-Manichaean interpretation of Genesis. Against all Gnostic repudiations, the intrinsic goodness of creation has to be defended, the goodness of its Creator and, in the end, the legitimacy of the entire Old Testament.
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