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1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2009

Iain Gardner
Affiliation:
Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University
Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu
Affiliation:
Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
Iain Gardner
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Samuel N. C. Lieu
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
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Summary

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK

The term ‘Manichaean’ is here used in its primary sense, with reference to the religion that was founded by Mani (or Manichaios, that is Mani ‘the living’ as the original Syriac was transmitted into Greek) in the early Sassanian empire during the third century of the common era. Mani was a visionary, for he was a mystic and a painter; he was an intellectual, with a passion for understanding all aspects of the natural world and integrating them into a coherent system; but he was also intensely practical in his approach to this divine revelation and this knowledge. We might say that Manichaeism is the first real ‘religion’ in the modern sense, because Mani established it directly and deliberately, with its scriptures and its rituals and its organisation all in place. A principal aspect of his purpose was that this teaching and this practice and this community would be universal, and would supersede all previous faiths (which indeed were understood to reach their true culmination here). Mani himself travelled widely to preach, heal, convert and establish communities; and he dispatched missionaries in all directions. This book is concerned with the religion's spread and success and ultimate demise to the west of its homeland, that is in the world of the later Roman Empire.

In the last years of Ardashir the king I came out to preach. I crossed to the country of the Indians. I preached to them the hope of life. I chose in that place a good election.[…]

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Introduction
    • By Iain Gardner, Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University, Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu, Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
  • Edited by Iain Gardner, University of Sydney, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book: Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616891.005
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  • Introduction
    • By Iain Gardner, Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University, Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu, Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
  • Edited by Iain Gardner, University of Sydney, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book: Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616891.005
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.

  • Introduction
    • By Iain Gardner, Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University, Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu, Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
  • Edited by Iain Gardner, University of Sydney, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book: Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616891.005
Available formats
×