Jesus in the Manichaean Writings

Description

Manichaeism was a dualistic religious system with Christian, Gnostic and pagan elements, founded in Persia in the third century by Manes. This is the first full-length study of the Manichaean Jesus, since the publication of several major Manichaean texts such as the "Homilies", "Psalm Book" and "Kephalaia" in the 1930s and 1940s. A knowledge of Manichaean Christology is important for any understanding of the development of Christologies in the early centuries CE, whether within mainstream Christianity or within associated heterodox groups. This book undertakes a comprehensive study of six distinct figures of Jesus that can be found in both Eastern and Western Manichaean literature. Previous partial studies of Manichaean Christology have tended to restrict their focus to texts from either Eastern or Western traditions alone. Majella Franzmann argues that a single Manichaean Jesus can be discerned behind the many different representations to be found.

Majella Franzmann is Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of New England, Australia.

"...the book will be of interest to many readers precisely because it contains so many passage culled from a wide body of literature." -RRT (Reviews in Religion and Theology), 12.1, 2/05