Manichaeism and Early Christianity Selected Papers from the 2019 Pretoria Congress and Consultation (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies)

458 Pages·2020·1.976 MB·English

by  Johannes van Oort

ManichaeismandEarlyChristianity
Nag Hammadi and
Manichaean Studies
Editors
JasonD.BeDuhn
DylanM.Burns
JohannesvanOort
EditorialBoard
a.d. deconick–w.-p. funk–i. gardner
s.n.c. lieu–h. lundhaug–a. marjanen–l. painchaud
n.a. pedersen–t. rasimus–s.g. richter
m. scopello–j.d. turner†–g. wurst
volume 99
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/nhms
Manichaeism
and Early Christianity
SelectedPapersfromthe2019PretoriaCongress
andConsultation
Editedby
JohannesvanOort
leiden | boston
TheLibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailableonlineathttp://catalog.loc.gov
lcrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:ManichaeismandearlyChristianity(Conference)(2019:Universityof
Pretoria),author.|Oort,J.van(Johannes),editor.
Title:ManichaeismandearlyChristianity:selectedpapersfromthe2019Pretoria
congressandconsultation/editedbyJohannesvanOort.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,[2021]|Series:NagHammadiandManichaean
studies,0929-2470;volume99|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
|EnglishandFrench.
Identifiers:lccn2020045264(print)|lccn2020045265(ebook)|
isbn9789004445451(hardback)|isbn9789004445468(ebook)
Subjects:lcsh:Christianityandotherreligions–Manichaeism–Congresses.|
Manichaeism–Relations–Christianity–Congresses.|Gnosticism–Congresses.
Classification:lccbt1410.m3172019(print)|lccbt1410(ebook)|
ddc273/.2–dc23
lcrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020045264
lcebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020045265
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Contents
Preface vii
NotesonContributors ix
1 TheReligiousInnovatorTatian:APrecursorofManiinSyrian
Christianity? 1
JosefLössl
2 Antithèsesenmutation,deMarcionàMani 24
MichelTardieu
3 TheDiatessaronicSequenceofMani’sSermonontheLifeofChristin
theBerlinKephalaia 35
ZsuzsannaGulácsi
4 TheStrangeCaseof‘QuireA’intheDublinKephalaiaCodex:Further
ThoughtsonMani’sBookofMysteries,M28iandtheFirstApocalypseof
James 51
IainGardner
5 Mani’sBookofMysteries:ATreatiseDeanima 70
DylanM.Burns
6 AManichaeanReadingoftheGospelofThomas 98
RenéFalkenberg
7 “ForonlyourlordtheParacleteiscompetenttopraiseyouasyou
deserve”(P.Kell.Gr.63):IdentifyingaRoman-EgyptianPatronofthe
ManichaeansinKellis 128
MattiasBrand
8 LesActaArchelaietsesprincipauxpersonnages:Noteshistoriqueset
lexicales 152
MadeleineScopello
9 SnakesintheGardenandTaresintheWheatField:EphremofNisibis’
PolemicofLineageagainsttheManichaeans 186
RobertMorehouse
vi contents
10 ManichaeisminJohnChrysostom’sHeresiology 225
ChrisL.deWet
11 Augustine’sDepulchroetaptoanditsManichaeanContext 253
JohannesvanOort
12 ThingandArgument:OntheFunctionoftheScenarioinAugustine’sDe
beatavita 288
ThereseFuhrer
13 Augustine,Faustus,andtheJews 302
JasonDavidBeDuhn
14 PelagiusagainsttheManichaeans:RealOpponentsorClichéd
Heresiology? 324
NilsArnePedersen
15 EvodiusofUzalisandtheDevelopmentofManichaeisminRoman
NorthAfrica 351
AäronVanspauwen
16 The‘Children’oftheManichaeans:WanderingExtremeAsceticsinthe
RomanEastCompared 374
ReaMatsangou
17 TheAfterlifeofManichaeisminNeoplatonicEducation 401
ByardBennett
IndexofAntiqueandModernPersonalNames 433
Preface
Thisvolumecontainstheselectedpapersfromthe2019congressandsubse-
quentconsultation‘ManichaeismandEarlyChristianity’whichwasorganized
as part of the research project ‘Augustine and Manichaeism’ at the Univer-
sity of Pretoria. Nine contributions were read and discussed at the Congress
that took place from 21–23 March 2019 in Brooklyn, Pretoria; the other con-
tributions came from project participants unable to attend in Pretoria but
happilywillingtoshedtheirspecialistlightonpartsof thetheme.Allchap-
tershavebeenthoroughlypeer-reviewedbythebestexpertsworldwide.The
resultisabookthatuniquelyexplorestherelationshipbetweenMani’sreligion
(once again it turned out to be essentially a ‘Gnostic’ form of heretic Chris-
tianity)anddiverseexpressionsof earlymainstreamandalsoother‘Gnostic’
types of Christendom. In fact, this publication is the first major exploration
of alargelyundevelopedfieldof researchthataimstostudytherelationship
betweenManichaeismandvariedEarlyChristianity.Nevertheless,allexperts
inthedisciplinewillagreethatstillmuchcanandshouldbedoneinthisimpor-
tantfield.Tonamejustafewmajorresearchwishes:howwastherelationship
betweenMani’sChurchandtheJewish-ChristianElkesaitesoriginallyandlater
on?;towhatextentwasAthanasiusacquaintedwithMani’sreligionandprob-
ably with Manichaeans in his immediate environments?; to what extent did
Manichaeanquestionsinfluencethedevelopmentofthedogmataandconfes-
sionalformulasofmainstreamCatholicchurches?;whatabouttheenigmatic
writingAdIustinumManichaeumcontraduoprincipiaManichaeorumetdevera
carneChristi,oftenascribedtothe—infactnotmuchlessenigmaticandstill
understudied—RomanrhetorandChristianMariusVictorinus?Etc.!
Theselastobservationsmaynotonlyindicatehowmanyresultscanstillbe
expectedinournewandrichfieldofresearch:theymayalsoimplicatetowhat
extentwonderfulresultscanalreadybereported.Thisbookbearswitnesstoin-
depthresearchintoMani’spredecessors;newlightonsomeofhisownwritings;
surprisingresultswhencomparingManichaeantextswithanumberoftheNag
Hammadidocuments;anewanalysisof someof therecentKellisfinds;thor-
oughexaminationofwritingsbymainstreamChristianauthorswho—whether
ornotattestingtouniqueknowledgeof Manichaeanthoughtorwrit—dealt
withManichaeanprinciplesandpractices:(Pseudo-)Hegemonius,Ephremthe
Syrian, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Pelagius, Evodius of Uzalis, later Greek
ecclesiastical writers and even a Neoplatonic inspired philosophical instruc-
tionpublishedhereforthefirsttimewithanalysisof itsecclesiasticalsetting
inthemanuscripts.Thephilosophicalandtheologicalquestionsemphatically
viii preface
raisedbytheManichaeanshavedominatedthediscussionsforcenturies,and
notleastthewritingsof ChurchFatherAugustineprovideanexampleinthis
regardthathashadagreatandevenlastinginfluenceonWesternthought.
Thinkingaboutthecontentsofthisbook,thebrightdaysofMarch2019come
to mind again. From entirely different places in the world, a unique band of
researchers came together for two days of intensive discussion of a dozen
in-depthresearchpapers.Fromtheoutsetthisconferencehadbeencalleda
‘congress’,butperhapsbetter—ifthiswouldnothavetriggeredpossiblemisun-
derstandingsamongthosewhogofortheliteralmeaningof aword—a‘sym-
posium’.Anyway,thedeliciousdiscussionscompletedwithdeliciousmealsand
drinks,andfinallyavisittotheCradleofMankindwithalionparkgamedrive,
havebecomeunforgettableformany.
Theeditorof thiscollectionwouldliketoexpresshisspecialgratitudenot
onlytoallwhomadetheirscientificcontributionsthenandlater,butalsotothe
DeanofUniversityofPretoria’sFacultyofTheologyandReligion,Prof.JerryPil-
lay,forhissupport,andtoitsDeputyDeanandSupervisorof Research,Prof.
Ernest van Eck, for opening the conference. The Board of the International
Association of Manichaean Studies was so kind as to accept the 2019 Preto-
riameetingasoneofitscongressesandbothitsPresident,NilsArnePedersen,
andVice-President,JasonBeDuhn,werepresentandactivelyparticipatedin
thedeliberations.OurhighlyesteemedcolleagueChrisdeWetfromtheUni-
versityof SouthAfrica(unisa)inPretoriagavemanyvaluableadvice.Wilma
deWeertwasonceagainagreatsupportatBrill,aswasLouiseSchouten,who
evenattendedourconference.TheyoungLeuvendoctorAaronVanspauwen
wasofgreathelpincompilinganIndex.
Brooklyn,Pretoria,
the13thofNovember2020, JvO
Notes on Contributors
JasonDavidBeDuhn
is Professor of Religious Studies at Northern Arizona University. Among his
recent publications are Augustine’s Manichaean Dilemma: 1: Conversion and
Apostasy,373–388c.e.and2:Makinga‘Catholic’Self,388–401c.e.,Universityof
PennsylvaniaPress,2010and2013.
ByardBennett
isEmeritusProfessorofHistoricalandPhilosophicalTheologyatGrandRapids
TheologicalSeminary/CornerstoneUniversity.Hispublicationshavefocused
on Greek Christian philosophical texts of the patristic, Byzantine, and post-
Byzantineperiods.
MattiasBrand
isapostdoctoralfellowattheZürichInstitutefortheStudyof Religions.He
received his PhD at Leiden University (2019) on ‘The Manichaeans of Kellis:
Religion,Community,andEverydayLifeinLateAntiquity’.Hisresearchinter-
ests include late antique religion, Manichaeism, Early Christian diversity, as
wellasmethodandtheoryinthestudyofreligion.
DylanM.Burns
is a research associate at Freie Universität Berlin. He has published several
books and many articles on Gnosticism, later Greek philosophy, early Chris-
tianity,andtheirmodernreception,recentlyincludingNewAntiquities(Equi-
nox,2019)andDidGodCare?(Brill,2020).
RenéFalkenberg
(Aarhus University) is associate professor of NewTestament Studies. He has
publishedonPaul,Manichaeism,andtextsfromNagHammadi.Currentlyhe
worksintheBibliaManichaicaProjectandonamonographonEugnostosthe
Blessed(nhciii,3andv,1)entitledImmortalamongMortals(Brill).
ThereseFuhrer
holdstheChairofLatinattheLudwig-Maximilians-UniversitätMunich.Sheis
theauthorandeditorof severalbookssuchas(withMartinHose)Dasantike
Drama,München:Beck2017and(withSimoneAdam)Augustinus,ContraAca-
demicos,Debeatavita,Deordine(BibliothecaTeubneriana2022),Berlin/Bos-
ton:DeGruyter2017.
x notes on contributors
IainGardner
isProfessoroftheHistoryofReligionsattheUniversityofSydney,andaFellow
oftheAustralianAcademyofHumanities.HisrecentpublicationsincludeThe
Founderof Manichaeism.RethinkingtheLifeof Mani, Cambridge: Cambridge
UniversityPress2020.
ZsuzsannaGulácsi
isProfessorof ArtHistoryandAsianStudiesatNorthernArizonaUniversity,
Flagstaff. She is the author of Manichaean Art in Berlin Collections (Brepols
2001), Mediaeval Manichaean Book Art (Brill 2005), and Mani’s Pictures:The
DidacticImagesoftheManichaeansfromSasanianMesopotamiatoUygurCen-
tralAsiaandTang-MingChina(Brill2015).
JosefLössl
isProfessorofReligiousStudiesandTheologyatCardiffUniversity,specializing
inthestudyofearlyChristianity,patristicsandLateAntiquity.Heisco-editorof
ACompaniontoReligioninLateAntiquity(WileyBlackwell2018)andcurrently
workingonacommentaryonTatian’sOratioadGraecosintheseriesKommen-
tarzufrühchristlichenApologeten(KfA).
ReaMatsangou
is a member of the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthro-
pology, University of Thessaly, Greece, and PhD candidate at the University
ofLeiden.Mostrecentpublication:‘RealandImaginedManichaeansinGreek
PatristicAnti-Manichaica(4th–6thcenturies)’,in:ManichaeismEastandWest
(cfm.AnalectaManichaica1),Turnhout:Brepols2017,159–170.
RobertMorehouse
isanadjunctprofessorofArabicatLibertyUniversity(USA).
JohannesvanOort
(em.Prof.UtrechtUniversityandRadboudUniversityNijmegen)isanextra-
ordinaryProfessorof PatristicsattheUniversityof Pretoria.Amonghismost
recentpublicationsisManiandAugustine.CollectedEssaysonMani,Manichae-
ismandAugustine,Leiden-Boston:Brill2020.
NilsArnePedersen
(Aarhus University, Denmark) is an associate professor of Church History.
Amonghismostrecentpublications(asseniorauthor)isTheNewTestament
GospelsinManichaeanTradition:TheSourcesinSyriac,Greek,Coptic,Middle