The prominent role books and the act of writing played in the life of the Manichaean Church distinguishes Manichaeism even among other “religions of the book.” This article tackles the question whether the primacy of writing was established by Mani himself or resulted from a development that occurred within the first generations of Mani’s followers. The analysis of the extant fragments of Mani’s own works and early Manichaean texts such as the work of Baraies preserved in the Cologne Mani Codex and the Kephalaia indicate that Mani’s superiority as a writing prophet and the ritual meaning of writing most likely were not part of Mani’s original teaching. Rather, they resulted from the efforts of Manichaean theologians who sought to demonstrate the exceptional status of Mani’s revelation and prophetic mission based on his writings. The Prologue to the Kephalaia of the Teacher played a significant role in this development and contributed extensively to the ritualization of writing in Manichaeism.
There exists an entrenched notion, supported by both Christian and Manichaean texts, that Manicheans rejected the Old Testament as a product of Satan. However, scholars have noted the presence of loans from the Old Testament in Manichaean works. The Manichaean priest, Felix, in his dispute with St Augustine, documented in Augustine’s Contra Felicem Manicheum, cites Genesis 1:1-2 to demonstrate its agreement with Mani’s teachings. This and other examples show that the Manichaean attitude towards the Old Testament was more complicated than that of simple rejection. In this report, I review textual evidence from multiple Manichaean sources indicating that Jewish texts in general, and Genesis in particular, should be counted among the sources of Manichaeism. Furthermore, I address the question how this evidence could be reconciled with the long-standing view of the Manichaean rejection of the Old Testament.
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