Manichaeism and Early Christianity: Selected Papers from the 2019
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Manichaeism and Early Christianity Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies Editors Jason D. BeDuhn Dylan M. Burns Johannes van Oort Editorial Board 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 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/nhms Manichaeism and Early Christianity Selected Papers from the 2019 Pretoria Congress and Consultation Edited by Johannes van Oort leiden | boston The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov lc record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Manichaeism and early Christianity (Conference) (2019 : University of Pretoria), author. | Oort, J. van (Johannes), editor. Title: Manichaeism and early Christianity : selected papers from the 2019 Pretoria congress and consultation / edited by Johannes van Oort. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2021] | Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies, 0929-2470 ; volume 99 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | English and French. Identifiers: lccn 2020045264 (print) | lccn 2020045265 (ebook) | isbn 9789004445451 (hardback) | isbn 9789004445468 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Christianity and other religions–Manichaeism–Congresses. | Manichaeism–Relations–Christianity–Congresses. | Gnosticism–Congresses. Classification: lcc bt1410 .m317 2019 (print) | lcc bt1410 (ebook) | ddc 273/.2–dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045264 lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045265 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. issn 0929-2470 isbn 978-90-04-44545-1 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-44546-8 (e-book) Copyright 2021 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Contents Preface vii Notes on Contributors ix 1 The Religious Innovator Tatian: A Precursor of Mani in Syrian Christianity? 1 Josef Lössl 2 Antithèses en mutation, de Marcion à Mani 24 Michel Tardieu 3 The Diatessaronic Sequence of Mani’s Sermon on the Life of Christ in the Berlin Kephalaia 35 Zsuzsanna Gulácsi 4 The Strange Case of ‘Quire A’ in the Dublin Kephalaia Codex: Further Thoughts on Mani’s Book of Mysteries, M28i and the First Apocalypse of James 51 Iain Gardner 5 Mani’s Book of Mysteries: A Treatise De anima 70 Dylan M. Burns 6 A Manichaean Reading of the Gospel of Thomas 98 René Falkenberg 7 “For only our lord the Paraclete is competent to praise you as you deserve” (P.Kell.Gr. 63): Identifying a Roman-Egyptian Patron of the Manichaeans in Kellis 128 Mattias Brand 8 Les Acta Archelai et ses principaux personnages: Notes historiques et lexicales 152 Madeleine Scopello 9 Snakes in the Garden and Tares in the Wheat Field: Ephrem of Nisibis’ Polemic of Lineage against the Manichaeans 186 Robert Morehouse vi contents 10 Manichaeism in John Chrysostom’s Heresiology 225 Chris L. de Wet 11 Augustine’s De pulchro et apto and its Manichaean Context 253 Johannes van Oort 12 Thing and Argument: On the Function of the Scenario in Augustine’s De beata vita 288 Therese Fuhrer 13 Augustine, Faustus, and the Jews 302 Jason David BeDuhn 14 Pelagius against the Manichaeans: Real Opponents or Clichéd Heresiology? 324 Nils Arne Pedersen 15 Evodius of Uzalis and the Development of Manichaeism in Roman North Africa 351 Aäron Vanspauwen 16 The ‘Children’ of the Manichaeans: Wandering Extreme Ascetics in the Roman East Compared 374 Rea Matsangou 17 The Afterlife of Manichaeism in Neoplatonic Education 401 Byard Bennett Index of Antique and Modern Personal Names 433 Preface This volume contains the selected papers from the 2019 congress and subse- quent consultation ‘Manichaeism and Early Christianity’ which was organized 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 happily willing to shed their specialist light on parts of the theme. All chap- ters have been thoroughly peer-reviewed by the best experts worldwide. The result is a book that uniquely explores the relationship between Mani’s religion (once again it turned out to be essentially a ‘Gnostic’ form of heretic Chris- tianity) and diverse expressions of early mainstream and also other ‘Gnostic’ types of Christendom. In fact, this publication is the first major exploration of a largely undeveloped field of research that aims to study the relationship between Manichaeism and varied Early Christianity. Nevertheless, all experts in the discipline will agree that still much can and should be done in this impor- tant field. To name just a few major research wishes: how was the relationship between Mani’s Church and the Jewish-Christian Elkesaites originally and later on?; to what extent was Athanasius acquainted with Mani’s religion and prob- ably with Manichaeans in his immediate environments?; to what extent did Manichaean questions influence the development of the dogmata and confes- sional formulas of mainstream Catholic churches?; what about the enigmatic writing AdIustinumManichaeumcontraduoprincipiaManichaeorumetdevera carne Christi, often ascribed to the—in fact not much less enigmatic and still understudied—Roman rhetor and Christian Marius Victorinus? Etc.! These last observations may not only indicate how many results can still be expected in our new and rich field of research: they may also implicate to what extent wonderful results can already be reported. This book bears witness to in- depth research into Mani’s predecessors; new light on some of his own writings; surprising results when comparing Manichaean texts with a number of the Nag Hammadi documents; a new analysis of some of the recent Kellis finds; thor- ough examination of writings by mainstream Christian authors who—whether or not attesting to unique knowledge of Manichaean thought or writ—dealt with Manichaean principles and practices: (Pseudo-)Hegemonius, Ephrem the Syrian, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Pelagius, Evodius of Uzalis, later Greek ecclesiastical writers and even a Neoplatonic inspired philosophical instruc- tion published here for the first time with analysis of its ecclesiastical setting in the manuscripts. The philosophical and theological questions emphatically viii preface raised by the Manichaeans have dominated the discussions for centuries, and not least the writings of Church Father Augustine provide an example in this regard that has had a great and even lasting influence on Western thought. Thinking about the contents of this book, the bright days of March 2019 come 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-depth research papers. From the outset this conference had been called a ‘congress’,but perhaps better—if this would not have triggered possible misun- derstandings among those who go for the literal meaning of a word—a ‘sym- posium’.Anyway, the delicious discussions completed with delicious meals and drinks, and finally a visit to the Cradle of Mankind with a lion park game drive, have become unforgettable for many. The editor of this collection would like to express his special gratitude not only to all who made their scientific contributions then and later, but also to the Dean of University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Theology and Religion, Prof. Jerry Pil- lay, for his support, and to its Deputy Dean and Supervisor of 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- ria meeting as one of its congresses and both its President, Nils Arne Pedersen, and Vice-President, Jason BeDuhn, were present and actively participated in the deliberations. Our highly esteemed colleague Chris de Wet from the Uni- versity of South Africa (unisa) in Pretoria gave many valuable advice. Wilma de Weert was once again a great support at Brill, as was Louise Schouten, who even attended our conference. The young Leuven doctor Aaron Vanspauwen was of great help in compiling an Index. Brooklyn, Pretoria, the 13th of November 2020, JvO Notes on Contributors Jason David BeDuhn 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. and 2: Making a ‘Catholic’ Self, 388–401c.e., University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010 and 2013. Byard Bennett is Emeritus Professor of Historical and Philosophical Theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary/Cornerstone University. His publications have focused on