Religious Research

Religious Research

The Faces of Jesus in Manichaean Documents[1] The Faces of Jesus in Manichaean Documents

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mohammad Shokri- Foumeshi 1
Mosayyeb Golchin 2
Mostafa Farhoudi 1
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Eastern Religions, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran
2 PhD Student in Ancient Iranian Religions, Department of Eastern Religions, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran
10.22034/jrr.2024.406955.2132
Abstract
In the present article, the nature and character of "Jesus" – one of the most prominent figures in Manichaean teachings and the founder of Manichaeism's theoretical framework – is analyzed. The research findings indicate that diverse portrayals of Jesus are presented in various Eastern and Western Manichaean texts, including: "The Suffering Jesus, The Crucified, The Living Soul," "The Luminous Jesus," and "Jesus Christ, The Historical Jesus." These manifestations are all aspects and dimensions of a single personality, each expressed in a specific manner. From Mani's perspective, Jesus Christ was not born of any mother; rather, the suffering of this crucified and tormented Jesus is the suffering of the Light imprisoned in the material world, which is embodied in Jesus Christ. He is the same deity, the Luminous Jesus, who descended multiple times from the Kingdom to bring revelation to the prophets and who will sit on the judgment seat at the end of the world to judge all people. This article demonstrates that the manifestations of "Jesus the Bridegroom," "The Young Jesus," and "Jesus the Moon" have only emerged in scholarly interpretations without being explicitly defined or specified in Manichaean theology.
Keywords
Jesus
Christology
Luminous Jesus
Living Soul
Manichaeism
Subjects
Decret, François. 1383 Sh. Mani and the Manichaean Tradition [Mānī wa sunnat-i Mānawī]. Translated by Abbas Baqeri. Tehran: Farzan.
Esma'ilpour Motlaq, Abolqasem. 1396 Sh. The Myth of Creation in the Manichaean Religion [Osṭūri-yi āfarīnish dar kīsh-i Mānī]. Edited by Mohammad Shokri Foumeshi. Tehran: Cheshmeh.
Hans, Jonas. 1398 Sh. The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Unknown God and the Beginnings of Christianity [Kīsh-i Gnūsī; Payām-i Khudā-yi nāshinākhtah va sadr-i Masīḥīyat]. Translated by Mashallah Kuchaki Meybodi and Hamid Hashemi Kohandani. Edited by Mohammad Shokri Foumeshi. Qom: University of Religions and Denominations.
Shokri Foumeshi, Mohammad. 1387 Sh. “The Hymn of the Living Soul: A Critical Edition of Five Manichaean Turfan Manuscripts” [Surūd-i nafs-i zindah: virāyish-i intiqādī-i panj dastnivis-i Mānawī-i Tūrfānī]. In: Memorial Volume for Dr. Badr-al-Zaman Gharib [Jashn-nāmah Duktur Badr al-Zamān Qarīb]. Edited by Zohreh Zarshenas and Vida Naddaf. Tehran: Tahuri, pp. 125-147.
Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 1396 Sh. Iranian Elements in Manichaeism (A Comparative Approach) [ʻAnāṣir-i Īrānī dar kīsh-i Mānī (bā rūykard-i muqāyisah-ī)]. [Trans. Mohammad Shokri Foumeshi ]. Tehran: Tahuri.
Tardieu, Michel. 1402 Sh. Manichaeism [Kīsh-i Mānī]. Translated by Mohammad Shokri Foumeshi and Iraj Jamshidi. Qom: University of Religions and Denominations.
Vameqi, Iraj. 1378 Sh. Manichaean Writings and Manichaeans [Nivishtahʹhā-yi Mānawī va Mānawiyān]. Tehran: Research Institute of Islamic Culture and Art; Hozeh Honari.
 
English & Other Language Sources:
Böhlig, A. and J. P. Asmussen. 1980. Die Gnosis. Bd. 3: Der Manichäismus. Artemis, Zürich.
Boyce, M. 1975. A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, Vol. 2, 2nd edn. E.J. Brill, Leiden.
Cirillo, L. and A. Roselli. 1986. Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis. Atti del Simposio Internationale (Rende-Amantea 3-7 settembre 1984). Marra, Cosenza.
Durkin-Meisterernst, D. 2004. Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian (Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum, Dictionary of Manichaean Texts III,1). Turnhout: Brepols.
Franzmann, M. 2003. Jesus in the Manichaean Writings. New York.
Gardner, I. 1983. ‘Manichaean Christology. The Historical Jesus and the Suffering Jesus with particular reference to western texts (i.e. texts from a Christian environment), and illustrated by comparison with Marcionism and other related movements’. PhD thesis, Manchester University [apud Franzmann 2003].
Gardner, I. 1991. ‘The Manichaean Account of Jesus and the Passion of the Living Soul’. In: Manichaica Selecta. Ed. by A. van Tongerloo and S. Giversen. pp. 71-86.
Klimkeit, H.-J. 1979. ‘Das Kreuzessymbol in der zentralasiatischen Religionsbegegnung’. Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte (ZRGG), 31.1, pp. 99-115.
Klimkeit, H.-J. 1993. Gnosis on the Silk Road: Gnostic Texts from Central Asia. Harper, San Francisco/New York.
Koenen, L. 1978. ‘From Baptism to the Gnosis of Manichaeism’. In: The Rediscovery of Gnosticism. Proceedings of the International Conference on Gnosticism at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, March 28-31, 1978. Vol. 2: Sethian Gnosticism. Ed. by Bentley Layton. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1981, pp. 734-756.
Lieu, S. N. C. (1992). Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China, 2nd edn. J.C.B. Mohr, Tübingen.
Pedersen, N. A. 1988. ‘Early Manichaean Christology, primarily in Western Sources’. In: Manichaean Studies. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Manichaeism, August 5-9, 1987. Ed. by Peter Bryder. Plus Ultra, Lund, pp. 157-190.
Pétrement, S. 1990. A Separate God: The Christian Origins of Gnosticism. Harper, San Francisco.
Polotsky, H. J. 1971. ‘Manichäismus’. In: Collected Papers by H. J. Polotsky. Ed. by E. Y. Kutscher. pp. 699-714.
Richter, S. 1994. Exegetisch-literarkritische Untersuchungen von Herakleidespsalmen des koptisch-manichäischen Psalmenbuches. Oros Verlag, Altenberge.
Rose, E. 1979. Die Manichäische Christologie. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.
Rudolph, K. 1965. ‘Gnosis und Manichäismus nach den koptischen Quellen’. Koptologische Studien in der DDR. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, pp. 156-190.
Rudolph, K. 1982. ‘Review of: Rose, E., Die manichäische Christologie, Wiesbaden 1979’. Theologische Literaturzeitung (ThLZ), 107, pp. 444-447.
Sundermann, W. 1968. ‘Christliche Evangelientexte in der Überlieferung der iranisch-manichäischen Literatur’. Mitteilungen des Instituts für Orientforschung (MIOF), 14.3, pp. 386-405.
Sundermann, W. 1979. ‘Namen von Göttern, Dämonen und Menschen in iranischen Versionen des manichäischen Mythos’. Altorientalische Forschungen (AoF), 6, pp. 95-133.
Sundermann, W. (1988). “Der Paraklet in der ostmanichäischen Überlieferung”. In: P. Bryder (ed.), Proceedings of the First International Conference on Manichaeism. Lund, pp. 201-212.
Sundermann, W. 1992. ‘Christ in Manicheism’. In: Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. 5. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, pp. 535-539.
Waldschmidt, E. and W. Lentz. (1926). Die Stellung Jesu im Manichäismus. APAW.PH 4, Berlin.
Waldschmidt, E. and W. Lentz. (1933). ‘Manichäische Dogmatik aus chinesischen und iranischen Texten’. Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse (APAW), 13, pp. 480-607.
 
 
Religious Research
Volume 13, Issue 25 - Serial Number 25
November 2025
Pages 139-160