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1 - Inventing Prophethood?

Baraies the Teacher and His Homily

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2023

Jae Hee Han
Affiliation:
Brown University, Rhode Island
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Summary

In the next three chapters, I argue that conceptions of “prophethood” cannot be separated from the specific rhetorical contexts in which they are articulated. In this chapter, I argue that “prophethood” as found in Baraies the Teacher’s homily in the Cologne Mani Codex shows that “Manichaeism” had not yet “parted ways” from its earlier “Jewish Christian” and “Elchasaite roots” since Baraies invents a new concept of prophethood designed to graft Mani into an already existing Elchasaite history. I show that Baraies’ notion of prophethood is new because he is responding to a problem that never arose in Mani’s lifetime, and, he cites from Mani’s own books, but none of them say what Baraies wants him to say. If Baraies is trying to demonstrate to his opponents that Mani should be included in prior history, then we cannot yet say that the two religions had definitively parted ways, only that Mani continued to be a point of contention within an already-existing community. Prophethood is thus a rhetorical tool for Baraies to make his argument, which is ultimately over who are the stewards of Elchasaite history and its true spokespeople.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Inventing Prophethood?
  • Jae Hee Han, Brown University, Rhode Island
  • Book: Prophets and Prophecy in the Late Antique Near East
  • Online publication: 26 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009297738.002
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  • Inventing Prophethood?
  • Jae Hee Han, Brown University, Rhode Island
  • Book: Prophets and Prophecy in the Late Antique Near East
  • Online publication: 26 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009297738.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Inventing Prophethood?
  • Jae Hee Han, Brown University, Rhode Island
  • Book: Prophets and Prophecy in the Late Antique Near East
  • Online publication: 26 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009297738.002
Available formats
×