Mani (prophet)

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Mani
Mani

Mani (in Persian: مانی, Syriac: ܡܐܢܝ) was a religious preacher and the founder of Manichaeism, an ancient Persian gnostic religion that was once prolific. Mani was born of Iranian (Parthian) parentage in Assuristan (modern-day Iraq) which was a part of Persian Empire about 210-276 AD. Some historians claim Mani was of Persian parentage.[citation needed] Mani's father, Fatik or Pattig, was from Hamadan and his mother, Maryam, was of the family of the Kamsaragan, who claimed kinship with the Parthian royal house, but the names of his father and mother are both Syriac.

Middle-Persian and Syriac are thought to be Mani's native languages.[citation needed] He wrote his seven holy books in Syriac, the main language spoken in the Near East before the Arab-Islamic conquest. Arjang was the name of Mani's most important book. It is said that Mani was an extraordinary painter and that Arjang was illustrated with colorful objects.[citation needed]Although Mani's original writings have been lost, other portions remain preserved in Coptic manuscripts from Egypt and in later writings of fully-developed Manichaeism in China.

Mani first encountered religion in his early youth while living with a Jewish ascetic group known as the Elkasites. In his mid-twenties, Mani decided that salvation is possible through education, self-denial, vegetarianism, fasting and chastity. Mani later claimed to be the Paraclete promised in the New Testament, the Last Prophet or Seal of the Prophets. The other prophets included Seth, Noah, Abraham, Shem, Nikotheos, Enoch, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus. [1] Mani presented himself as a saviour and an apostle of Jesus Christ. In the fourth century Manichaean Coptic papyri, Mani was identified with the Paraclete-Holy Ghost and he was regarded as the new Jesus. During his lifetime, Mani's earliest missionaries were active in Mesopotamia, Persia, Palestine, Syria and Egypt.

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[edit] Life

Mani was an exceptionally gifted child.[citation needed] According to biographical accounts by al-Biruni, preserved in the tenth century encyclopedia the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, Mani received a revelation in his youth from a spirit whom he later called the Syzygos or Twin, who taught him the divine truths of the religion. Mani was influenced by Mandaeanism.[citation needed] Mani followed the holy books Puran and Kural.[citation needed] He began preaching at a young age.[citation needed] During this period, the large existing religious groups, including Christianity and Zoroastrianism, were competing for political and social power. Manichaeism had fewer adherents than Zoroastrianism, but won the support of high ranking political figures. With the aid of the Persian Empire, Mani would initiate several missionary excursions. He traveled to Turkistan, India and Iran, among other places, with many disciples. Mani's first excursion was to the Kushan Empire in northwestern India. Mani is believed to have lived and taught in India for some time, and several religious paintings in Bamiyan are attributed to him. Mani is said to have sailed to the Indus valley area of India in 240 or 241 AD, and to have converted a Buddhist King, the Turan Shah of India. On that occasion Manichaeism seems to have been influenced by Buddhism.[citation needed] After forty years of travel Mani returned with his retinue to Persia and converted Peroz, King Shapur's brother.

Mani failed to win the favor of the next generation. The disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy resulted in Mani being sent to prison, where he is reported to have died after several months.[citation needed] Several sources suggest that he was crucified.[citation needed] One legend recounts that he asked to be executed that way.[citation needed] It is more likely that Mani was beheaded.[citation needed]

[edit] Sources

Until the later twentieth century, Mani's life was known largely from remarks by his detractors and from late works. According to Cyril of Jerusalem the knowledge acquired by Mani derived from the travels to India of a man named Scythianus in 50 AD. After the death of Scythianus, his pupil Terebinthus went to Palestine and Judaea ("becoming known and condemned in Judaea") and Babylon. He used the name 'Buddas', which could mean he presented himself as a Buddha and may suggest a link between his philosophy and Buddhism [2]. Terebinthus brought with him the books of Scythianus, which he presented upon his death to his lodger, a widow with a slave named Cubricus, who later changed his name to Mani (from "Manes" in Persian, meaning "discourse"). Mani is said to have studied the books, which thereby become the source of Manichean doctrine [3]

Also in the fourth century, Ephraim attacked Mani for letting himself be overcome by "the Lie" from India, introducing "two powers which were against each other."

In 1969 in Upper Egypt a Greek parchment codex of ca 400 AD, was discovered, which is now designated Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis (because it is conserved at the University of Cologne). It combines a hagiographic account of Mani's career and spiritual development with information about Mani's religious teachings and contains fragments of his Living (or Great) Gospel and his Letter to Edessa.

[edit] Mani in fiction

Mani has been mentioned in several works of fiction, including Amin Maalouf's novel The Gardens of Light and science fiction author Philip K. Dick's novel VALIS.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bevan, A. A. (1930). "Manichaeism". Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume VIII Ed. James Hastings. London
  2. ^ "But Terebinthus, his disciple in this wicked error, inherited his money and books and heresy, and came to Palestine, and becoming known and condemned in Judaea he resolved to pass into Persia: but lest he should be recognised there also by his name he changed it and called himself Buddas." Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture no. 6, sections 23, available at Catholic Encyclopedia Online
  3. ^ Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture no. 6, sections 22 - 24, available at Catholic Encyclopedia Online

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