Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis: Atti del secondo simposio internazionale (Cosenza 27-28 maggio 1988)

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CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS Atti del Secondo Simposio Internazionale (Cosenza 27-28 maggio 1988) a cura di

LUIGI CIRILLO

Pa Un

MARRA

EDITORE 1990

COSENZA

Y Theology Library Schoo efTheology Claremont,CA

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Volume pubblicato col concorso dell’Universita della Calabria e dell’Amministrazione Provinciale di Cosenza

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Un evento culturale di grande rilievo, quale fu il simposio internazionale di Rende - Amantea del 3-7 settembre 1984 sul CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS e la pubblicazione dei relativi atti non poteva non suscitare interesse nella comunità scientifica. L’attenzione dedicata al poderoso volume dei contributi di quella riuscita iniziativa accademica si è venuto esprimendo in numerose recensioni e in annotazioni critiche che hanno fatto crescere ancor più la necessità di approfondimento dei problemi storici, filologici e contenutistici di questa importante fonte per lo studio delle origini

del Manicheismo. La sensibilità di istituzioni sia civili che accademiche rese possibile la realizzazione del simposio, ma contributia tener vivo il filo di collegamento tra studiosi di diverse parti del mondo. La rete di tali rappporti ha condotto alla felice occasione di richiamare a raccolta alcuni di essi, per una messa a punto del tema e per un ampliamento degli orizzonti di analisi a cui la ricerca ulteriore sul CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS deve ispirarsi. Ne è risultato cosi un secondo simposio internazionale di studio. Anche questa volta ne è stato teatro la terra di Calabria, per la lodevole magnanimità di organismi locali. Il testo che presentiamo raccoglie i contributi offerti dai relatori nel simposio che si svolse a Cosenza nel mese di maggio del 1988. All’Università di Calabria è dovuto un ringraziamento sentito per l’ospitalità dei congressisti nel Convento di Rende. All’Amministrazione provinciale di Cosenza e al suo Presidente Dott. Eugenio Madeo va riconosciuto il merito di aver messo a disposizione i fondi necessari per la realizzazione dell’incontro di studio e per un cospicuo contributo in vista della pubblicazione degli atti. Ai colleghi che hanno voluto ancora una volta aderire all’invito a partecipare a questa iniziativa va detto un grazie cordiale e sincero. La loro presenza ha portato in Calabria ricchezza di cultura e mobilità di interessi che ravvivano sia le pareti dei laboratori della ricerca scientifica, sia le dimensio-

ni del vivere civile.

Luigi Cirillo Antonio Autiero (Segretario del 2° Simposio)

How

Dualistic is Mani’s Dualism?

LUDWIG

KOENEN,

Ann Arbor (Michigan)

Most of the discussions of the First International Symposium on the Cologne Mani Codex centered on the Elchasaites and Judaeo-Christianity, i.e., on the milieu in which Mani grew up and which, therefore, substantially influenced his thoughts. For such questions about Mani's heritage

the new information which the Cologne Mani Codex provided was of particular importance and forced scholars to rethink assumptions and positions. Questions of Mani's own teaching and in particular of his dualism came up in several papers; but, in this area, more work remains to be done. Hence, while revisiting the location of the first symposium, I wish to speak

about Mani's dualism as it appears in the Codex.! We are accustomed to view Mani's dualism as extreme and radical. Only a few scholars have modified this view; they either speak correctly of an “optimistic dualism", or incorrectly restrict the relevance of the Cologne Mani Codex to the early period of Mani's views. According to the latter ‘ approach, early Manichaeism taught a dualism that was ethical, not yet ontological. To use words which were spoken at the First International Sym-

posium on the Cologne Mani Codex, "the new text offers a glimpse at the very passage from sect to world religion, from a basically monotheistic theology to the most radically dualistic system ever devised."3 In this dis1 I read a shorter German version of this paper at the Carl Schmidt Colloquy at the Martin-Luther-Universität in Halle-Wittenberg (April 27-29, 1988); it will be published in the proceedings of this colloquium which are edited by P. Nagel (forthcoming). The English paper published here is not substantially different, but it takes the space needed to address a few related topics, albeit briefly. The interpretation of some of the passages which will be discussed below was elaborated in my paper on "Das manichäische Dogma im Kölner Mani-Kodex" which was read at the Second International Conference on Manichaeism in Sankt Augustin (August 6-10); the proceedings will be edited by H.J. Klimkeit and G. Wiessner. I thank Ellen A. Bauerle for correcting the English of the final version of this paper. 2 H.J.W. Drijvers, "Conflict and Alliance in Manichaeism" in Struggles of Gods, ed. von H.G. Kippenberg, Religion and Reason 31, Berlin-New York-Amsterdam 1984, 99-

124. 3 G.G. Stroumsa in his paper "Esotericism in Mani's Thought and Background," Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis, Atti del Simposio Intern. (Rende-Amantea, 3-7 settembre

2

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

cussion the beginning of the Great or Living Gospel of Mani, one of Mani's authoritative books, is of crucial importance. The passage is extant in the Cologne Mani Codex as well as in two middle Persian fragments, which also contain a Soghdian translation.4 The text quoted by Baraies, an early Manichaean apologist and theologian, runs as follows:

CMC 66.4ff. ey» Mavviyaioc ’In(co)d Xp(1ct0)d | &-

nöctoAoc 814 BeAnpaltoc Beod TI(at)p(d)c tic &ANBetlac é& od Kal yéyova, dc Cf 18 te Kai Stapéver eic aidvac | aiavov mpo mavtòc | pèv dDrdpyov, Siapélvov dè Kal peta navil2ta— navra dè tà yeyolvéta te Kai yevncönelva 51d tod adtod cBévovc |dpéctnKev. && adtod 116 yap todtov NEQOUKG, eiluì de Kai EX Tod HeAnnaltoc adtod.> 1984, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Centro interdipartimentale di Scienze Religiose, Cosenza 1986, 153-168; the quotation is taken from p. 154. G.G. Stroumsa devel-

oped his argument in "König und Schwein, Zur Struktur des manichäischen Dualismus," in Gnosis und Politik, ed. by J. Taubes, Paderborn-Munchen-Wien-Zurich 1984, 141-153. 4M 17+172; in M. Boyce, A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian,

Textes et Mémoires II, Acta Iranica 9, Leiden-Luttich-Teheran 1975, p. 33 c 2; the following comparison of M 17 with the Greek text is adapted from A. Henrichs und L. Koenen, ZPE 5, 1970, 193-195:

n

I

my,

prystg

Mani, (an)

éy@ Mavviyaioc ‘y (rel.) (of him) who (is)

Apostle

'yg(rel.) yySw'

(of) Jesus

Tncod Xputod dndctoAoc the Father,

by w’bryg’n, (the) true God,

‘ry'm'n,

(the) Friend

pd

q'm

51a

OeAnpatoc

through

(the) will

h'nk[y] "n 'cy$ bwd [hym --he (is the one) out of whom I am [---

Ocod IHatpòc tic dAnfeiac EE od Kai yéyova, Ih te Kat “n

N

Siopéver eic aidvac aidvev mpd ravtòc pèv vrapxyov, Siapévav Sè

Pay

rd

’

] wysp everything

da

"st. is.

Kai petà mndvta. zwr "wy pd power through his

diù

oc

dd

x

'wdhrw Andallthings

navta ‘ystyd. exist.

dè

A

cy bwd that were

=

¢

’

"wd and

tà yeyovòta te Kal

[4

LI

bw'd, will be

yevncdpeva

TOD adtod Bévovc dpéctnkev.

5 Der Kélner Mani-Kodex, Uber das Werden seines Leibes, Kritische Edition aufgrund der von A. Henrichs und L. Koenen besorgten Erstedition, Pap. Colon. XIV, Abh. der Rhein. Westf. Ak. d. Wiss., Opladen 1988. The critical apparatus that is added to some of the passages quoted below has, for the most part, been taken from this edition. The English translation by R. Cameron and A.J. Dewey, The Cologne Mani Codex "Concerning the Origin of His Body," Society of Biblical Literature, Texts and Translations 15, Early Christian Literature Series 3, Scholars Press 1979, was used where available (CMC 2-99.9), although with several changes.

LUDWIG KOENEN

3

"I, Mani, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, the Father of Truth, from whom I was born, who lives and abides forever, existing before all things and abiding after all things—all things which have come into being and will be exist through his Power. For from this very one I have been brought forth, but I also am from his will." Because this passage survives in the Greek as well as in the Iranian branches of the tradition, and since it is ascribed to Mani's Gospel, a canonical work, it ought to be seen as an authentic expression of Manichaean thought. But the passage offers two surprises with regard to our discussion of Manichaean dualism. The first is that the Father of Truth, i.e., the highest Manichaean deity and the ultimate originator of all divine emanations, not only abides forever, but also, as is said with the greatest precision, "exists before all things and abides after all things." The second surprise is that "all things that are and will be exist through the power" of this primeval God. The two statements seem to preclude (1) that the good God of Light and the evil Arch-demon of Darkness are co-eternal and (2) that

some parts of this world, like plants, animals, and men, are creations of the demons. Both statements are sharp contradictions to the Manichaean myth and, as it seems, to elementary beliefs of Mani and his church. I. DUALISM AND MYTH IN THE COLOGNE MANI CODEX

A first approach to this dilemma has suggested itself and has already been mentioned (see p. 1). Since Mani grew up in Judaeo-Christian traditions, he may have originally followed their monotheistic beliefs and only later have turned his social, anthropological, and ethical dualism into an ontological dualism, presumably when he tried to make his beliefs more attractive to the Zoroastrians of the Persian court. Such a reading of the Codex is favored by the fact that theology is implied but rarely phrased in

itsown terms. In contrast to the Kephalaia, the Codex is not a dogmatic textbook, but rather contains a series of edifying stories, mostly said to have been told by Mani, about his own life, his election, and his mission. There are, however, several passages that directly refer to Mani's theological tenets, as was briefly mentioned at our first symposium.® Some of them are relevant for our present topic and need our attention. 6 See A. Henrichs, "The Timing of Supranatural Events in the Cologne Mani Codex,” Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis (see n. 3), 193-195.

4

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

(1) In an excerpt taken from the writings of a Manichaean teacher and a bishop whose names are not extant, Mani summarizes his report about the conversion of a king and his court with the following sentence:

CMC 132.11 ff. e&epnva 112 [Sè adtoic] thv Sidctacw | [tv 500] pdcewv | [kai tà nepi apylfic Kai nellcörntoc Kai] téAovc 116[ Jew tovc I [---. 14-15 [xa tà ---] téAovc ed. crit. coll. 89.9 quo in loco xaf in media linea contractum est (tedovc: cod.) : [thv tic apy]fic cal pel[cédtntoc kai] téXovc B.B. Rosenstock : xai nepi apy]fic --- téAouc R. Merkelbach

"I revealed [to them] the separation of [the two] natures [and

what concerns the beginning, middle, and] end of time." The sentence is reconstructed from the few extant words, yet it is absolutely certain that it dealt with the separation of the two natures and the three periods of time—past, present, and future—hence with fundamentals of the Manichaean myth (below, pp. 25-7 and 31). (2) This conclusion is confirmed by a passage in a speech of Mani again quoted by Baraies. Here Mani explains to the baptists that gnosis is understood as separation of Light from Darkness, Life from Death, and the Living from the Torpid Water. The faithful must discern the essential difference between these polar opposites.

CMC 84.9ff. i toivuv | kaBapdtnc nepi he #Aélx0n, ab-

Tn toyxaver N 51a 112 tic ywdcewc, ywpicpdc | pwtdc darò cxotove Kailtod Bavétov tic Cofic [xa] tav Covtov ddGl!6[ta]v Er tHv tedauBol[pé]vov: kai {va yvoîi[te öltı EK&tepov tvyxd(ver) | [aviclov dAANAwv, Kai Ka-l 20(OgEete] tac tod c(@Tf)p(0)c évtol[Adc önw]c &noAvtpacnl[tar dpdlv thy woyhv &x | [tod dAgOplov Kai fc al InwAeioc. 18-19 tuyx&(ver) | [&vıclov edd. dipl. et crit. coll. August., c. Fort. 14 (CSEL 25.91.9s. nihil simile tenebrae et lux) : turydi[ver Eévjov R. Merkelbach (quod supplementum spatium excedit)

"The purification, then, mentioned in the Scriptures, this is the purification through Gnosis, i.e. the separation of Light from Darkness, of Death from Light, of Living Waters from

Turbid Waters. You should recognize that the one is [different] from the other (i.e. Light from Darkness etc.), and [thus you

will keep] the commandments of the Saviour, in order that he may redeem [your] soul from [ruin ] and destruction."

LUDWIG KOENEN

5

Again, the text is damaged at a crucial spot, but thanks to parallels there is no question about the sense.’ The passage clearly concerns ethical behavior, the separation of Good and Evil in this life, but this ethical dualism is firmly grounded in the ontological difference of Light and Darkness.

(3) Immediately before the passage from the Living Gospel Baraies quotes from Mani's Letter to Edessa:

CMC 65.12ff.: kai dmexdAvyé por | tà te adtOd Gröppnta | Kai n(at)p(d)c adtod tod aypavltov Kat

TaVtOC tod Köll2cuov. E&Epnve dé nor | Ko’ Sv vrfipyov a

zpönov | npiv KataBoAfic x6cpov | Kai Sv tp6nov Er£On

n 116 Kpnric tüv Epyav navitov ayadav te Kai pardlAcov Kal noiwı tponwı | Erertolvelöcavro tà [tx] 120 tic cvyxp&celwc Kata] | tobtove tlodc J]Ipovc kai x[ 1.1 19-22 de hoc loco v. R. Merkelbach, ZPE

56, 1984, 48, qui sententiam ad

mundum ab Architecto Magno et filiis eius creatum refert (cf. L. Koenen et C.

Römer, ZPE 58, 1985, 50) 19 étexto[ve]dcavto et 20 cvyxpdce[wc R. Merkelbach, loc. cit. 19-20 rà [ex]! he cuyxpace[ac Koenen apud Merkelbach 21 tobrovc. cod. ut vid. 21-22 fort. [ode viv xat]ipovc : t[obc xar]pobc R. Merkelbach (brevius spatio ut vid.); voces oi xatpot vel oi viv xaıpof ad tempus quod Manichaei vocaverunt medium spectant quo mundus ab illo architecto exstructus est et homines in terra vivunt 22 possis xal x[6cpovc]. |

"He (sc. the Syzygos) revealed to me the secrets about himself, his undefiled father, and the entire cosmos.8 He disclosed to me how they were before the foundation of the world, how the foundation of all good and evil deeds has been laid, and how, [in] these [times and worlds] they have built the things of mixture." 7 See above, app. crit. and A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 32, 1978, 147-149, nn. 209-211.

A. Böhlig, in his paper in Cosenza, referred to a vision told by the Mani of

the Cologne Codex (77.3-79.12), in which he himself walks on a pier while Sitaios drowns in the sea; the vision reflects the teaching of the two roads (cf. 77.11f. thv tic

dcıörntoc dtpardv; 79.4f. ... obdè éni tic chc 6500 mopevcetan, sc. Sitaios; A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 32, 1978, 128 n. 161), which had become a fundamental tenet

of dualistic beliefs. 8 R. Cameron and A.J. Dewey (p. 51; see n. 5) translate: "(he) revealed to me his secrets and those of his undefiled father and of all the cosmos"; this corresponds closely to the translation in the first edition (ZPE 19, 1975, 65). The critical edition (see n. 5) considered the first ai as epexegetical and preferred: "Er enthüllte mir seine Geheimnisse, die seines unbefleckten Vaters sowie die der ganzen Welt" (thus also in my German paper on the same subject, see n. 1). But since the genitive in tà... ARÖPPNTA... mavtoc tod x6cpov" is clearly an objectivus, the same interpretation should apply to theparallel genitives of the same phrase.

6

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Several details remain uncertain. The reference to the present time and our world has been reconstructed in an attempt to make sense of the sparse remnants of two badly damaged lines. Moreover, it is unclear whether the Syzygos indeed disclosed how the mysteries "were before the creation of the world."

Alternately we may translate:

"how I (Mani) was before the

foundation of the world." Theologically both translations make sense: the mysteries of the father are prior to the creation of the world; but so are the preexistent Mani and his Syzygos, as members of the kingdom of Light. One of the Bema-Psalms, however, indicates that most likely the "mysteries" are meant. According to ps. 220 the "Paraclete," i.e. the Syzygos, has revealed "the mysteries that were before the foundation (of the world)."? The subsequent text is fragmentary, but it is clear that the realms of Light and Darkness respectively are mentioned. Thus, in the Codex too, the Syzygos will have revealed how the mysteries, namely the two opposite realms, that of Light and that of Darkness, "were before the foundation of the world" (npiv kataßoAfic xécuov). The "secrets about the entire world" include what led to the creation of the present world: the battle between the evil demons and the good Gods (below, sect. II). This interpretation is confirmed by what follows in Mani's enumeration of secrets revealed to him by the Syzygos. While the two realms could be understood as the collective "foundation of all good and evil deeds," these coeternal foundations would not have "been laid" (&te@n). The metaphorical language, however, should rather refer to the creation and salvation of Adam the first man and to the series of events that led to his creation, beginning with the war between the two realms and including the mission, defeat, and salvation of Original Man as well as the loss of the latter's soul to the demons (below, sect. II). Man is the ultimate battle ground of Good and Evil; and it is ultimately him who is seen as the foundation of ethics.

His acts are either good or evil, and it is his decision whether he remains in forgetfulness of the Light or accepts his "Call." But the laying of this foun-

? Psalm-Book (ed. C.R.C. Allberry, A Manichaean Psalm-Book, part II, Man. Manuscr. in the Chester Beatty Coll. II, Stuttgart 1938; S. Giversen, The Manichaean Coptic Papyri in the Chester Beatty Library, Facsimile Edition IV, Geneva 1988) ps. 220 p. 3,22: MMHCTHPION

ETSAGH MTICWNT.

Because of this parallel, I discard

the possibility that the sentence refers to the existence of the Gods (implied in the mention of the Father) before the building of the world (thus A. Böhlig in his paper in Cosenza).

LUDWIG

KOENEN

7

dation stretches backward to, and is preconditioned by, Original Man and

his salvation.!0 At this point, we have to anticipate a few more details of our later discussion. According to Manichaean beliefs, man is the creation of the demons, and yet he is similar to the Gods. Without seeing the Sun God and his twelve Maidens in the Sun Ship and without realizing that it takes such forms to retain the Light, the demons would not have created man. It may be because of this fact that Mani does not mention the demons directly. The sentence (or at least, the extant Greek translation) is phrased in passive

voice, and thus Mani can avoid mentioning the crucial role the demons had in the creation of man. In the beginning of the Living Gospel we already found that the creation of all things is assigned to God the Father, the primary source of all divine emanations.

Mani concludes the list of secrets revealed to him with this world created as mixture of particles of Light and Darkness. "They" have built the world of mixture, i.e., this world in which men live. The world is the creation of the Great Architect and his sons, i.e., by the good Gods. Their role in the

creation of the world is easily implied.!! Yet, it was the demons who created plants and animals, both being mixtures. Mani seems to use ambiguity in order to conceal the function of the evil demons. This linguistic strategy functions like euphemism. Because of the character of the present text, which merely enumerates the themes of the revelation and does so partly in metaphorical language familiar to the believers, many details remain dark. In the preceding explanation we referred to the Manichaean myth, although we are not certain whether this myth had already taken the shape we know and how fully its details were developed at the time when Mani wrote his Letter to Edessa. But at least some of the details must have been in place. The passage

quoted occurs in a wider context in which Mani argues that he has received "the truth and the secrets"—including the ritual of "the laying on of 10 Alternatively one might think that the "laying of the foundation of good and evil" refers to the creation of the world (see critical edition [above, n. 5] p. 45, n. 1); but it is

the next item in the enumeration of secrets that clearly points to the creation of the world.

11 For another inconsistency in this text, see n. 12. Alternatively one could consider that the middle form étexto[ve]vcavto iis used in a passive sense: “and how the things of mixture were built [in] these [times and worlds]." But such a mistranslation would be

unique in the Codex.

For the fact that the CMC has ben translated from the East Ara-

maic see the literature listed in the critical edition (above, n. 5) 1, n. 1.

8

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

hands"—not from men or the writing of men, but rather that he was elected by the Father and that the Syzygos brought him the revelation.!2 Then follows the passage enumerating the themes of the revelation: the mysteries about the Syzygos, i.e. salvation through him; those about the Father and about the entire world: i.e., how the two realms were before the creation of the world; further, the salvation and creation of man as "the foundation of Good and Evil" and the building of the present world. The enumeration does not contain any hint of what the ritual of the laying on of hands has to do with these other revelations. Before we assume an inconsistency (cf nn. 11 and 12) in the logic of the passage, it may be recalled that this ritual re-

peated what, in the myth, was received by Original Man.!3 This element of the myth must have been in Mani's mind, and he could assume that his followers understood this. Finally, in spite of the many ambiguities of the passage under discussion and although we do not know which parts of the mythical narrative were already formed at the time, there is hardly any doubt that the passage refers to the ontological difference between the two realms before the creation of the world and to the creation of the world as a mixture of Good and Evil. 12 CMC 64.8-65.8: thy dAnderav Kai tà dlréppnta anep duadéyolua1— xai n xewypodecia i odlca nap’ guoi — ode LE dv(Opan)av 112 avtiv rapédaBov fi cap-l Kik@v nlacnatov, GAA’ obl5é &x tOv durdiòv tov | ypapav, GAA’ banvixa 116 Bempricac pe otktipév | [pe] 6 paxapidtatoc | [n(at)np] è xadécac pe eic |[th]v xapıy adtod cai pù 120 [BovA]nbzic pe dxodécBar | [kai] tod< Aoınodc todc | [tv t@ x]6cpor, önwc dpél[Ent thy] edtol[iav] éxeil5.l vor to(t)c Etoipou èxAelyfivar avibi Ex tv Solypdtov. rai tote tH 14 abtod xapırı anécnalcé pe dnd tod cuvedpiov |tod mANBovc tod thy dlAnderav ph yivadcKovizoc. sententias nunc hoc modo interpunxi; 64.15 yeaga@v, aa 65.3 doypdtwv. (rpagwv' vac. ac S0ypatwv. vac. cod.; cf. 65.2 nvar’ut vid.

edd. pr. et crit.

"It is not from men or fleshly creatures or from the study of books that I have received the truth and the secrets which I speak about — and there is also the laying on of hands which is with me — but when my most blessed [Father], who called me into his grace and who did not want me [and] the rest who are [in the] world to perish, saw me and felt pity, so that [he] might extend his well-being to those ready to be chosen for (or: by?) him from the sects. At that time he pulled me by his grace from the assembly of the many who do not recognize the truth." The passage lacks a transition from the pity of the father (also see CMC 19.7ff.) to the deeds of Syzygos. The latter brought Mani the revelation and told him to leave the community of baptists where he had been grown up (cf. CMC 19.7-20.16).

13 C. Rémer, "Mani, der neue Urmensch. Eine neue Interpretation der p. 36 des Köl-

ner Mani-Codex," Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis, Atti (above, n. 3), 333-344. There remains incertainty since the phrase kai n xeıpoßecia n obca nap’ &uoi (64.10f.: nomprati where we exspect an accusative) could be a secondary addition to the text of the Iter.

LUDWIG

KOENEN

9

(4) Timotheos, an early Manichaean authority, offers the following as Mani's words:

CMC 33.21ff.:[ (I). tév] B41 tod Ywröc nazepwv | Kai navıa tà yıyvönelva Ev toîc nAoloıc aneKG-| 4Xvrté por. | (III) aventvEe 6’ ad naAıv tov | KdAmov tod Kiovoc Kai | todc natépac Kai tà chélvn tà GAKipatata | [tà alnoxpuntöneva él[v adtai tobtar tle Kai | (Sores v]yoc tod 112[ ] getel[ JAnc édeu[Ee su) todtov.|.[---. pesae

Weeee

ge

*.

§

“Peeee

vevoe

9-10 él[v avi@I tobtar vel El|v abt tH xlovı vel El[v avdpi tH teArcio 11-12 | [Pavra eic td b]woc tod | [ 12 [natpdc vel sim.ed. crit. : posSIS OUpavov

"... (IT) of the Fathers of Light and all that occurs in the

Ships he revealed to me. (III) And again, he disclosed the Bosom of the Column, the Fathers and the Mightiest Powers that are hidden [in this very Column and travel to the] height of the [I Hes, s1owed... is. This passage alludes to the Manichaean Tetras, the Fourfold God (ò tetpanpocwnoc Beöc)!* consisting of (I) the Father of Greatness, the supreme Manichaean God, who resides in the Realm of Light with his Eons, and his three additional aspects: (II) the Ships of Light, i.e., sun and ‘moon, and the deities in it, (III) the Power, i.e., the Manichaean Cosmos

functioning as the machinery of salvation, and (IV) the Wisdom or Manichaean Church.!5 The mention of the Father (I) is lost in the lacuna at the beginning of the passage quoted. In the extant portion, there follows first a reference to the second Greatness of the Tetras (II): to the "Fathers of

Light" and to "what happened in the Ships" of sun and moon. Next, (III) mention is made of the third Greatness: the "Bosom of the Column" and of "the Fathers and of the Mightiest Powers that [in this very column] are hidden and [travel to the] height ..." The Powers are the particles of God, the souls, that have been captured in this world and now, after being liberated,

ascend through the "Column of Glory" or, with a different translation for 14 For the Greek anathema formulas, see now S.N.C. Lieu's edition, Jb. fiir Antike und Christentum 26, 1983, 178f. (Seven Chapters $ 3, Long Abjuration Formula PG 1.

1461CD). - 15 R. Merkelbach, Mani und sein Religionssystem, Rhein.-Westf. Akad. der Wissensch., Vortrige G(eisteswissenschaften) 281, Opladen 1986, esp. 39-50; S.N.C. Lieu, loc. cit. (see n. 14) 200 on 3.59; J.P. Asmussen, X“astvanift, Studies in Manichaeism,

Copenhagen 1965, 220f., n. on p. 173f.

10

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

the same Greek word, "Column of Brightness,"!© to heaven. This column is visible in the Milky Street,!7 which in beliefs held by various people is the road to heaven.!8 Most likely, the souls are waiting and resting in the "bosom" to await further transportation by the moon to the sun,!9 This 16 $6Éa denotes the brightness as well as glory (W. Bauer, Griech.-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testamentes, 6th edition by K. and B. Aland, Berlin and New York 1988, s.v.: "Glanz," "Schein" [as in ö6&a tod Ywröc and in the 56§a of fAuoc], "Erhabenheit," "Herrlichkeit," "Majestät" etc.); hence A. Böhlig considers the translation "Glanz" for coptic EAY (A. Böhlig, "Das Neue Testament und die Idee des manichäischen Mythos" in Gnosis und Synkretismus, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur spätantiken Religionsgeschichte II, Tübingen 1989, 586-611, esp. 600 [Engl. in The New Testament and Gnosis, Essays in Honor of R.McL. Wilson, ed. by A.H.B. Logan and A.J.M. Wedderburn, Edinburgh 1983, 90-104]), a word that corresponds to 56&a (see W.E. Crum, Copt. Dict: p. 62, s.v. €00Y). The Acta Arch. use ctbAoc tod Pwtéc in Epiphanios' version (8.7 p. 13 Beeson; hence H.-C. Puech's "Colonne de Lumière" (Le manichéeism, Publ. du Musée Guimet, Bibl. de Diffusion 56, Paris 1949, e.g. 79). Both meanings, “brightness” and "glory," apply to this column. Being the Milky Way (see. n. 17) it is bright; but inasmuch as through it the victorious souls, the particles of Light, return to heaven, "glory" is an equally suitable connotation. It is unfortunate that the translator has to choose between translations which are both correct but each of which carries only half of the connotation.

17 For the identification of the "Column of Glory" with the Milky Way see A. Böh-

lig, loc. cit. (see n. 16) 600-608; S.N.C. Lieu, Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire

and Medieval China, Manchester University Press 1985, 15; H. J. Klimkeit, Hymnen und Gebete der Religion des Lichts, Abhandl. der Rhein.-Westf. Akad. der Wissensch. 79, Opladen 1989, 46. However, according to R. Merkelbach (op. cit, [n. 15], 23 and 40), the “Column of Glory" denotes the axle of the zodiac (imagined as a huge wheel). Although I have accepted this explanation in my paper published in the proceedings of the C. Schmidt Colloquy (see n. 1), this would be difficult to reconcile with the descrip-

tion of the zodiac in Keph. ch. 47 pp. 118-120 (Kephalaia, Manichäische Handschriften der Staatl. Museen Berlin, Stuttgart 1940), where the zodiac and the planets are part of the Wheel of the Stars on which the bodies of the slain demons have been hanged; the

wheel is turned around so that the demons have no orientation. This wheel, too, is an instrument of salvation; it is forced to give up and send to the heights the Power and the Light that they have received from below as well as to let Pass everything that comes from above to the area below. For the Wheel or Sphere of the Stars see A. Bohlig, "Denkformen hellenistischer Philosophie im Manichiismus,” in Gnosis und Synkretismus II (above, n. 16) 551-585, esp. 584f. (originally published in Perspektiven der Philosophie, Neues Jahrbuch 1986, 11-39); for the Manichaean astrological ideas connected with the zodiac see Keph. ch. 69 pp. 166-169 and cf. V. Stegemann, "Zu Kapitel 69 der Kephalaia des Mani," ZNW 37, 1938, 214-223; S.N.C. Lieu, op. cit. (see n. 14) 142f. 18 For Greek beliefs suffice it to refer to W. Gundel's article in RE VII 560-571, esp. 563f.; M.P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion II, München? 1974, 240f. (Herakleides Pontikos); R. Harder, Uber Cicero's Somnium Scipionis, Schriften der Königsberger Gelchrien Gesellschaft IV, Heft 3, Kénigsberg 1929, 143ff. 19 The "Bosom" of the Column of Glory is, so far as I know, a unique phrase. In

adaption of Ephes. 4.13 where the church is coming “into being a perfect man (£ic tivdpa téAeiov) and into the measure of the full maturity of Christ," the Column of Glory is also called téÀewoc avip (see below, pp. 17 and 26f.). When the souls ascend through

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11

machinery of salvation we shall revisit below (sect. II). The text under dis-

cussion breaks off, but, after eight lost lines, it is still discussing the Manichaean church and its rituals, i.e. the church that is a manifestation of the "Wisdom of God" or the fourth Greatness of the Tetras (IV).

Again, the text is badly damaged, but it still can be understood from the vantage point of a Manichaean theology. The allusion to the Manichaean

Tetras20 leaves no doubt that the Manichaean myth is already developed and, with it, its ontological dualism. (5) Finally, at the end of the same excerpt from Timotheos, the Syzygos concludes his encouragement of Mani by an apparent mention of the mythical battle:

CMC 40.23ff. te]l4L.lpata tod weddouc tà AvltıcraBevra npöc adtovc. 51a yap TOV cnpetcov tic 14 dAndeiac kampynon | tà tod weddouc. | peta Sè 16 tadta eineiv | mpoc éuè tov évdoEdl8tatov Kai évdvvapdlcai pe Kai

this column, they reach this maturity, and they become Christ (cf. A. Böhlig, "Das Neue Testament und die Idee des Mythos" [above, n. 16] 601ff.). In this context, the image of

"Bosom" recalis the image of the xöAnoc tod 'ABpadp in which the Christian blessed find their heavenly rest (see A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 19, 1975, 35 n. 69). It is more difficuit to determine when the souls reach this resting place. According to most ‘sources, the souls travel from the Column to the moon and then to the sun (A. Bohlig, loc. cit. 602ff.; S.N.C. Lieu [loc. cit. (see n. 17)] 15; H.-C. Puech, op. cit. [see n. 16] 79f. and 83 with n. 349; idem in Histoire des religions II, Encyclop. de la Pléiade, Paris 1972, 566 and 571; and J.H. Polotsky, RE Suppl. VI 235). A reverse order is given in the Acta Arch. 8.6-7 p. 13 Beeson: sun > moon + Column, where the souls remain. While the latter view would be in accordance with the Christian use of the "bosom," it is clearly at variance with Manichaean cosmology, which places the sun above the moon at the highest place of the cosmos (pace A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 19, 1975, 69). According to the Fihrist, "Mani said, ' Then he created the sun and the moon for sifting out whatever there was of Light in the world. The sun sifted out the Light which ..., while the moon sifted out the Light which ... This (Light) rises up on a Column of Praise, together with what there are of magnificats, sanctifyings, good words, and deeds of righteousness' " (transl. by B. Dodge, Columbia University Press 1970, II 782). Here an-Nadim tums from the creation of sun and moon to the Column in order to complete his record on this machinery of salvation; thus he does not follow the chronological order of the ascent of the souls. If, however, the Column is placed below the moon, then the "Bosom" is the resting-place where the souls and other particles of Light wait for the Moon Ship. 2 Below (p. 26f.) we will see that the concept of the Tetras has influenced the opening words of Mani's Living Gospel with which the present discussion started. In the CMC other allusions to the Tetras or specifically to the third Greatness of the Tetras, the Power, occur: CMC 119f.; 136.2-16; 141.1-6. I shall discuss these passages in another context (see n. 1 on the Second Intern. Conference on Manichaeism).

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CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

rapaBapcdivar tpòc thy [aroctoAnv] | tv Eulnv areKpvBn]. | "...] monsters of the Lie which were pitted against them. For it is through the signs of Truth that those of the Lie were nullified. After the most glorious one had said to me these things and given me strength and encouragement for my [mission], he disappeared." In this passage the Syzygos replies to a number of Mani's requests (CMC 35.21ff.), among them for "signs" which Mani intends to transmit "through his hands" to his followers. The Manichaean five rituals (the salutation of peace; the offering of the right hand; the kiss; the prostration; the laying on of harids) are called "signs" (MEINE), which Original Man received from the Gods when he was sent to fight against the demons and again when he was called and liberated from his imprisonment and returned to the realm of the Gods. They are protection and reinforcement as well

as the sign of reception into the community.2! Hence we suspect that the "Signs of the Truth" are these weapons of Original Man22 with which he finally overcame the corresponding weapons of the demons, the “Signs of the Lie."23 Be this as it may, the aorist tense (xatnpyN0n) indicates that the Syzygos refers to a past battle, and this must have been the war of Manichaean myth.

In sum, although the Cologne Mani Codex only rarely speaks of the Evil and, in an optimistic approach, focuses on the Good and the Light, it preSupposes the fundamental narratives of the Manichaean myth and the ontological separation of Good and Evil. The Cologne Mani Codex, therefore, does not indicate a development of Mani from a monotheistic to a dualistic system. This does not mean that such a development did not take place (presumably when Mani still lived among the baptists and, over the years, separated himself from their beliefs and rituals), but there are no traces of it left in Mani's words. Even if we should postulate such a historical devel21 Keph. ch. 9 p. 37-39 (see n. 17; Die Gnosis III, introduced, translated, and anno-

tated by A. Bohlig, Zurich and Munich 1980) 212ff.; in Bema psalm 222 (C.R.C. Allberry, op. cit. [n. 9]) p. 7.12-14, the "visible Bema" is this “great sign" (MITIMINE ETAI), "the sign of the remission of thy sin," and a Trinitarian ps. distinguish es between the "sign of the Father," "the sign of the Son," and "sign of the Holy Spirit" (p.115.31-

116.3). 2 Cf. Keph. 39.4 (see n. 17) ACTIANSOTIMIZE (when the Mother lays her hand on Original Man). 2 For the interpretation of this passage see C. Römer, loc. cit. (n. 13).

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opment, this could not explain the toleration of monotheistic phrases in the

opening sentences of the Living Gospel24 on part of the later Mani and his church. After all, this gospel was an official document of the Manichaean faith and as such it remained a valid expression of the faith throughout the history of the Manichaean church. Before we return to its beginning, it is useful to recall some details of the Manichaean myth. II. POSITIVE ASPECTS OF MANICHAEAN COSMOGONY

In the present context, there is no need to narrate the full Manichaean myth, but a few selected details call for attention.

The original coexistence of the two coeternal realms, that of the Gods and the Light and that of the Demons and Darkness respectively, was disturbed when the Demons had seen the divine Light and wished to seize upon it.25 In response, the Father of Greatness created the first evocation: he projected the Mother of Life out of himself; then the latter emanated "Original Man" who was sent out against the demons? to function as bait. The demons devoured him, but having captured the Light did not need to invade the Realm of the Gods. This act resulted in the mixture of Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, and, on the part of the Gods, necessitated a series of efforts to redeem the Light captured in, and mixed with, matter. When ‘Original Man awoke, prayed, and was liberated with the help of the second evocation by the Father of Greatness, Original Man returned to the King-

dom of the Gods?’ but left behind his soul or his weapons: Light, Air, Fire, Wind, and Water, i.e. the divine elements (also below, p. 22). They remained captured and mixed with their demonic counterparts. In order to distill the good elements or particles of Light out of this mixture and allow them to return, the "Great Architect,” one of the divine % See above, p. 2f and below, sect. III. 2 For the following cf., e.g., J.H. Polotsky, RE Suppl. VI 235,245-259; R. Merkelbach, op.cit. (n. 15), 17-29; H.-J. Klimkeit, op. cit. (n. 17), 42-49; S.N.C. Lieu, op. cit. (n.17), 8-19; M. Tardieu, Le Manichéisme, Que sais-je, Paris 1981, 95-112; H.C. Puech, Le manich. (above, n. 16), 74-83; idem in Hist. des rel. II (above, n. 19), 556-

571; also cf. A. Böhlig, "Das Böse in der Lehre des Mani und des Markion," Gnosis und Synkretismus II (above, n. 16), 612-637 (first publ. in: Makarios-Symposium über das Böse. Vorträge der Finnisch-deutschen Theologentagung in Goslar 1980, edited by W. Strothmann, Göttinger OrientforschungenI 14, Wiesbaden 1983, 18-35). % On this occasion, the gods performed the prototypes of what was to become Manichaean rituals in order to give Original Man the needed protection (see above, sect. I 5). 27 For the renewal of the five rituals again see above, sect. I 5.

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CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

emanations of the second evocation, created the world with a multitude of heavens and earths as well as the planets from the bodies and the skins of

the demons which he and his sons had killed.28 Since the demons had stored the light in themselves, everything that was created out of their bodies was a mixture of Light and Darkness. The earth, the entire cosmos, and the stars were such mixtures in different proportions, Only sun and moon were of pure light. As a result of the divine creation, this world is a work of art. I quote, for example, from a Middle Persian text: "And God Mihr has built the [foundations of all] earths like an architect [who] constructs [a building and] has hired [workers] ... [And] he [himself] erects and builds the [entire] building [of that) palace [with craftsmanship] and, thus, artfully

divides that palace in [different] rooms."29

The cosmos was built to serve as part of the machinery of salvation. The same applies to the creation of plants, animals, and man, although indirectly. The Third Messenger, the central figure of the third evocation, appeared in the Sun Ship together with twelve maidens. These were seen by the male demons as naked women and by the female demons as naked men. Thus they aroused their lust. Male demons ejaculated and female demons had abortions. Trees grew from the seed that fell upon the earth, animals from the abortions. Both were mixtures of 'sin' and light, or Light captured in matter. The basic assumptions for such thoughts come from astrology. According to Hermes Trismegistos' astrological teaching, the deacons—who in Manichacism are perceived as demons3°—ejaculate towards the earth; and the concept of the ejaculation of the sun and of astral deities and the resulting creation of life was not unknown to the ancient Egyptians.3! Moreover, in the Manichaean myth the ejaculations and abortions not only created the plants and animals needed in this world but, together with the seed, particles of Light were released and thus liberated so that they could return to the heavenly home. This again sounds abstruse, 8 For the sphere of the stars with zodiac and planets see n. 17. 2° M 100; W. Sundermann, Mittelpersische und parthische kosmogonische und Para-

beltexte der Manichäer, Schriften zur Gesch. und Kultur des Alten Orients 8, Berliner Turfantexte IV, Akad. d. Wissensch. der DDR, Zentralinstitut für Alte Geschichte und Archäologie, Berlin 1973, text 2 p. 39, line 705ff.

30 Cf. n. 17 on the signs of the zodiac hanging from the Wheel of Stars. 31 Hermes Trism., excerpt VI 11 A.-J. Festugière (tome III), and cf. the introduction p. LVIs. with reference to Porph. De antro nymph. 16 p. 68.5 N.; W. Gundel, Dekane

und Dekansternbilder, Darmstadt? 1969 (repr. of the edition of 1936, Studien der Bibliothek Warburg 19), 235 with n. 2 and 343f.

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15

but it is less so when seen in light of Stoic teachings that describe human semen as pneuma tied to humidity and as a shoot of the soul.32 This leads

to Tertullian's traducianism,33 which taught that the seed of the body and that of the soul are carried and conceived together; an emission of the soul Pof the father produces the soul of the new being, and, thus, the soul is a tradux. No wonder, then, that the seed of the demons release particles of

Light (or the soul), which they had captured.34 When the demons realized that they were losing the Light, they collected and condensed the Light still left with them in a long series of coituses, births, and cannibalism. Finally a couple of demons gave birth to Adam and Eve; they made these first men in the image of the Third Messenger, for they had seen him in the Sun Ship and they lusted after him, because they had observed that this figure of Light was capable of retaining the Light in himself. By imitating the Third Messenger, the demons created man as retaining the divine Light within the demons' reach. Thus runs the Manichaean variant of the Biblical notion of man's creation in the image of God. Correspondingly the Kephalaia discuss the ambiguity of this image. In one passage, it is stressed that the similarity does not imply real likeness (Keph. p. 134.5-7 "they have not truly [imitated]"); another passage states that the image of the sublime has been laid upon Adam who thus was sealed (Keph. p. 157.6-11). He is the battlefield for the fight between 32 SVF I 128; E. Lesky, Die Zeugungs-und Vererbungslehren der Antike and ihr

Nachwirken, Abh. der Akad. der Wissensch. und der Literatur in Mainz, 1950 no. 19, 163-173 (=1387-1397); A. Böhlig has repeatedly stressed the influence of Stoic thoughts on Mani (esp. in "Denkformen hellenistischer Philosophie im Manichäismus," op. cit. (above, n. 17), 550-575, and Stoicism had a great influence on popular philosophy.

33 H. Karpp, Probleme altchristlicher Anthropologie, Gutersloh 1950, 43ff.; J. Quasten, Patrology II, 1953, 288 (pagination of reprint 1983). 34 Augustinus connected these ideas with reports on legal proceedings against "Manicheans" in Carthage, in particular against the Catharistai, in which confessions were obtained about the mixing of semen with flour and the eucharistic eating of semen (De haeres. 46 PL 42, p. 35f.; cf. F. Decret, L'Afrigue Manichéenne [IV®-V® siecles], Paris 1978, 223f., 361 [9], 370 [19], 375 [26]). Similar accusations were directed by Christian authors against othet libertine gnostic sects like the Carpocratians or, e.g., the Stratiotai of Egypt who are said to have eaten semen and menstrual discharge as eucharist (E-

| piphan., Haeres. 26.4.5ff. GCS I, 281.3ff.). Whether such rituals in reality were per-

formed, we do not know. The logic is obvious but caution is advised by the fact that (1) in the second century similar accusations were raised against the Christians, and (2) these accusations ultimately were derived from wild perceptions of what went on in secret ritu-

als of pagan mysteries or secret societies (cf. A. Henrichs, "Pagan Ritual and the Alleged

Crines of the Early Christians," in Kyriakon, Festschrift Johannes Quasten, ed. by P. Granfield and J.A. Jungmann, I, Munster, Westf., 1970, 18-35.

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Good and Evil, "the foundation of the good and evil deeds," as the codex seems to say in a passage discussed earlier (I 4). This became possible, because the Gods had turned the demons' plan topsy-turvy. The "Third Messenger" called forth "Jesus the Splendor" and sent him to Adam in order to save the large accumulation of Light in him. Thus Adam became the New Man, as is said with the language of the Pauline letters (Col. 3.9f.; Eph. 4.22ff.). Adam the New Man takes his place on the side of the good and the Gods, but he always is in danger of forgetting the good and, although redeemed, to turn himself back into the Old Man. The divine parts are concentrated in his mind (Nous), the demonic and material parts in his body. This myth of the creation of man by the demons but as an image of the Third Messenger caused ambivalence towards the body. On the one hand, because of its similarity with the Third Messenger, it is "that beautiful shape that instigates desire" (precisely what the appearances of the Third messenger and his maidens did); on the other hand, because it is born from the demons, it is "similar to the stinking thing that has been destroyed," i.e., to the demons out of which it has been formed.35 On the one hand the Manichaean texts unremittingly speak of "the body of death,” "the body of

destruction, the habitation [of] the powers of death," "the vain garment of

this flesh,"36 "the garment of mortality, the stinking and coarse body,"37

"the garment of sickness," "more evil than" anything else and "the cloud of

darkness that obscures my mind (Nous)," "the grievous fetters,"38 "the heavy body, the grievous body"39 etc. The body is a "creation of Az," the

35 Kosmog. Texte (above, n. 29) 1.8 p. 32, Z. 496ff.: "Darauf haben alle diese Mächte, die an jenen (Kindern) Anteil hatten, ihre eigenen Kinder und Glieder ihr (sc. der Az) übergeben. Alle wurden aufgesammelt und wurde(n) zerstört. Von d[em], das zerstört [wurde], bildete sie ein (Et)was. (Und) jene (sché)ne, Verlangen weckende (?) (Ge)stalt war diesem stinkenden und zerstörten etwas ähnlich." Cf. W. Sunderma nn's notes 78 and 79; A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 44, 1981, p. 294ff., n. 420, where supplementary evidence for the following discussion can also be found.

36 Man. Psalm-Book (above, n. 9) 87.1f. and 99.27. 37 M 92,15 in W.B. Henning, "Brahman" TPS 1944, 111; reprinte d in W.B. Henning, Selected 1977, 196.

Papers II, Hommages et opera minora VI, Acta Iranica 15, Teheran -Leiden

38 Man. Psalm-Book

(see n. 9) 64.23, 149.14f. (ECPXIK’ ATTANOYC) and 106.29.

| 3° BBB 31,487f. in APAW 1936, 10, p. 32; Selected Papers I, Hommages et opera minora V, Acta Iranica 14, Teheran-Leiden 1977, p. 446; Hymnen und Gebete [above, n. 17) 174.

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‘manifestation of desire, "out of the filth of the demons".4°

Hence, the

body cannot be saved; when death occurs, the body is taken off, as it is said with a metaphor well known in Greek philosophical and patristic authors.4! On the other hand, the body is a work of art, just as the cosmos, its model. Az forms the body in procreation and birth "like an architect who builds a palace," or "like a tailor who, with his wit, makes a garment from different materials and like a painter who, with his art, makes a pic-

ture from different paints."42 In the same sense, Mani's natural father has adorned his son's body.43 Thus, body and world correspond to each other 40 S 9 + 13 in W.B. Henning, NGWG 1932,215f. (Selected Papers I [above, n. 39] 50f.), also in Boyce, Reader [above, n. 4] p. 100f. aq; Die Gnosis III (above, n. 21) 121f.; J.P. Asmussen, Manichaean Literature, Persian Heritage Series 22, Delmar, New

York 1975, 133f. 41 Cf.,e.g., A. Henrichs-L. Koenen, ZPE 19, 1975, 74 n. 31* und 44, 1981, 294-300 n. 420.

42 M 7983 r II 12ff. (F.C. Andreas and W.B. Henning, "Mitteliranische Manichaica" I, SPAW 1932, 30f., reprinted in Selected Papers I [above, n. 39] 28f.; Boyce, Reader [see n. 4] p. 75f. y 54-56): "Und aus Wasser, Pflanzen und Nahrung aller Art, was (alles) durch die Menschen zur Az gelangt und gegessen wird, daraus gestaltet und bildet dann durch ihre Vorspielung die Az das Kind. --- Denn gleichwie ein Baumeister, der einen Palast bauen will und mit Hilfe seiner Kenntnis aus den verschiedenen Materialien für den Palast (ihn) in die einzelnen Häuser und Tore einteilt und (dann) baut, oder gleichwie ein Schneider, der mit Hilfe seiner Klugheit aus den verschiedenen Stoffen ein Kleid

macht und gleichwie ein Maler, der mit Hilfe seiner Kunstfertigkeit aus den verschiede| nen Farben ein Bild malt—und wenn nun jene Materialien für den Palast und die Stoffe für das Kleid und die Farben für das Bild, welche diese Handwerker mit Hilfe ihrer Handwerkskunst zusammenverarbeiten und (also) bauen, schneidern und malen, (wenn nun) jene an (verschiedenen) Orten ständen und die einzelnen (Dinge) in ihren Teilen nicht zusammengeordnet wären, dann würden (die einzelnen Materialien, Stoffe, Farben) nicht als Palast und nicht als Kleid und nicht als Bild angesehen werden. Wo aber die Handwerker mit Hilfe ihrer Achtsamkeit die einzelnen Materialien, Stoffe und Farben aller Art für ihr Werk zusammenverarbeiten und dann einen Palast, ein Kleid und Bild bauen, schneidern und malen, da werden sie dann gut gefertigt und treten in Erscheinung—so auch diese Az

43 CMC 115,3ff.: ... tò yeyevvnuév[ov] 14 &yvodv. cò pév yap [wixo]löönuncac zöv olkov, [Ete]lpoc Sì EAD@v dixn[cev E]lv adraı. Kaicd dyn[pa t]l8yévov éxetvar, GA[hoc Sè] | tov nöAenov évet[Hcetar] | 51’ abtod Ev adrälı teAé]icac adtod tò BobA[npa]. 1? Kai cd pèv yap ecOF[ta é]lxdcuncac, Erepoc [dè ad]ithv Evedücato: [&y& yap] Iroı Mavvigotolc Jl. 7-8 é]lyév(vo) vel E]lyev(vac) dubitanter R. Merkelbach, ZPE 57, 1984, 76s; cf. A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 44, 1981, 293, n. 416

"... body), Mani's pleting nio.

without knowing what you have begotten. For you but somebody else came and moved in; you became body), but somebody else (sc. Mani) will begin the his will; for you adomed his garment, but somebody

built the house (sc. Mani's his horse (sc. by fathering war on it, through it comelse put it on. [For I,] Ma-

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CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

as micro- and macrocosms. In a chapter of the Kephalaia this correspondence is described limb by limb (ch. 70 p. 169f.). The Third Messenger set in motion the entire machinery of heaven with Sun and Moon. The stomachs of the elect, who as New Men live in abstinence and fasting and do not violate the divine soul captured in this world, liberate the particles of Light contained in vegetarian food and send them, under prayer, through their mouth to heaven. Herewith we return to a con-

cept which, in part, we have already met in the Mani Codex:44 three gigan-

tic sakias transport the particles of Light—be it the Light liberated by the elect from his food or the souls returning to heaven after separation from their body—to the Column of Glory, the so-called "Perfect Man," an emanation of the Third Messenger. Through the Column, being the connection between the earth where men live and the realm of the divine Light, they ascend to the Ship of the Moon, which then transports them to the Ship of the Sun; from there they continue their ascent to the realm of the Gods. Thus the Column, "the Perfect Man," "is stretched out [in the middle of] the world" (Psalm-Book [see n. 9] 163.16). Moreover he assumes features of a cosmic giant:45 he "bears all things" (Keph. 35.11); and according to his

Iranian names, the Column is called "The-World-Bearing-God."46

It is the double machinery of man and cosmos that liberates the divine particles of light. The man who has been created by the demons becomes the co-savior. The negative picture of the world propagated by most Gnostics has no place in Manichaeism.47 The world is essentially the work of the Gods, although it was necessitated by the attack of the demons. Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism had a relatively positive view of the world. I restrict myself here to the latter, according to which the world and all things in it, even those visible things that have been spoiled by the deThe beginning of the quotation is reminiscent of Xen., Mem. 1.1.8 (albeit unintentionally) ... otte TO KaAdc oikiav oikodopricapévo SiAov Sctic évorxicet .

44 See above, I 4 and n. 19 on the identification of the Column with the "Perfect Man." 45 Cf. R. Merkelbach, op. cit. (above, n. 15) p. 40; also see n. 80. 46 qy3wrw’ryzd, Shab. 254 (D.N. Mackenzie, BAOAS 42, 1979, 500-534, with note on p. 530 and his word-list BAOAS 43, 1980, 288-310, esp. 306; W. Sundermann, "Na-

men von Göttern,

Dämonen und Menschen in iranischen Versionen des manichä ischen Mythos," Altorientalische Forschungen VI, Schriften zur Geschich te und Kultur des Alten Orients, Akad. der Wissensch. der DDR, Zentralinstitut für Alte Geschichte und Archäologie , Berlin 1978, 95-133, esp. 102 with n. 231 on p. 131.

47 Cf. H.-J. Klimkeit, Hymnen und Gebete (see n. 17) 45.

LUDWIG KOENEN

19

‘mons and, consequently, are a mixture, have been created by Ahura Mazda the good God inasmuch as they are good; hence they essentially are

good.48 By comparison, Mani had a pessimistic view of the world as a mixture. It would be irreversibly destroyed, because bodies are not redeemable and cannot be restored. The New World or the New Eon was built by the Great Architect at the same time that he built this world, but it is not a mixture and, thus, is not seen as a restoration of this world.49 Yet, inasmuch as the macrocosm and microcosm fulfilled their intended functions as instruments distilling, collecting, and making the lost particles of Light return to the realm of the Gods, it is better not to describe the Manichaean view as "anticosmic."50 The Manichaean view of the world as being a tool used by the Gods in their fight against Evil may have ultimately been derived from a late Zoroastrian notion that Ahura Mazda created the corporeal world in order to oppose evil, namely "to create such conditions that all who are spanta, gods and men, may struggle in harmony with the spanta physical world against the external forces of wickedness and make an end

of them."5! In this context it is no surprise that Mani's own body is somewhat exceptional. The title of the Cologne Codex promises to explain this secret: "On the Procreation of His Body," and the word used for procreation

(yevva) leaves no doubt that this body was begotten.52 It is mortal and 48 M. Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism I, Leiden 1975, 229f. and II (Leiden 1982) 45f., 120, 236; U. Bianchi, "Zoroastrian Elements in Manichaeism, The Question of Evil Substance" in Manichaean Studies, Proceedings of the First International Conference on Manichaeism, ed. P. Bryder, Lund Studies in African and Asian Studies I, 13-18.

49 Cf. L. Koenen, "Manichaean Apocalypticism at the Crossroads of Iranian, Egyptian, Jewish, and Christian Thought,” 305 and n. 69. 5 A. Böhlig uses this term in order trianism: "Zur religionsgeschichtlichen Synkretismus (see n. 16) II 478f. (first 44, esp. 42 and idem in "Denkformen"

Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis, Atti (see n. 3),

to distinguish Manichaean thought from ZoroasEinordnung des Manichaeismus" in Gnosis und published in Manichaean Studies (see n. 48) 29(see n. 17) 559 n. 23.

51 M. Boyce, op. cit. (n. 48) 230. 52 nepì tijc yEvvnc tod copatoc adrod, cf. yevvav, "beget," but also used for the mother bringing forth a child. The child is tò yevv@pevov (£x tıvöc) or td yévvnpa. The notion is dualistic by itself since it implies that the Mani proper, descending from heaven, is a distinct entity. Previously I have used the words "origin," "Werden," or "Geburt" as translations for yévva; the Greek title, however, is more specific and out-

spoken. Cf. U. Bianchi, "Osservazioni storico-religiose sul Codice Manicheo di Colonia" in Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis, Atti (see n. 3), 17-35, esp. 29; L. Koenen and C. Römer, Der Kölner Mani-Kodex (see n. 5) 1, n. 2; A. Henrichs and L Koenen, ZPE

5, 1970, 104.

20

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

unredeemable like all bodies. But to quote Mani's words as transmitted by Baraies, this body has been raised for the Nous like "a foal" that has been trained by the grooms in order that the king "might sit upon it in honor and

glory and carry out his will." The body is "like a garment that was fitted for the one who puts it on." It is like a ship that "was equipped for the best skipper so that he might catch valuable treasures from the sea. The temple

(tO \epov) was built for the glory of the Nous and the most holy shrine (vec) for revelation of his wisdom."53 .These words allude to the Jesus of the New Testament as the "Shrine of God" (vaòc tod Be0d) and to the well-known etymology of Mani's name as "vessel of life" (mana; hayya) as

we read it in Epiphanios.54 A few pages later Mani tells us that the Syzygos instructed him about his self and his body:

CMC 21.2ff.: --- Kai tic ein Kai! toduòv cOpa Kai rota | pdr eANAvBa Kai wc | yéyovev N Gpiéic pov | eic tOvde TOV Kxocpov | Kai tic yiyvopor tOv bI®napyovtav Kata nv | brepoynv éexicnpotaltwv Kai wc eyevvnOnv | eic TO capK@dec todto |?) còua 51a notav parlevOeic érhoxyedOnv kata Ithv copra Tadınv Kai | mò tivoc [], xatelO%cndpnv x[atà To còpa ---. (15) Eploltı edd.; co[p]iar in vestigia non quadrat (quo loco partem superiorem litterae @ scriptam esse suspiceris, vestigii nihil apparet); epl, ecl, col, vix cel

vel cO[ legi possunt

(16) cf. 73.4s. et 124.1-3

59 CMC 14.4ff.: EXeyev 6 x(bp1d)c pov odtac: | Sv tpérov chuepov nöldoc BacıAsi xprictpoc | Sià tic Svvépeoc tHv I® innopdpBov yivaraı | BaciA toc Synua, iv’ Ev | tipi) Kat 56&nı Erikaldecheic adraı td YB10v 102) [a]dt0d xatanpdEntar1 [BobAnpa, to]btor tai tpdl[nar davetpdqn t]o còpa | [ ayladöv 1016) [ --- (post sex lineas perditas haec sequuntur:) I!) ]aérovvi I n]pdc avéravcıv tod! Bacidéac. Kai xatexol@cynOn ti Evdvpa tar Evdvcapéver. xatelcxevacOn piv n vadc | tor dpictar KvPepvyl®rni, iva deypedenı tà xeuundia è tic Badrdccnc. | extichn Sè 1d iepdv mpòc | eBkAeiav tod vod Kai 1012) è ayidta.toc uèv vec | mpdc dnoKxdAvyw tic | adtod copiac. 14,(13) [BovAnpa R. Merkelbach coll. 115,10-11

(ZPE 57, 1984, 76; v. et. infra, adnn. 56

et 88) (15-17) e.g. [tdi voî iva 1d Gy]aOdv | [odtoc mormoni Ev aditàr | "My Lord spoke thus: Just as nowadays a foal that is in the service of the king becomes the king's mount through the capability of the trainers, so that he might sit upon it in honor and glory and carry out his own [will,] in the same way the body [was brought up for the nous so that this nous do the] good. [... ] for the king's repose. And a garment was adorned for the one who put it on; the ship was equipped for the best skipper ..." (see above for the continuation of the translation). 54 Cf. A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 44, 1981, 263-267 n. 361, esp. p. 265.

LUDWIG KOENEN

21

. and who I am, what my body is, in what way I have come, how my arrival in this world took place, who I became among those who are most renowned for their eminence, how I was begotten into this fleshly body or of what kind the woman was by whose help I was delivered and born according to the

flesh and by whom I was begotten ... [with regard to the body]." The last sentence may even be completed as "by whom [with regard to the body] I was begotten [in love (Eros)]." Behind such questions is hid-

den the paradox of how it was possible, even thinkable, that Mani, the divine savior, was born in flesh and into this world, begotten in the way of the demons by his human father. In a later passage of the codex, which is extant in an excerpt from Kustaios, one of Mani's disciples, Mani explains the paradox to his father, who, after having been married for a short period and having fathered Mani, had left his family to enter into an ascetic and exclusively male community of baptists. The father had not known what he had begotten, but he had built the house, had become the saddle horse, and had adorned the garment, while somebody else (sc. Mani) moved into

the house, rode into war, and put on the garment.55 Thus, the father, like the body, has his place in the plan of salvation. Mani consoled him as Timotheos reports: "Abundant grace will be [yours] through me, but what you have done up to [the] present day, [that has taken place by the] will [of the Father of] Light."56 This includes both begetting Mani and bringing him up.

According to the available evidence, Mani's dualism was ontological from its beginning. The idea may have been influenced by Zoroastrian beliefs, although Zoroastrian dualism is ethical in its heart: Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu made a choice between good and evil, and, because of this 55 See n. 43; corresponding metaphorical language is used to describe Mani's body (see n. 53).

56 CMC 113.12ff.: cai i te | yapic ebröpuctöc clor E]lctar 81’ Euod- Kai t[odto] | 6 dıenpa&w péxplt tic] 16 chpepov [éyé]v[eto &x Be]lAnnar[oc tod n(at)p(d}c tod] | poté[c. The supplement at the end of the sentence is uncertain. In the CMC, Mani adduces the will of a single divine figure, presumably of the highest God (66.5f. and 16f.; [see above, p. 2f.]; 107.1-3 BovA[n]Iceı tod nuetépov dec[nö]ltov; again, in 120.6ff., Pattikios may also refer to the will of a single God ([iv]a {dw [thv brepoynv tic 8](e0)ò Sv[vapeoc; thy drepoynv nunc scripsi : tò péyeBoc edd. pr. et crit.). On the other hand, tod] | poté[c is reminiscent of 33.21ff. (see above, I 4) t@v] tod Potdc ratépov; this phrase, denoting a multiplicity of "Fathers," refers to the second person of the Manichaean Tetras. However, elsewhere, in Augustinus, the Kephalaia, and Iranian texts, the highest god (singular) is called "Great Father of the Lights" or "of the Light" and sim. (W. Sundermann, "Namen von Göttern ..." (above, n. 46), 99 and 118, n. 33.

22

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

choice, their creations are good and evil respectively. But beyond Zoroastrian influence, we observe a variety of influences from different sources.

In the present context, this cannot be discussed in detail. A few general statements may suffice. There was the ethical and social dualism of Qumran; there were, in the New Testament, the "sons of the kingdom" and the

"sons of the Evil One" to whom Mani refers.5’ Further, also the Elchasaites among whom Mani grew up seem to have held rudimentary dualistic ideas reflected in their dietary regulations and in their teaching of syzy-

gies.58 More importantly, Bardesanes' four elements (water, light, fire, wind) combine with air, thus forming the Manichaean series of divine elements (water, light, fire, wind, air).5? The Manichaean series of the divine elements, which were, the soul of Original Man and which are captured in this world of mixture (see above, p. 13), corresponds to the opposite series of demonic elements: water, darkness, fire, wind, smoke. Thus Bardesanes, too, thought of light and darkness as opposites, although, contrary to Manichaeism, his darkness remains passive and leaves all cosmogonical movement to the pure elements.9® Moreover, there was Markion with his two Gods, the one good and the other evil, but they never were equal: the

ST CMC

108.1ff.: []ABov Sè cic thy dAAolSanhy te Kai Eevireil[a]v dcei

npößarov xal4[t’] Syeac Abkwv (sec. Matth. 10,16; Luc. 10,3), Smac | [5]t’ guod Siactavtec | [E]RAeyacıv oi micro | av anictav Kai ot 18 [x]JaAAıcror citor tx uélcov tev Cilavieov xai | [o]i tic Bacıkeiac naidec | [E]k tHv tod Svcuevodc (sec. Matth. 13.25ss.; 38s.; Marc. 4,15; Luc. 8,12) 12 raidov Kai ot tod Syouc [E]xyovor tov tod Badovc | [ye]lvwnpérov, wc Gv Sufact]ieni 8 tuod tà oi-

"8[xeia] tov Avoıkeiwv.

;

£

"I came into a foreign country and into exile like 'a sheep in view of wolves,' in order that through me the believers separate themselves and are elected from the unbelievers, ‘the most perfect seed from the middle of of the weeds,’ ‘the children of the kingdom from the children of the enemy,’ and the offspring of the height from the products of the depth. Thus, through me, the father separates his own from those who are not his own." 58 A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 32, 1978, 164 n. 231; L. Koenen, "From Baptism to Gnosis" in The Rediscovery of Gnosticism, Proceedings of the Intern. Conference on Gnosticism at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, March 28-31, 1978, II, Studies in the History of Religions 41, Leiden 1981, 743 and n. 32a; idem, "Manichäische Mission und Klöster in Ägypten" in Das Römisch-Byzantinische Ägypten, Aegypt. Trev., 102 and n. 66 (p. 103). 59 The air may have been taken from the traditional Greek series: water, earth, fire, and air, plus Aristotelian ether; or from the Elchasaite elements: water, earth, heaven, wind, and ether, if we allow for a replacement of ether by air (Henrichs and Koenen, loc. cit. 185 n. 273). 6 H.J.W. Drijvers, Bardaisan of Edessa, Studia Sem. Neerlandica 6, Assen 1966, 136ff.

LUDWIG KOENEN

23

strange and good god is superior, he is initium and super omnia.6! But also according to Mani, the good father and the demons were never equal. None of the demons was ever called God.

They are stupid; and whatever

the demons try to accomplish, it is turned by the Gods into its opposite. The demons never have a chance to win the war. In the 6th century, Jo-

hannes Grammaticus describes the Manichacan position correctly: "Although the evil has no beginning, it is by far inferior to God."62 In the Manichaean world, the good was always the first as an-Nadim said, and he adds: "Not with regard to quantity."® If we turn this into a positive sentence, then it seems to say that the good is the first with regard to its qualily.

At the end of the world, all Evil will be burned in a final fire; the fire will ‘set free most of the Light that is still captured in the Evil, but some portions of Light that are too deeply entangled in the demons may be lost forever. The Evil will subsequently be imprisoned in the center part of the "New World," the structure built by the Great Architect (see above, p. 18), where the Evil cannot move and, hence, have no way to begin a new attack against the Gods. We may wonder why the Gods need so long to imprison the demons. The answer seems to be that the wars provide to the good Father and to the kingdom of God an opportunity to deploy themselves in ever new aspects of salvation. At the end, the power of the demons will be . broken forever and Original Man will sit on the throne to the right of the father.64 Thus Manichaean apocalypticism causes not simply a restoration of 61 Iren. III 7,1; s. A. v. Harnack, Marcion, Leipzig? 1924, 118ff. 62 Johannes Grammaticus, Disputatio cum Manichaeo (ed. Richard-Aubineau) 120f.:

ei Kai &vapyoc odv n Kaxia, GAAG todd tod Beod vrodéer. This passage has been quoted by G.G. Stroumsa, "König und Schwein," (see n. 3), 147. 63 an-Nadim, Fihrist IX 1 (B. Dodge 777): Mani said: "The origin of the world was [composed of] two elements, one of which was light and the other darkness.

Each of

them was separated from the other. Light is the great [element] and the first, but not in quantity." G. Flügel translated the last sentence in the following way: "Das Licht aber ist der erste Großherrliche, durch keine Zahl beschränkt" (p. 86). 64 Keph. (see n. 17) 40.13ff. und Hom. 2 (Manichäische Homilien, ed. H.J. Polots-

ky, Manich. Handschr. der Sammlung A. Chester Beatty, I [Stuttgart 1934]) p. 41; cf. L. Koenen, "Manichaean Apocalypticism" (above, n. 49), esp. 306f. W. Sundermann has pointed out to me that, according to other Manichaean texts, the New Eon is merely a resting place whence the souls finally return to the original and unchanged Realm of Light ("Mitteliranische Manichaica III," SPAW 1934, 85ff. and 140ff., p. 7f. [Sel. Papers I (see n. 39) 279f.; M. Boyce, A Reader (s. n 4) ac 7f.; J.P. Asmussen, Manichaean

Literature (see n. 40) 136f.]; Acta Arch. 13.3 p. 21f. Beeson; cf. M. Boyce, The Manichaean Hymn-Cycles in Parthian, London Orient. Series 3, Oxford 1954, p. 18ff.). In this regard, the Manichaean doctrine may have changed over time and locations, perhaps

24

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

the original state. The wars, the creation of the world, and history have changed even the Gods and their realm of Light. The world is designed to realize salvation through history; hence the world is not without good purpose. If we wish to call such a dualism extreme then we testify to the limits in which human thinking can employ a radically dualistic concept of God. III. THE "MONOTHEISM" IN THE BEGINNING OF MANT'S LIVING GOSPEL

1. It is time to revisit the beginning of Mani's gospel (above p. 21.) The passage opens with the exordium, which imitates the beginnings of the letters of Paul. First there follows a confession of the eternity of the father, then of his Power of creation. We begin with this second part: "All things which have come into being and will be subsist

through his Power."65

It has already been stated that, from the vantage point of the Manichaean myth and faith, this sentence is heretical. Plants, animals, and men are the work of the demons (see sect. II). The wording, however, may partly be explained by the fact that it adapts a formula of the prologue of John: "All

under Zoroastrian influence; for according to Zoroastrian beliefs, the final "separatio n" is a restoration of the good creation of Ahura Mazda (M. Boyce, op. cit. [n. 48] 232). Or, on the other hand, the Coptic Manichaean texts, at least with regard to this point, may Tepresent an assimilation to Christian apocalypticism. Nevertheless, the apparent contradiction between the sources may in reality be less severe. In the fragmenta ry passage of the Homilies, to which I referred at the beginning of this footnote, the mention of the two kingdoms of Light under the two kings is preceded by the prediction that the Father will unveil his image: "Das ganze Licht wird in ihn eintauchen. Sie werden hineingehen [in das] tapueiov und sic werden wieder herauskommen in Herrlichke it ..." (p. 41.1517). The two kingdoms of Light and the two kings, the Father and Original Man, are ultimately only two different aspects of the truth of blessed life in the realm of Light. Thus it is possible to neglect the difference in certain contexts and to stress it in others. But even if we should. admit that the changes between the original status of the Realm of Light and its final restoration are not essential, it would remain true that history will fundamentally change the relations between the Realm of Light and that of Darkness. The demons will lose all power; the Evil will be imprisoned and unable to repeat their attack, as in Zoroastrianism the Evil is utterly destroyed. For the Manichaean apocalypticism, also cf. A. Böhlig in Die Gnosis II (see n. 21) 325, n. 106; H.-C. Puech, Le Manichéisme (see n. 16), 84f. and in Histoire des Religions II (see n. 19), $72):

65 The Greek text is quoted above, p. 2. For the word order of 814 tod adtod cBévovc and the translation "through his power" see A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE DI 1970, 195, n. 249.

LUDWIG KOENEN

25

things were made through him (sc. the Logos)."66 Similar are Pauline passages like 1 Cor. 8.6: "Jesus Christ through whom all things are and we

through him;"® and Col. 1.16: "all things were created through him and for him;"68 or Rom. 11.36 "from him and through him and to him are all things" and finally Hebrews: "he for whom and by whom all things ex-

ist."69

In the passages quoted first (Ev. Joh.; 1 Cor. 8.6; and Col. 1.16),

the formula denotes the Logos or Christ as the intermediary through whom God creates the world. The phrase is incorporated in the predication of the Son of various Creedal formulas, and it already appears in Tertullian in the phrasing of the Gospel according John: et filius, sermo ipsius (sc. dei), qui ex ipso processerit, per quem omnia facta sunt et sine quo factum est nihil.70 Mani, however, changed the traditional phrase confessing Christ as almighty creator by the inclusion of two additions in their own terminology. First, the sentence begins with a shortened version of the traditional phrase denoting the three time periods which Mani had adopted from the

Iranian tradition.?! The idiom "what was, is, and will be" appears frequently in a shortened version: "what was and will be."72 This shortened 6 Ev. Johann. 1.1ff.: Kai Beöc fiv 6 Aöyoc. obroc Tv év Ap tpòc tov Beòv. navta &i' aviod éyéveto Kai ywpic adtod éyéveto ovdè Ev. For the following, see E. Norden, Agnostos Theos (Leipzig-Berlin 1924) 241.

61 Cor. 8.6:

i

GAX’ Hpiv eic Bedc 6 nathp EE od tà nAavra Kai Nueîc cic adtév, kai elc KvpLoc "Incode Xpictdc

5.’ ob tà ndvta Kai nueîc 51’ adtod.

6 Col. 1.16f.:

tà navta 51’ adtod Kai eic avidv Extictat. Kal adröc Ectiv TPÒ TAVTWW Kal Ta navta Ev AUT@ cvvéctyKev. 69 Rom. 11.36 dt1 E adrod Kai 61’ adtod Kat eic adıöv tà navta. Hebr. 2.10 Erpenev yap avt@ dr’ dv tà navta Kai 61’ ob ta navta. 7 Adv. Praxean2; see Symbole der Alten Kirche, ausgew. von H. Lietzmann, KI. Texte 17/18, Berlin‘ 1961, 6f. Later, for example, in Caes., the phrase runs 51’ od rai

èyévero tà névta; in Nic. 51’ od ta navta éyéveto Ta te Ev TO ovpavò Kai

tà év TH yA, and similarly in a wide range of Creedal formulas (loc. cit. 18, 19, 21, 22;

23, 24, 26 etc.). Cf. H. Lietzmann,'‘Symbolstudien III" in Kleine Schriften III, Berlin 1962, 200-203. The Father is praised as ¢& od tà navta ("Symbolstudien II," 195f., according to / Cor. 8.6 [above, n. 67]; cf. Rom. 11.36 [see n. 69]).

71 See above, p. 4. For the Zoroastrian view of the three time periods see, e.g., M. Boyce, op. cit. (above, n. 48) 232. - 72 A. Henrichs, "The Timing of Supranatural Events in the Cologne Mani Codex," Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis, Atti (above, n. 3), 183-204, esp. 193; L. Koenen, "Manichaean Apocalypticism" (see n. 49) 285f. and A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 5,

1970, 200 n. 268.

26

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

form of the phrase also occurs several times in the Kephalaia.’3

The

Manichaeans defined the three time periods differently: (A) In the Western sources an understanding dominates according to which (1) the First Time is the period of the first contact between the Gods and

the demons, and it comprehends the attack by the demons, the sending of Original Man, and his return to the Realm of the Gods; (2) the Second Time is the period of the creation of the world and of the

first man by the Great Architect and the demons respectively; (3) this is followed by the Third Time, the time of salvation which has

begun with the awakening of first man, continues through history, and will end with the destruction of the world. Inasmuch as the future is marked in the phrase of "what will be," the third period is dominated by the future and final salvation. (B) The Eastern texts, however, present a different explanation, which

basically derives from the Zoroastrian three time periods (see n. 73):

(1) the First Time is the period before the attack by the demons, when

the kingdoms of the Gods and the demons since eternity had coexisted

since eternity in strict separation;

(2) the Second or Middle Time is the period from the beginning of the attack by the demons till the end of this world; (3) the Third Time is the restoration of the divine kingdoms, while that

of the demons will be destroyed and its inhabitants imprisoned for eter-

nity.74

® Keph. (see n. 17), e.g. 15.19f.; 34.25f.; 73.27f.; 257.6f.

™ The preceding explanation follows A. Henrichs, “Timing” (see n. 72), 190ff. The distinctio

n between a Western and an Eastern explanation is not always as clear as the schematic representation indicates. For example, in Keph. (see n. 17), p. 34.21ff. the First Father is "the First Eternal One, who exists eternally together with the Five Fathers, who have existed before all things that have existed and will exist." We will retum to this passage below (sect. III 3) but here it should be said that the phrase "who has existed” clearly refers to the time before the attack of the demons, i.e., to the First Time according to the Eastern explanation of the three time periods. Of course, the "Western" and the “Eastern” explanation can easily be understood as parts of the same system, which divides the eternity into three periods (1. before mixture, 2. mixture, 3. after mixture) and then uses the same scheme to subdivide the period of mixture (a. Original Man; b. creation; c. history of salvation of the lost particles of Light). Thus the original Zoroastrian scheme (see nn. 64 and 71) seems to have lead to a corresponding subdivision of the middle period.

LUDWIG KOENEN

27

Since the passage under consideration concerns the cosmogony and

since the phrase "all things that have come into being" (navta dè tà yeyovòta) cannot refer to the original status of separation, this passage

seems to adopt the "Western" explanation of the three time periods.75 Everything that happened since the attack of the demons until the end of the present world, including the entire creation, exists "through his Power." To this we will return later (see p. 31).

This brings us to the second element of the Manichaean interpretation of the Christian formula. We retum to the Tetras.7© The "Third Greatness" is the "Power," which represents, as we have seen (p. 9f.), the souls still partly captured in this world, partly ascending to heaven. Therefore the Power is also called the "Column of Glory" (see n. 17 and p. 28) and the "Perfect Man." The latter is identified with Jesus.” This leads to the further identification with "Jesus the Splendor," one of the divine saviors of the Manichaeans. Both the "Column of Glory" and "Jesus the Splendor" are evocations of the Third Messenger and both manifest the salvation in this time and world.’8 The "Great Architect," the Manichaean God of creation, is not normally part of the "Third Greatness" or "Power." But to the extent that the "Power" was identified with Jesus the "Perfect Man," the creation can be seen as the work of the "Power." In a psalm to the Trinity, the Tetras is converted into the Trias: "(I) The Light that is on high is the Father (i.e., the first Greatness of the Tetras); (III) the Power [of] God that sup-

ports the Universe is the Son (this is acombination of the second and third Greatness); (IV) the Wisdom that looks forth is the Holy Spirit (i.e., the

fourth Greatness of the Tetras)."7? Another psalm praises (I) the "God of 73 A. Henrichs, however, thinks that "there is no way of telling which interpretation (according to the Eastern or the Western model) is correct” for the Codex. An alternative

interpretation of the passage under discussion could assume that the phrase refers only to the past creation and future restoration (essentially the Second and Third period of the "Western" explanation of the three time periods); but the technical sense in which the abbreviated formula of the three time periods is used scems to prohibit such an explanation. 76 For this interpretation see A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 5, 1970, 200 n. 269. There it is also stated that cCOévoc does not occur in the New Testament.

7 Through all editions of the text, it was wrongly assumed that this Jesus occurred in CMC 11.13 under the unique name 'Inoode tijc eiAnc; K. Maresch's correct reading is ’Incode mc enc (ZPE 74, 1988, 84). 78 R. Merkelbach, op. cit. (see n. 15), 39f.

79 Manich. Psalm-Book ‘(see n. 9) p. 116.4ff.: "(I) The Light that is on high.is the Father, (III) the Power [of] God that supports the Universe is the Son, (IV) the Wisdom that looks (?) forth is the holy Spirit. Jesus, the Tree of Life, is the Father; the fruit, the Mind of Light, is the Son; the Maiden, this sweet one, is the holy Spirit."

28

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Truth" (the God of our passage from the gospel, the first Greatness ), then (II) the Third Messenger and Jesus who appear in the Ships of Light (the second Greatness), further (III) the Power of God (the third Greatness), and finally (IV) the Wisdom or "Christ who is in the church" (this is the

Fourth Greatness).89 In a Middle Persian text, too, the "Power" is associated with the creation: "Thus God Mihr (the sun-god) has piled up the lower worlds and continents through [---] and his Power [and] Artistic Skill," i.e., through Power and Wisdom (?) or through the third and fourth Greatness. In our passage from the Living Gospel, the "Power" or third Greatness has taken over the function of the Son, the second person of the

Christian Trinity, and thus is the intermediary through whom the Father of

Thruth creates the world ("through his Power," 514 tod adtod cBévovc). The Christian and Manichacan concepts merge into each other and the Christian phrase confessing Christ as creator has been transformed so that it now suits Manichaean ideas. Yet it does not lose its essential Christian content: God the Son is the intermediary creator and maintainer of all things. By adopting the Christian phrase, the Manichaean myth made concessions. A myth is not abstract theology. Adaptations are possible, even necessary, if the context requires them. This implies that, in the moment in which Mani uses and varies the phrases of the traditional Christian church in order to praise the Power of his God of creation, the dualistic character of his theology is not spoken of; it has disappeared behind the Christian phrase but remains in the background for those who know it. The Manichaean myth is not a rigorously logical system.

#4 The praise of the Power as almighty creator is preceded by that of the "Father of Truth," i.e., of the highest and primordial god: 80 Manich. Psalm-Book (sce n. 9) p. 134.11ff. (from yaAXpoì Zapaxwrav; cf. R.

Merkelbach, op. cit. [see n. 15] 45) employs the image of the tree of the world: “Behold the good tree which has been likened in ---, (I) in a root and (Il) a [stem], (III) in branches and (IV) fruits. (I) The [root] is the God of Truth, the (II) [stem is the Lights] that are in the Ships, (III) the branches that support the Universe are the Power of God that supports the Universe. (IV) The fruits of the good tree are the Christ who is in the church." Allberry thought that the first occurrence of "Universe" must be a mistake, since the branches of a real tree do not support the Universe. However, Copt. TITHP4 ("the whole, all" in the sense of all created things; sce W.E. Crum, Copy. Dict. p. 424) probably translates Greek tà nävra. The Greek phrase would be understandable: as the branches bear tà nävra, sc. the foliage etc., thus the Column of Glory supports the world.

LUDWIG KOENEN

29

"from whom (E& ob) Iwas born."8! In philosophical discussions of the causes, €& ob means matter.82 Christian authors, however, used the preposition for God the creator, as, for example, in a passage of the Letter to the Romans, which was quoted above (see n. 69). But the preposition also denoted the father, for exam-

ple, in Matthew: "the child who has been begotten in her comes from (ex)

the Holy Spirit."83 In the Creedal formulas, the Son is "God from God, Light from Light" (both times with ex); but the preposition also denotes the incarnation: who has been born of (£x) the Holy Spirit and Maria the virgin.84 This notwithstanding, in the context of Manichacan beliefs, the &x used in the passage of the Living Gospel assumes a different meaning:

Mani has been sent, is an emanation (npoßoAn), and is of the same Light as God, but he is not the "son." Yet an audience familiar with Christian semantics must have perceived such connotations.

At the end of our quotation from the Living Gospel the same thought is taken up again. "For from this very one I have been brought forth, but I also am from

his will."85 Again, in both instances, "from" translates Greek ex, which—as was argued—was used by Christians in the sense of the Logos being the second person of the Trinity and of Jesus begotten by the Holy Spirit. Correspondingly, if the first statement, that Mani was brought forth from the Father God, refers to Mani as having been part of the divine Light from

eternity and as being an emanation of the same Father, then the second statement, that Mani was also from the will of God, should refer to Mani's birth into this world from human parents, the central theme of the Cologne Codex. This interpretation is supported by a number of parallels. In the CMC, Mani invokes the Will of God, when he tells his father Pattikios that he (Pattikios) will find grace and that everything which he has done was in accordance with the Will [of the Father of Light] (see n. 56). Pattikios' deeds

81 For the Greek text see p. 2. 82 W. Theiler, Die Vorbereitung des Neuplatonismus, Berlin-Zurich 1964, 17ff.

83 Matth. 1.18 10 yap év adth yevvndev Ex mvebpatdc éctiv üylov. 84 éx IIveönatoc ‘Ayiov kai Mapiac tic rapdévov; see H. Lietzmann, "Symbolstudien III" (see n. 70) 203f.

85 For the Greek see above, p. 2.

30

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

include the begetting and upbringing of Mani. Hence they were done in accordance with God's will, and inasmuch they were morally good. In the same way, when in a vision Pattikios recognizes Mani's Syzygos, he seems to attribute this grace to the will of God (also n. 56). In the beginning of the Living Gospel, Mani himself appropriates the formula with which Paul introduces his letters and, thus, ascribes his apostolic mission to God's will (above, p. 24). The latter is again mentioned when he speaks of the foundation of his religion: "I came forth and left that Law (sc. the community of baptists) because of the will of our Lord."8© The later community correspondingly worshiped God, "the praised King and honored Lord of the worlds of Light, upon whose wish and will thou, our highest God, hast come to«us."87 In short, references to the will of God cluster

around Mani's incarnation and his deeds of salvation.88 Hence we are entitled to understand the statement about Mani being from the will of the

father as referring to Mani's incarnation;8? it thus stands in contrast to the preceding statement about Mani as preexistent evocation of the Father. 3i Finally, we return to the praise of the Father of Truth, the highest and first of the Manichacan gods:

"who lives and abides forever (eic ai@vac ai@vav), existing before all things and abiding after all things." Part of this sentence is quoted in the Kephalaia (sec n. 17; p. 34.21-29,

ESP. 251.);

86 CMC 107.1ff. npofiAdov toivuv Bovalalicer tod hpetépov Sec[rd]ltov &x tod vépov Exelilltvov. Cf. the slightly different phrasing a little later (108.17ff.): [töte] toivvv xatà thy | [eddo]Kiav tod n(at)p(d)c pov | [tod plaxapiotétov 29 [arectaAnv clic nepiodov I [tod x6cp]ov. "At that time, then, in accordance with the good pleasure of my most blessed Father, I was sent forth to circuit the world." #7 BBB 313ff., p. 27 (sce n. 39; p. 441 in Sel. Papers 1; H.-J. Klimkeit, Hymnen und Gebete p. 171). Cf. A. Henrichs and L. Koenen, ZPE 5, 1970, 199 n. 266.

88 The will of God, of course, is also referred to when mentioning other deeds of salvation; for example, in Keph. 35.17 the Virgin of Light fulfills the "will of Greatness (1.e., of the Father of Greatness)."

8° The antecedent of && abtod (for the Greck text sce n. 4) is the Father God of the

first sentence of the passage, not the "Power" mentioned in the second sentence which precedes the sentence under discussion.

LUDWIG

KOENEN

31

"The First Father ... the First Eternal One, who exists eternally together with the Five Fathers, who exists before all things that have existed and that will exist." This statement refers to the time before and after the mixture, when the Father God and his Eons of Light were and will be totally separated from the demons. This is the First and Third Time of the three time periods as they are understood in the Eastern sources (above pp. 25f.). The sentence is followed by the statement that "all things which have come into being and will be exist through his Power." The latter sentence refers also to the three time periods of the Manichaeans, in this case, however, to the three time periods of the Western Manichaean tradition, which divide the period of mixture beginning from the first contact between the Gods and the demons (see ibidem). The Living Gospel combines the two interpretations

of the three time periods in a coherent scheme (cf. n. 74). It has already been stated at the beginning of this paper that this sentence seems to leave no room for an ontological dualism. This God is before and after everything. The second part of the sentence, "abiding after all things," is understandable. The Evil will be imprisoned at the end of time and will lose its ability for further actions. Occasionally it is even said that the demons and the Evil cease to exist after the end of this world. Also the first part does not cause difficulties as long as we only think of the Eons ‘which are coeternal with the Father; for they and the Father are consubstantial. However, the phrase, "existing before all things," is much more general, and it s one of the crucial tenets of Manichaeism, that the Evil, like God, has no beginning; hence the Father cannot have existed before the evil demon. This is hardly sufficiently explained by the fact that the good God was seen as the first (p. 23). As Mani avoided mention of the Evil in his Letter to Edessa (above, sect. 13), thus he does not take it into account in

the beginning phrases of his Gospel. The problem may be approached by the method which we used before. The priority of the good God is rooted in the Christian, Jewish and even Gnostic tradition. "Who lives and abides" is a Jewish phrase that has left traces in Gnostic texts and even in the Koran.99 In Col. 1,17 (see n. 68) Christ the Creator is "before all things." The Creedal formulas correspondingly confess that the Son was begotten by the Father before all eons (xpd 90 F. Klein-Franke, ZPE 7, 1971, 51 on line 5. For the phrase cic aidvac ainvov in the New Testament see Apoc. 14.11.

32

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

TEVTOV TOV aidvav --- yeyevvnpévov).?! That the Father God was before all things is from a Christian vantage point obvious. Mani seems to have transferred the phrase "before all things" to God the Father. As the preceding sentence, "All things which have come into being and will be subsist through his Power," denotes the almighty creator, thus the phrase "existing before all things and abiding after all things" amounts to a polar expression signifying eternity. In the Manichaean context, however, the statement assumes the specific color of the Manichaean three time periods, as has been pointed out. The derivation from Christian phraseology does not by itself provide a sufficient explanation. The literal meaning is broader than the theological thought permits. For.theological reason, the meaning of "all things" needs to be restricted: it should be understood as "all things in the world of mixture" (cf. n. 74). But this is a meaning that the text cannot express without destroying the traditional, admittingly Christian, formulaic phrase. Rhetoric takes preference over thought. We may compare a tendency in late antiquity to make the god to whom a hymn or prayer is directed appear as the only God, or at least the only important god. Zeus is beginning and end, as Christ is. Zeus, Helios, Apollo, Attis, and even gods who have fallen into almost total oblivion, are called "the supreme god." Attis becomes a god "maintaining everything." To use A. Nock's words, "A smaller figure could under stress of emotion be promoted to such a rank."92 During Mani's lifetime an unknown poet wrote a tragedy in Upper Egypt, in which Odysseus, just outside the city of Troy, prays to Athene. In the prayer, consisting of a long series of epicleses, the goddess is portrayed as an

almighty deity, as "wreath of heaven."93 She appears as a cosmic giant:94 91 H. Lietzmann, "Symbolstudien" (see n. 70) 200f.

? A. Nock, "The Gild of Zeus Hypsistos," HTR 29, 1936, 43-88 (reprinted in A.D. Nock, Essays on Religion and the Ancient World, selected and edited ... by Z. Stewart, Cambridge, Mass. 1972, I 414-451, esp. 426f. and n. 77. For Attis see CJL 6.509

"Atter 8’ bwict@ kai Exovrı td rav (quoted by Nock). 93 P. Köln 6.245 (3rd cent..): 7 obpavod ctépoc (ct. is written on top of original

Hadoc). Mibidem:

13 16

géper(c) Bevictn navra Tıravoc BoAäc articı Kegadrc, elta Kai phvnc xoxda Dein naperaic, xicpov @Akvaıc SimAaic. cb kupeîc tà navta, 516 cè 5” cicop@ pdoc. cò a’ et [n]eda[c], Pbyornı Kai‘ Bvdav tpiKvpiac’ ...

17 cò u’ ei cunctanter scripsi; sc. cb p(ol) ei : cod por Parca Bvdàv tpirvpiac M.L. West; hae voces supra mendosam lectionen Be@v òpyfv sunt scriptae re at

LUDWIG

KOENEN

33

"Thou bearest, almighty, the beams of the sun in the radiance of Thy head, the disk of the moon on Thy divine cheeks, and the world in Thy two hands. Thou art everything! Thanks to

Thee I see the light! If Thou (?) shouldst be at my side, I would escape even the triple wave (7?) of the (sea's) depth. " In this prayer Odysseus invokes the goddess' almighty powers by using a formula of Stoic origin, but was adopted by Paul, the Christians, and gnostics: "You are everything." Under this aspect we return once more to the phrase confessing the almighty creator. In Kleanthes' hymn to Zeus it

is said:95 "Thereby Thou art so great, the supreme king forever. There is no deed done on earth without Thee, o God, nor in the ethereal, divine vault of heaven, nor in the sea except all what evil men do in their own ignorance. But Thou knowest to make odd numbers even and disorder order, and things not welcome are welcome to Thee. Thou hast joint all good and evil to make one single, eternal logos of all things." To sum up: If the passage which we discussed were only extant in the Cologne Codex, then we would not hesitate to eliminate it as un-Manichaean and a corruption of the original belicfs, at the best as a secondary concession to former Christians in the Manichaean community. The fact that _the passage occurs in the canonical Gospel and appears in independent traditions precludes such a conclusion. The passage is authentic. An explanation of the passage as thoughtlessly adopted from older traditions would be mistaken, since Mani has clearly adjusted these traditions in light of his thoughts. If he had wanted, he could have avoided the ambiguity. Moreover, he was not mindless and thoughtless.

A new edition and full commentary by M. Parca, the first editor, is forthcoming in the American Studies of Papyrology. The papyrus is an autograph. Text and translation

remain uncertain, particularly in line 17, and in some details the text presented here devi-

ates from the one I quoted in the paper read in Halle (see n. 1).

95 SVF 1537: 10

& cd técoc yeyawc Snatoc Paordedc 514 navtoc. ovd5é rı ylyveraı Epyov tri yBovì cod dixa, Saipov,

12 ovte cat’ aidéprov Beîov nöAov ovt’ Evi rovro, rAnv ondca. péCovcr KaKoi ogetépatcw Avolaıc' GAAS cd Kal tà repiccà Enicracaı &ptia Beivan, kai xocpeîv taKocHa kai od Mira col gira Ectiv. 16 &de yap cic Ev ravta cuvnppoKac EOOA& Kakoicıv, 0’ Eva Yiyveodar navrov Adyov aitv EÖVTA ...

34

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Mani obviously did not hesitate to appropriate phrases from the Christian tradition, which in their strict sense contradicted his dogma, if their rhetoric suited his religious experience in general or that of a given moment. It is because of the intensity of his experience of faith that, in the address to God, the rhetoric takes priority over the dogma. In the beginning of the Living Gospel, he speaks of the Father God, from whom he has received the Truth and his apostolic mission. In the presence of this God, there is no place for any thought of the coeternal adversary. In anticipation of the final restoration of the kingdom of Light, the overwhelming presence of the Father makes him appear as the only almighty and truly eternal monistic creator God. From the point of view of Neoplatonists and Christians alike, the Evil has no existence; it is the absence of good. It was this

thought that enabled Augustine finally to overcome his Manichaean past.96 The same basic thought appears in a less radical formulation in Zoroastrian Pahlavi texts, which attest the 'non-existence' of Ahriman since he has no material and visible substance (gétik)?”? As we now see, even Mani could ignore the evil demons and their might, when he directed his attention to the Father God. He would not explicitly deny the existence of the demons and the evil, but in his address to the divine Father the intensity of his faith in

this God won the upper hand over dogmatics. Thus Mani's myth allows more flexibility than abstract concepts; his teaching is, as Imay say with a pun, predogmatic.

How dualistic then was Mani's dualism? There is no simple answer to this question, but it should by now be clear that, however rigorous the logical structure of Mani's ontological and ethical dualism was, piety and thetoric were capable of limiting its use when the religious context called for a compromise.

% Cf. L. Koenen, ICS 3, 1978, 154-161. 97 S. Shaked, "The notions menög and getik in the Pahlavi texts and their relation to

Eschatology," Acta Orientalia 33, 1971, 59-107;

but cf. Bianchi's postscript (p.18).

U. Bianchi, loc. cit. (n. 48), esp. 14f.;

Die Bedeutung des CMC für den Manichäismus ALEXANDER

BOHLIG, Tiibingen

Im Zusammenhang mit der Edition des Kölner Mani-Codex haben die

Editoren A. Henrichs und L. Koenen bereits in ihrem Vorbericht, in ihren kommentierenden

Anmerkungen!

sowie in zusätzlichen Aufsätzen und

Vorträgen? eine Fülle von Material zur Erklärung des Textes und seiner Bedeutung für das Verständnis des Manichäismus geboten. Zur Erforschung

des täuferischen Hintergrunds des Textes verdanken wir sehr viel den Arbeiten L. Cirillo's?, der uns auch mit einer Konkordanz zum Codex eine große Hilfe geleistet hat“. Die Veröffentlichung der Vorträge des Kolloquiums von 1984 in Rende hat für unsere Probleme bereits enzyklopädischen

IA. Henrichs - L. Koenen, Ein griechischer Mani-Codex (P. Colon. inv. nr. 4780),

Ztschr.f.Papyr. u. Epigr. 5 (1970) 97- 216. Edition: Ztschr.f.Papyr.u.Epigr. 19 (1975) 185; 32 (1978) 87-199 ; 44 (1981) 201-318; 48 (1982) 1-59. Der Kölner Mani-Kodex. Abbildungen und diplomatischer Text, hrsg. v. L. Koenen u. C. Roemer, Bonn 1985. Der Kölner Mani-Kodex, Über das Werden seines Leibes. Kritische Edition, hrsg. v. Ludwig Koenen - Cornelia Römer (Abh. d. Rhein.-Westfäl. Akad. d. Wiss., Papyrologia Coloniensia, XIV), Opladen 1988.

2A. Henrichs, Mani and the Babylonian baptists: a historical confrontation, in: Harvard Stud. in class. philol., Cambridge (Mass.) 77 (1973) 23-59. The Cologne Mani Codex

reconsidered, ebenda 83 (1979) 339-367. Literary criticism of the Cologne Mani Codex, in: The rediscovery of gnosticism II; Sethian gnosticism, Leiden 1981, S. 724-733. L. Koenen, Augustine and Manichaeism in light of the Cologne Mani Codex, Illinois class.

stud. 3 (1978) 154-195. From the baptism to the gnosis of the Manichaeism, in: the rediscovery of gnosticism II; Sethian gnosticism, S. 734-756. 3L. Cirillo, Il Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis (CMC) e gli Elchasaiti, in: Miscellanea di-studi storici III (Univ. di Calabria, dip. d. storia), Arcavacata 1983. Elchasai e gli

Elchasaiti. Un contributo alla storia delle comunità giudeo-cristiane, Cosenza 1984. 4L. Cirillo - A.C. Mancini - A. Roselli, Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis. Concordanze. Cosenza 1985.

36

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Charakter5. Dennoch wurde auf dem Manichäismus-Kolloquium in Lund 1987 die Frage aufgeworfen, ob nicht der CMC zu stark auf eine Tendenz in

der Forschung hin interpretiert werde, die die konstitutiven Elemente aus einem gnostischen Christentum herleiten möchte®. Die Beantwortung dieser Frage regt dazu an, den CMC im Rahmen des Manichäismus überhaupt zu

untersuchen und ihn einzureihen.

I. CMC als griechischer Text? Der Text hat seine besondere Bedeutung dadurch, daß er der einzige

griechische Originaltext dieser Religionsgemeinschaft

ist. Außerdem

verbindet ihn seine Herkunft aus Ägypten mit der koptisch-manichäischen Bibliothek von Medinet Madi im Fayum und der bereits aus dem 3. Jh.

stammenden Gegenschrift des Alexander von Lykopolis. Das Griechische der Schrift ist typisch für die Zeit ihrer Entstehung. Es trägt durchaus die Spuren schulischer Ausbildung an sich. Denn der Manichäismus bemühte sich um

eine qualifizierte Sprache, was man ja ebenfalls.an den koptischen Manichaica erkennen kann. Auch die Schüler Alexanders von Lykopolis, die er von der Lehre Manis gefährdet sieht, stammen ja aus Kreisen, die ihre Philosophie in

einem gepflegten sprachlichen Gewand geboten bekamen. Das Jahrhundert Manis und die darauf folgende Epoche, in der unser Text verfaßt wurde (4. Jh.), hatte ein schweres Ringen um guten Stil hinter sich. Vom ersten SL.Cirillo

- A. Roselli, Codex

Manichaicus

Coloniensis.

Atti del simposio

internationale (Rende-Amantea 1984), Cosenza 1986.

6Besonders bei meinem Referat "zur religionsgeschichtlichen Einordnung des Manichäismus" (in: Gnosis und Synkretismus [Tübingen 1989], S. 457-481) auf dem Symposium in Lund 1987 entspann sich eine rege Debatte. 71m folgenden Abschnitt werden die Grammatiken abgekürzt zitiert: F. Blass - A. Debrunner - F. Rehkopf, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch (15. Aufl. Göttingen 1979). E. Mayser, Grammatik der griechischen Papyri aus der Ptolemierzeit. I,1

Einleitung und Lautlehre, bearb. v. H. Schmoll (2. Aufl. Berlin 1970). 1,2 Wortlehre (2. Aufl. Berlin-Leipzig 1938). II,1 Satzlehre. Analytischer Teil, 1. Hälfte (Leipzig 1926); 11,2

Satzlehre, 2. Hälfte (Leipzig 1933). F.Th. Gignac, A grammar of the greek papyri of the Roman and Byzantine periods, I: Phonology (Milano 1975). E. Schwyzer - A. Debrunner, Griechische Grammatik, 2 Bde. (München 1959).

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

37

Jahrhundert vor Christus an begann man sich auf die Bedeutung der klassischen Literatur fiir die Gestaltung eigener literarischer Texte und ihren

sprachlichen Wertzu besinnen. Dieser sogenannte Attizismus, den W. Schmid von Dionysios von Halikarnass bis zum zweiten Philostrat ausfiihrlich dargestellt hat8, bemiihte sich, den hellenistischen Stil durch Riickgriff auf attische, aber dariiber hinaus klassische, z.B. poetische Ziige zu veredeln. Von diesem Bestreben finden sich Ziige auch im CMC, neben

denen die hellenistische Sprache steht, deren durch das Neue Testament gebotenes Modell den Ubersetzern sicher gut vertraut war. So hat man die Ambiguität unseres Textes zu verstehen.

1. Hellenistische Züge:

yy)y: Hier liegt ein Schwanken vor: yivonaı neben ytyvopar, yıvacko neben yiyv@cxw (MayerI 1, § 35, la), téccepa für téccapa CMC 78,2 (Blass-Debrunner

29,1, Mayser I 1, § 5, laß). Hellenistisch

ist die

Dissimilation vor a, die später nicht mehr allein darauf beschränkt ist (Gignac ©

I 278). oiktıpev ohne temporales Augment CMC 64,16 (Bl.-D. § 67, 1b,

Mayser I 2, 872 II 2by). coCv& CMC 13,2; 101,14; 133,12 neben cbCvyoc | 23,5; 73,1; 125,16. Da in dieser Zeit ein Übergang aus der konsonantischen

in die vokalische Deklination stattfindet, gibt es auch eine umgekehrte pseudorichtige Bildung; vgl. NaLopedc ( NaLop£oc ( Na opaioc. navdox&oc ( tavdoxevc, paptvpoc ( näptvc. Fragepronomen tic als Relativpronomen CMC 58,1 (BI.-D. $ 298, Mayser II 1, § 18, 2c), t810c als Possessivpronomen, noch durch den Genitiv adtod verstàrkt, CMC

14,12

braucht zwar nicht eigentiimlich hellenistisch zu sein, hat sich aber nach dem Gebrauch des Neuen Testaments eingebürgert (Bl.-D. § 286, Mayser II 2, §

66c). Evexev CMC 9,1, etvexa CMC 71,11; 114,16, etvexev 83,5; 110,19

- 8W. Schmid, Der Attizismus in seinen Hauptvertretern von Dionysios von Halikarnass bis auf den zweiten Philostratos (5 Bde., Stuttgart 1887-1897). Vgl. auch A. Debrunner,

Geschichte der griechischen Sprache II: Grundfragen und Grundzüge des nachklassischen Griechisch (Sammlung Göschen, 114, Berlin 1954), S. 98-101: Der Attizismus.

38

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

stehen in hellenistischer Zeit nebeneinander (Mayer II 2, § 132, BI.-D. §

30,3; 35,3). Das -v am Ende ist in hellenistischer Zeit beliebt.

2. Attizistische Ziige:

Zu beachten ist der Gebrauch des Optativs, der allerdings selbst im Neuen Testament noch nicht ganz verloren, aber im Aussterben ist (Bl.-D. § 65).

Bezeichnend ist, daB er nur im lukanischen Werk mit seinem zum Attizismus neigenden Stil etwas häufiger ist (BI.-D: § 384-386). In unserem Text beachte man den Optativ im Finalsatz.

Die Konjunktion Omnvixa. begegnet 23mal für "als".

Vielleicht gehört hierher auch die Form Evvéynopoc CMC 67,2, während sonst cvv- als Kompositionselement blieb. Als altsprachlich gebraucht man cpétepoc CMC

16,5 oder den Genitiv

co@v avtev 88,21; 102,4 für den Possessivausdruck, der schon homerisch ist und als Wort des Poietes

[Homer] im Attizismus verwendet wird, oder

Formen wie xatfecav. Der Wortschatz liebt alte Wörter: @pap®c, Part. von dpapicko "passend, angenehm", diva iccw "aufstehen" (homerisch), adté&pKac Exeı "es ist genug" (Aristoteles), en "die Sonnenwärme" (Aristophanes, Lukian, Aelian).

II. CMC als Übersetzung aus dem Syrischen Über die griechische Gestalt des Textes hinaus ist zu fragen, ob diese Fassung das Original darstellt oder ob es sich dabei um eine Übersetzung aus dem Syrischen handelt. P. Nagel hat ja für den koptisch-manichäischen Psalter die These auf gestellt, daß der Teil bis Seite 202, also außerhalb der Thomaspsalmen, nicht über ein griechisches Original hinaus verfolgt werden

kann?. Das würde, besonders wenn man die Doxologie mit griechischen

9P. Nagel, Die Thomaspsalmen des koptisch-manichäischen Psalmenbuchs (Berlin 1980).

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

39

Namen ernst nimmt, die Bedeutung ihres Zeugnisses fiir das urspriingliche manichäische System zugunsten einer christianisierten Form herabsetzen. Da die Hymnodik nicht von Mani kanonisiert war, ist das Psalmbuch aus

mehreren Sammlungen zusammengefiigt worden. Ob aber der Umstand, daB

nur die Thomaspsalmen keine Doxologie besitzen, allein fiir sie eine wesentlich originalere Herkunft anzeigt, erscheint mir fraglich. Denn diese Doxologien können darauf hinweisen, daß sie in einer früheren Zeit in

Ägypten hinzugefügt worden sind, während man das bei den Thomaspsalmen

nicht mehr getan hat. Haben wir es also beim CMC mit einer Übersetzung aus dem Syrischen zu tun, so kann dieses Werk authentischere Auskunft über die Entwicklung Manis und seiner Lehre geben, so wie wir es aus den Logoi

über die Staurosis Manis und vom großen Krieg entnehmen können. Da es sich aber um eine Übersetzung in gutem Griechisch handelt, muß man mit der

Annahme von Semitismen sehr vorsichtig sein!°, Die Herausgeber haben in den Anmerkungen eine ganze Anzahl von Hinweisen gegeben. Wichtig ist, daß die Monatsnamen übersetzt sind, aber die Zahlen des Tages nach mesopotamischem Modus stehen

geblieben sind. Vielleicht ist das häufige

eyall ein Abbild des Satzes Pronomen + Partizipium. kat in der Apodosis ‘ des Konditionalsatzes!2 kann auf syrische Vorlage zurückgehen (BI.-D. §

442, Sa). "Incodc tic eiAnc}3 entspricht Ji86 ziwä. Ziwä ist Apposition, wie aus der Übersetzung in den koptischen Texten hervorgeht: IHC TITIPIE. Der Genitiv in CMC ist ein Genitiv der Qualität oder des Inhalts. Ein solcher

Genitiv entsteht durchaus aus einer Apposition!®. Dafür spricht auch, wenn Theodor bar Köni aus der Apposition ein. adjektivisches Attribut macht:

ziwana!5. Zu beachten ist der adverbiale Ausdruck in tiva Bewpycarpr

10In meinem Aufsatz "Der Synkretismus des Mani", in: Gnosis und Synkretismus (Tübingen 1989), S. 482-519, habe ich auf S. 490 vorsichtige Bemerkungen zu diesem Problem gemacht.

11}fenrichs-Koenen, Anm. 342 zur Ausgabe.

12CMC 65,3. 13CMC 11,13. S.a. Nachtrag. 14Genitivus appositivus nach Schwyzer-Debrunner II 121f.

15317,16 ed. Scher (CSCO 69).

40

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

npöchev av 6p0aAXpòv pou CMC 112,6. Wenn auch im Normalgriechisch év 6pBaApoîc pov vorkommt, so erlaubt doch das mpdcOev, an eine wörtliche Übersetzung von l' énaj zu denken!6, réA.exc diirfte mahdzé entsprechen, wie später im Arabischen mada’ in als Bezeichnung für die

Gemeinschaft von Ktesiphon und V&h-ArdaStr!7, Synpa "Reittier" oder "Streitwagen" kann rköba im Syrischen sein!8. Meinen Versuch, mand als Vorlage anzunehmen, möchte ich nicht mehr aufrecht erhalten, da dyna

auch bei Jamblich!? mit nepiBAnpa gleichgesetzt wird. Ich nehme aber an, daß an der Stelle CMC 115,7ff. 6ynpa rkoba, EcÖfita mana entspricht,

während im Kapitel über die 14 Fahrzeuge?0 rkoba in weitester Bedeutung gebraucht ist. Die in Anm. 332 angenommene Fehlübersetzung von x6cpoc

für “alma statt aidv ist überinterpretiert. Kosmos steht hier für die Welt, weil durch ihre richtige Erkenntnis die Gnosis geboten wird. Vielleicht könnte bei einer Gegenüberstellung von örı Exeivoc &y@ ein und Sti ey éxeivoc abtoc Einı in abröc eine Übersetzung der syrischen Kopula gesehen werden?!, tivoc yap. erinnert an Imänä im Syrischen; es kommt allerdings im Griechischen zur Genüge vor, ist also kein syrischer Beweis22, Ähnlich steht es mit &kdAovBov + Inf.23, das dem bei Afrahat24 häufigen wäled entsprechen könnte, Doch spricht die doppelte Bedeutung von können und sollen für Übersetzung: gewisse Speisen "essen können, diirfen"25,

andererseits "es ziemt sich zu schreiben und verkünden". épyacia heißt zwar CMC

93,10 "Bearbeitung der Erde”, hat aber 97,2 die Bedeutung

16CMC 112,6ff.; vgl. Henrichs-Koenen, Anm. 397. 17CMC 111,4; 130,4.

18CMC 14,9; 115,7; vgl. Henrichs-Koenen, Anm. 416. 19Stob. I 385,6ff.

20Keph. 36,27 - 37,27. 21CMC 24,11. 14. 22 Vgl. W. Bauer, Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament, s.v.

23CMC 63,6; 88,8. 24Ed. Parisot, Index s.v.

25CMC 88,8. 26CMC 63,6.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

41

"Gewinn" (der Arbeit). Im Syrischen kann pulhana die gleiche weitgespannte Bedeutung haben27,

III. Die Aufgabe von CMC

Nimmt man die bereits aus diesen Beispielen recht wahrscheinliche Auffassung an, daß es sich um ein Werk handelt, das schon aus der alten mesopotamischen Schule des Manichäismus stammt, erscheint der Gedanke nicht abwegig, es könne sich um das leider durch Kriegsschaden verlorene

historische Buch der koptisch-manichäischen Bibliothek in Ursprache

handeln28, Aber ganz gleich, ob die Hypothese stimmt, CMC gehört zu der Literatur der Manichäer, die der 2. Generation angehört. Hatte Mani selber die

Darstellung seiner Vorstellung vom Glauben in einem Kanon hinterlassen, um den großen Religionen Buddhismus, Zoroastrismus und Christentum ein gesicherteres geistiges Erbe gegenüberzustellen, als es deren Gemeinden zu

Papier gebracht hatten, so konnte doch auch die manichäische Gemeinde nicht auf eigene literarische Produktion verzichten. Ganz abgesehen davon, daß . eine wirklich lebensfähige Religionsgemeinschaft sich nicht mit erstarrten Formeln begnügen kann, muß sie bei der Mission außer Psalmen und

dogmatischen

Schriften

auch

Berichte

über

das

Leben

und

das

gemeindebildende Wirken ihres Stifters bieten. Daß es bei der Mission nicht allein mit der Verbreitung des Kanons getan war, zeigt uns gerade der

koptisch-manichäische Fund von Medinet Madi. Kanonisch ist in ihm nur das Briefbuch. Vielleicht haben auch die Synaxeis des Lebendigen Evangeliums einen kanonischen

Charakter.

Das Psalmbuch

und die beiden Bände

Kephalaia sind dagegen Bücher des Ritus und des Unterrichts; die Logoi und

das historische Buch dienen sowohl dem letzteren Zweck als auch der

Erbauung. Gerade die beiden Bände Kephalaia weisen auf den Zweck dieser Bibliothek hin. Es handelt sich nämlich bei ihnen nicht um den ersten und

27 Vgl. Henrichs-Koenen, Anm. 285. 28L. Koenen, Augustine, a.a.O. 156.

42

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

zweiten Band der Kapitel, sondern um zwei getrennte Sammlungen. Das geht

schon aus ihrem Titel hervor. Der Berliner Codex hat als Seiteniiberschrift "die Kephalaia des Meisters", der Dubliner "die Kephalaia der Weisheit

meines Herrn Mani"29, Sie sind nicht nur ein Arbeitsmittel für die Elekten, sondern dienen dem manichäischen Unterricht zur Einarbeitung in das mythologische Weltgeschehen und seine Anwendung auf das Leben des

Manichäers. Zunächst wird an Hand von Zahlengruppen der Stoff des Mythos eingeübt, dann vom Mythos aus Kosmologie und Anthropologie zu erklären versucht. Schließlich wird sogar die Psychologie des Menschen vom kosmischen Geschehen aus gedeutet. Ebenso bemüht man sich in ihnen

Kirche und Ritus einen tieferen Sinn zu geben. Die Hymnodik hat zu einem großen Teil einen stark gefühlsmäßigen Zug. Doch daneben bietet sie auch lehrhafte Beispiele und geht in mythologische Zusammenstellungen über, die Kombinationen wie in den Kephalaia sehr nahe kommen. Man sieht daran, wie sich die manichäische Theologie in ihnen mehr oder weniger mit Argumenten Ausdruck verschaffen will. Das ist auch in den Logoi der Fall, nur daß sich die Darstellung auf einen Abschnitt der Heilsgeschichte beschränkt. Darum ist auch eine Schrift wie CMC dazu da, das theologische Verständnis für die Entwicklung Manis und seiner Kirche zu fördern. Die Bemühung um authentische Tradition, die sich bei Mani selber in der Erstellung eines Kanons niederschlägt, spiegelt sich im CMC durch die Bemühung um die Quellenangabe wider, die durch Nennung der jeweiligen Gewährsmänner stattfindet. Übrigens die gleiche Methode, die wir den noch

erhaltenen Resten des koptischen historischen Buches entnehmen kénnen30. Was

der Verfasser

des

Lukasevangeliums

bereits

durch

anonyme Bezugnahme andeutet, wird vom Verfasser des CMC den Lesern vor Augen geführt. Lukas spricht davon, daß er entsprechend den Berichten der Augenzeugen in ihrer Nachfolge eine sorgfältig zeitlich geordnete Darstellung

29V

worden.

ielleicht sind sie sekundär durch eine durchgehende Kapitelzählung verbunden

30C, Schmidt - HJ. Polotsky, Ein Mani-Fund in Ägypten (SB d. Preuß. Akad. d. Wiss.

Berlin 1933), S. 29f.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

43

geben möchte, "damit du die Zuverlässigkeit der Worte, über die du unterrichtet werdest, erkennst"?1.Die Personen, auf die sich der Verfasser des CMC jeweils beruft, sind auch anderweitig als Traditoren oder überhaupt als Schüler Manis bekannt, z.B. Salmaios und Kustaios, Innaios der zweite Nachfolger, Mar Zaku, Baraies. Sie begegnen auch in den Homilien und der großen Abschwörungsformel. Ob die Angaben, in denen nach diesen Berichten Mani im Ich-Stil zu Wort kommt, immer authentisch sind, bleibt natürlich fraglich; sonst müßte das ja auch für die Kephalaia gelten. Wenn man bedenkt, daß die Passion Manis in ihrer Darstellung an die

Leidensgeschichte Jesu angeglichen wird, so kann man auch in CMC nach Parallelen zur Darstellung der Evangelien suchen. In den Homilien wies die Bezeichnung otadpwoıg für Manis Leiden ja auf Jesu Passion zurück, obwohl Mani seinen Tod doch im Gefängnis gefunden hatte. Daß er am

Sonntag nach Belapat kam und für ihn eine Passionswoche begann, die sich auf 26 Tage ausdehnte, kann ein Topos sein. Daß drei gläubige Frauen zu

seinem Leichnam kamen, erinnert an die Frauen am Grab Jesu. Die Art der Darstellung im CMC steht der in den Schriften der manichäischen Homilien ziemlich nahe, insbesondere die enge Verbindung mit der christlichen

Tradition. Wenn man annimmt, daß der Text aus dem Syrischen übersetzt ist, sollte man das nicht unterbewerten, weil ja Christentum und besonders

christliche Gnosis in Mesopotamien durchaus aktiv gewesen sind.

IV. Mani als berufener Apostel

Einer Kindheitsgeschichte, die von einer menschlichen Geburt Jesu, an die

Mani ja nicht glaubt, sowie dem Heranwachsen Jesu in Nazareth, dem auffälligen Verhalten des Zwölfjährigen, dem übrigens ein auffälliges

Verhalten Manis bezüglich der Gartenarbeit entspricht, bis zur Taufe reicht, steht bei Mani ein langer Abschnitt gegenüber, der von seiner Berufung

spricht. Grundlegendes dazu sagt Mani in dem in CMC zitierten Brief an 31]uc 1,1-4.

44

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Edessa32, von dem wir bereits aus dem Fihrist wuBten: "Aber als mich der seligste Vater sah und sich meiner erbarmte, der mich berufen hat zu seiner Gnade und nicht gewollt hat, daB ich verlorenginge mit den iibrigen in der

Welt, damit er das selige Leben jenen gebe, die Etowor ("bereit") sind, von ihm aus den Sekten erwählt zu werden, da zog er mich in seiner Gnade aus

der Gemeinde der Menge weg, die die Wahrheit nicht kennt, und offenbarte mir seine und seines unbefleckten Vaters und der ganzen Welt Geheimnisse. Er hat mir kundgetan, wie ich33 vor Erschaffung der Welt war und wie der Grund aller guten und schlechten Werke gelegt wurde und wie sie die Dinge

der Vermischung in diesen Zeiten erbauten". All die Fragen, die der Gnostiker der Excerpta ex Theodoto stellt, wurden hier von Mani in vollkommener Weise beantwortet. Er ist für seine Aufgabe vorgesehen34.

Denn étowog heißt hier nicht, daß einer seiner Gesinnung nach sich bereit hält zur Erwählung, vielmehr hat étoipoc eine objektive Bedeutung. Sowohl

Mani als auch seine Anhänger sind vorausbestimmt35, "Bevor der Apostel im Fleisch offenbar wird, noch wenn er [droben] weilt, erwählt er die Gestalten

(HOPYPN) seiner ganzen Kirche und macht sie frei, sei es die der Elekten, sei es die der Katechumenen. Wenn er die Gestalten (op@n) der Elekten und Katechumenen erwählt und sie frei macht von oben, dann kommt er alsbald herab und erwählt sie". Auch in den Kephalaia werden die Schüler aus der

Herrschaft der Sekten und Häresien (Sdypata, aipécerc) befreit?6, Vor ihnen und der Welt hat Mani die Geheimnisse, die ihm sein Vater geschenkt hat, geheim gehalten, sie aber seinen Schülern offenbart37. Weil die Gegner der Manichäer ihm seine Berufungserscheinung abstreiten und sie für eine

32CMC 64,4-65,22. Vgl. G. Flügel, Mani, seine Lehre und seine Schriften (Leipzig 1862, Nachdr. Osnabrück 1969) 104, Nr. 31. Zur Textherstellung vgl. R. Merkelbach ,

Manichaica 1-3, ZPE 56 (1984) 45-53.

i

330der 3. P.PI., womit die vorzeitlichen Himmlischen gemeint sind. 34Zum Problem der Vorherbestimmung vgl. A. Bohlig, Zur Frage der Prädestina tion in

Maänichäismus und Christentum, in: Gnosis und Synkretismus, S. 103-126.

35Keph. 224,32-225,5. 36Keph. 225,6ff. 37CMC 68,6-69,8.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

45

Erfindung der Jünger erkliren38, stellt Baraies diese in die Reihe der ©

visionären Erlebnisse der alten Apostel und Propheten39, die mit der Urzeit beginnen und den Elkesaiten bekannt waren‘. In den Kephalaia beginnt diese Reihe erst mit Seth, in unserem Text bereits mit Adam4!, Das ist verständlich, da Adam ja von Jesus als erster Mensch die Offenbarung erhalten hat. Der

Beginn mit Seth kann eine Konzession an die Erinnerung der Siinde Adams sein. Mit Adam sollen aber schon die Elkesaiten die Erscheinung Christi begonnen haben, der sich in immer neuen Gestalten durch petayyicuéc

erneuert habe42, Mani kann also die Vorstellung von der Apostelkette als auch vom neraryyıchöc von seiner Jugendsekte her gekannt haben. Trotz seines

mehrfachen Siindenfalls43 hat Adam durch seine BuBe Gnade gefunden und konnte zum Propheten Jesu Christi werden. Der Offenbarer Balsamos*, der größte Engel des Lichts, dem Adam seine Offenbarung verdankt, begegnet auch sonst im Manichäismus. Adam erhält ausführliche kosmologische Auskünfte

und wird dadurch

"höher als alle Mächte

und Engel der

Schöpfung". Seth wird entrückt und erhält gleichfalls den Auftrag, die vielen Geheimnisse,

die ihm offenbart werden,

schriftlich zur Verbreitung

niederzulegen. Berufen und entrückt werden Enosch und Sem. Auch aus

Worten Henochs wird zitiert. Die angeführten Apokalypsen, die in ihrem Wortlaut unbekannt sind, obwohl andere zu ihren Personen vorhanden sind,

entsprechen ihrem Inhalt nach solchen aus jüdischen Sammlungen*3 sowie gnostischer Umgebung. Gerade in Nag Hammadi finden sich Werke®®, in

denen durch die Himmel geführt wird. Auch in der iranischen Überlieferung

38CMC 46,4 ff. 39CMC 47,1-60,12. 40Hippol., Refut. IX 14,1; X 29,2. 41Keph. 12,10. CMC 48,16.

42} fippol., Refut. IX 14. 43Hom. 68,14f. 44Vg]. A. Böhlig, Jakob als Engel, Exkurs, in: Gnosis und Synkretismus, S. 180.

457.B. Henochapokalypse

46,.B. Zostrianos NH VIII 1,1-132,9. Marsanes NH X 1-10.

46

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

ist ein Fragment mit alttestamentlichen Propheten erhalten*’. Eigentlich mußte die Reihe in Jesus münden, der allerdings keiner Berufung bedurfte, sondern

das Siegel der Propheten darstellt, wie Tertullian®® ausführt. Für die Manichäer soll dagegen Mani diese Bezeichnung erhalten haben. Man weiß

aber nicht, ob erst zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt ihrer Geschichte49. Zu beachten ist jedenfalls, daß der Reihe der Propheten der Apostel Paulus angefügt wird, auf den dann Mani folgt. Bei Paulus begnügt man sich nicht mit dem Hinweis auf das Damaskuserlebnis, sondern führt die Entrückung

nach 2 Cor 12,2-5 an sowie die Bestallung aus Gal 1,1. 11-12.

Mani spricht außer-den angeführten Worten im Brief an Edessa auch noch im Beginn seines Lebendigen Evangeliums von seiner BerufungS?. Die ersten Worte geben ihm die Würde des Apostels, weil er sich den gleichen Titel wie

Paulus! beilegt: "Ich, Manichaios, Apostel Jesu Christi durch den Willen Gottes". Damit ist er wie Paulus berufener Apostel. Und doch ist er noch mehr. Das hängt mit der Vorstellung zusammen, die er bzw. seine Gemeinde von dieser Berufung hatte.

V. Mani als Paraklet.

Im Kapitel 7 der Kephalaia5? wird der Weg der Berufung? im Rahmen des himmlischen und kosmischen Geschehens dargestellt. Dabei wird von Jesus dem Glanz der Licht-Nus berufen, von diesem wiederum der Apostel und der

47M 299a: W. Henning, Ein manichäisches Henochbuch (SB d. Preuß. Akad. d. Wiss. Berlin 1934), S. 27-35.

48Adv. Judaeos 8, 12-15. 49C. Colpe, Das Siegel der Propheten, Orientalia Suecana 33-35 (1984-1986) 74-79.

C.G. Stroumsa, Seal of the prophets. The nature of a Manichaean metapher, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 7 (1986) 51-74.

SOCMC 51CMC 52Keph. 53Keph.

65,23-68,5. 66,4-6 = 2 Cor 1,1. 34,13-36,26. 36,1-13.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

47

Paargenosse54. Der Apostel des Lichts ist die historische Verkörperung des Nus und wird damit Träger der jeweiligen Kirche. Vom Paargenossen heißt es: "der

kommt

zum

Apostel und sich ihm offenbart, indem er ihm

Wohngenosse ist und ihn überallhin begleitet und ihm zu jeder Zeit aus allen Bedrängnissen und Gefahren hilft"55, Diese Schilderung entspricht genau dem, was der Syzygos für Mani bedeutet. Im erhaltenen Teil von CMC

begegnet er 14mal. Er gibt ihm Offenbarungen und hilft ihm. Er ist aufs engste mit ihm verbunden, er tritt auf, wenn er benötigt wird. Das geschieht

nicht nur in der Zeit der Offenbarung, sondern auch später während der Missionstätigkeit. Er ist ein alter ego56. Mich hat sehr beeindruckt der

mündliche Hinweis von H.-D. Betz auf den n&peöpoc Saipev, der in magischen Papyri angerufen wird und genau die Eigenschaften besitzt, die in den Kephalaia genannt sind. Ob man etwa auch an die Syzygienvorstellung der Valentinianer denken kann? Dabei müßte allerdings ein Teil feminin sein. Das wäre nicht unmöglich, wenn man Geist als Femininum im Semitischen (raha) berücksichtigt. Das Problem ist, welche Bedeutung nap&xAntoc hat.

Denn im CMC kommt es nur 4mal vor. Das ist der Fall bei Baraies, bei dem

aber auch coCvyoc vorkommt. Im Manichäismus hat ja die Bezeichnung -"Paraklet" sich allgemein im Westen durchgesetzt. Jetzt hat allerdings W.

Sundermann? auch Belege aus Turfan beigebracht, die die Johannesstelle zeigen, wo Paraklet vorkommt, so daß es nicht mehr möglich ist, in diesem Titel eine sekundäre Angleichung an das Christentum zu sehen. Im Iranischen ist dafür pasägriw bzw. der entsprechende sogdische Ausdruck gebraucht:

"Stellvertreter",

ein Ausdruck,

der als Lehnwort

auch ins Syrische

übergegangen ist, wörtlich "Nach-Ich". Es fragt sich, ob dies Paraklet oder Syzygos wiedergeben soll. Ich möchte mich gegen Sundermann für die 54Die Lichtgestalt ist für unsere Frage nicht wesentlich, weil sie erst beim Tod der Gläubigen in Aktion tritt.

55Keph. 36,6-9. 56Eine philosophische Deutung gibt W. Fauth, Syzygos und Eikon. Manis himmlischer Doppelgänger vor dem Hintergrund der platonischen Urbild-Abbild-Theorie, Perspektiven der Philosophie 12 (1986) 41-68.

57Der Paraklet in der ostmanichäischen Überlieferung, in: Manichaean Studies. Proceedings of the first international conference on Manichaeism, Lund 1988, S. 201-212.

48

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

erstere Bedeutung entscheiden, weil Mani der Stellvertreter Jesu ist, oder das

Wort auch im Sinne von Nachfolger zu werten ist, da der Ausdruck auch fiir den jeweiligen Archegos der Gemeinde verwendet werden kann. Man kann also annehmen, daB in der iranischen Uberlieferung Mani als Stellvertreter Jesu angesehen wird, wie dies in mittelpersischen Hymnen zu finden ist. Eine andere Frage ist es, ob man aus dem Gebrauch von rapàxAntoc, der doch

etwas anderes als Syzygos ist, eine besondere Note herauslesen soll.

In dem klassischen Bericht über "das Kommen des Apostels"58 berichtet

Mani, daß das Apostelamt dadurch gekommen ist, daß der Paraklet, der Geist der Wahrheit, zu ihm gesandt wurde und ihn unterrichtete. "Ich habe das All durch ihn gesehen und wurde ein Körper und ein Geist"59. Die Jünger betonen, daB sie Mani nun als Paraklet erkennen, "der aus dem Vater (stammt), der Offenbarer aller Geheimnisse"©, Demgegenüber macht CMC einen Unterschied und es fragt sich, ob Baraies mit seinen Stellen eine

besondere Bedeutung herausarbeiten will. Keinesfalls ist er allerdings zu einer anderen Deutung des Vorgangs überhaupt gekommen. Er hätte sonst

nicht vom Erscheinen des Syzygos sprechen dürfen. Er spricht vom Paraklet

im Zusammenhang mit dem Kommen des Nus im Apostel. CMC 17,4 befreit der Nus die Seelen von der Unwissenheit dadurch, daß

er Paraklet und Anführer des Apostolats in diesem Geschlecht wird. "Zur Zeit, da mein Körper die Vollendung erreichte, da flog sogleich herab und

erschien vor mir jenes wohlgestaltete und große Spiegelbild meiner Gestalt". Ist das nun der Syzygos oder ist die Erscheinung der Paraklet?

CMC 46,2 ist die Rede vom Apostolat des Geistes des Parakleten. CMC 63,21: "Wir wissen, o Brüder, wie groß das Übermaß der Weisheit

uns gegenüber bei diesem Kommen des Parakleten der Wahrheit ist". CMC 70,20: "Denn besonders groß ist das Übermaß dieses Kommens,

das durch den Paraklet, den Geist der Wahrheit, kommt".

58Keph. 9,11-16,31. 59Keph. 15,23f. 60Keph. 16,30f.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

49

Man méchte annehmen, daB an diesen Stellen vom Kommen des Apostels,

also Manis, die Rede ist. Die Vorstellung vom Paraklet kann man direkt auf das Johannesevangelium zurückführen. Vielleicht ist aber auch ein Weg über

das gnostische Denken zu verfolgen. Nach den Excerpta ex Theodoto®! haben die Valentinianer in Jesus einen Parakleten gesehen, den Christus der Sophia als Helfer gesandt hat. Hier kommen zwei Gedanken zum Ausdruck: 1. Jesus

ist Helfer. 2. Er ist Stellvertreter. Ebenfalls nach den Valentinianern ist Paulus Apostel der Auferstehung Ev t0n@ napaKxAntov geworden. Da Mani ebenso Apostel Jesu ist, hat er wohl auch diesen Stand und kann ihn im Sinne

des Johannesevangeliums auf Paraklet, Geist der Wahrheit, erweitern. Vielleicht hat Mani aber auch von dem Wort des Elkesai gehört: "Ich bin

Zeuge über euch am Tage des großen Gerichts"62. Damit beansprucht dieser die Stellung des Parakleten, der sowohl der Vertreter Gottes, als auch der der Menschen ist. Damit entspricht die Stellung derjenigen von pasägrtw. So wäre auch hier eine Verbindung zu Manis Jugendsekte vorhanden und

zugleich zur Stellung des Paulus. Mani ist beides, Paraklet als Vertreter Jesu im Gericht und Helfer für seine Gläubigen. Das kommt in den Lobpreisungen

und Gebeten am Bemafest besonders zum Ausdruck.

VI. Mani als neuer Jesus.

Wenn

Mani nicht nur év tonw napaKxAntov,

sondern

selber

mapaKAntoc ist, liegt ein Vergleich mit, ja eine Annäherung an Jesus in der

Vorstellung sehr nahe. Gerade bei den Bemapsalmen, die Manis Tod voraussetzen, ist damit zu rechnen. Zugleich weisen sie auf Manis Stellung

gegenüber Jesus in der Heilsgeschichte hin. Dafür einige Beispiele:

6123,1-3. 62Epiph., Panar. 19, 4,3. Der Satz muß in verkehrter Buchstabenfolge gelesen werden; vgl. M.A. Lewy, ZDMG (1858) 172.

50

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Ps. 223 beginnt nach der Proskynese des Geistes des Parakleten mit dem Preis des Herrn Jesus, weil er die Gläubigen von der Plane getrennt und ihnen wie in einem Spiegel die Geschichte des Alls, also den Mythos,

vorgeführt hat63. Das entspricht der Aufklärung Adams durch Jesus, wie bei Theodor bar Könf berichtet wird. Ps. 224: In einem Hymnus an den Parakleten setzt Jesus ihm eine Krone auf: "Der geliebte Sohn, Christus Jesus, setzt dir eine Krone auf mit großem Jubel. Denn

seinen Bau, der zerstört worden

war, hast du (wieder)

aufgebaut. Seinen Weg, der verborgen worden war, hast du erleuchtet. Seine

Schriften, die verwirrt worden waren, hast du wieder in Ordnung gebracht. Seine verborgene Weisheit hast du verdolmetscht"®4. Starker kann die Auffassung von Mani als Reformer des Christentums nicht ausgedrückt werden!

In Ps. 227 wird der Paraklet als Richter gepriesen sowie das Bema, auf dem er sitzt. Dabei wird das Bema als das Jesu und der Jungfrau des Lichts

und des Richters der Kirche bezeichnet. Auch ist es ein Zeichen für den Richter in der Luft. Über ihn und Jesus geht ja der Aufstieg zum

Lichtparadies über den Mond®5. In Ps. 229 wird der Kyrios Paraklet mit yaipe gegrüßt. Danach folgt Proskynese und Verherrlichung des Bemas mit dem Ausklang, daß es der Typos des Gerichtsthrones Jesu bei seiner Wiederkunft am Ende ist66,

Ps. 236 scheint auch das Bema Manis mit dem kommenden Jesu zu

identifizieren67. Ps. 237 wird in einem Preislied auf den weisen Parakleten die Belehrung durch den Heiland eingeschoben: "Laßt uns alle zusammen Mani preisen, den göttlichen, vollkommenen am heiligen Tage, und uns freuen und belehren

63Psalm-Book 9, 3-7.

64ps.-B. 65ps.-B. 66ps.-B. 67ps.-B.

12, 28-32. 20,19-21,15. 25, 24-26. 34, 21-25.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

51

lassen über die Mysterien des Lebens des Heilands Jesus und feiern und

preisen den weisen Parakleten"68, Ps. 241: In diesem Psalm, der ein Lobpreis des Richters Mani darstellt und das Leiden Manis für die Gläubigen preist, um dann die eigene Erlösung zu erbitten, wird Mani als Erlöser so geschildert, als ob man Jesus vor sich hätte. In der Leidensgeschichte werden die Zoroastrier mit den Juden und Bahram mit Herodes verglichen. (Interessant, daß in einem so frühen Text die

Juden als Gottestöter bezeichnet werden!) Doch die stilistischen Vergleiche sind bei weitem nicht so wichtig wie der Gesamttenor des Psalms, der Mani

praktisch als den neuen Jesus darstellt69, als Erlöser und als vom Himmel gekommenen neuen Heiland. Er ist der große Richter, der "heilige Geist, der heute gekommen ist, um uns zu erlösen, unser Herr Mani, der uns unsere

Sünden

vergibt"7°, Von den Lichtschiffen und über die Säule der

Herrlichkeit, den vollkommenen Mann, ist er gekommen. Das ist der gleiche

Weg wie bei Jesus?!. Verständlich Z. 22: "Wir preisen deinen Licht-Partner, den Christus, den Erstling unseres Guten. Preis deiner Weisheit, die die

Plane der Sekten besiegt hat"72. Die angeführten Beispiele zeigen, wie der Paraklet das Werk Jesu | weiterfiihrt, Immer wieder wird Mani von Jesus bestätigt, während er auf ihn zurückgreift und als Richter der Weltkinder das eschatologische Werk vorwegnimmt, ohne ihm seine Bedeutung zu nehmen. Die Herstellung der

Partnerschaft zwischen Christus und Mani kann schließlich zur Auffassung von Mani als neuem Christus führen?3. Dazu gehört auch der Gedanke von

68ps.-B. 69ps.-B. 70ps.-B. 71ps.-B. 72ps.-B.

37, 26-29. 42,1-47,25. 42, 9-11. 59,16f. 42,22f.

"73W.B. Henning, Ein manichäisches Bet- und Beichtbuch (Abhandl. d. Preuß. Akad.d.

Wiss. Berlin 1936); v. 67-74 steht das Lob Manis so eng mit dem Jesu nebeneinander, daß man sie beinahe für identisch halten kann. Überall wird er als Gott angeredet, Jesus als Sender Manis v. 322.

52

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

der Himmelfahrt Manis?4, wobei zwar der Körper zurückbleibt, aber die Seele zur Höhe fliegt?5. Entsprechende Berichte finden sich auch in iranischer Literatur, sowohl in Prosa?6 als auch in Parinirwana-Hymnen’’. Es gibt dort

auch Kreuzigungshymnen auf Jesus?8, Daß Mani der Berufung bedurfte, liegt an seiner Geburt im menschlichen Körper, der ja minderer Qualität war, obwohl er sich seiner Lichtfülle bewußt war. Die Worte aus dem Brief an Edessa sprechen für den Glauben Manis an seine Präexistenz, so daß er sich wirklich für den von Jesus vorausgesagten

Parakleten, den Geist der Wahrheit, halten konnte. Kein Wunder, daß sein

Wirken eine ImitatioJesu sein sollte.

VII. Die Worte des Soter im Munde Manis.

Entsprach der Kindheitsgeschichte und den Ereignissen bis zur Taufe Jesu in der Darstellung des Lebens Manis die Berufung, so folgt für beide der Bericht über die Versuchung??. Ist bei Jesus der Teufel am Werk, so

geschieht das bei Mani durch ein Mitglied seiner Gemeinde, Sita. Das ist bezeichnenderweise ein Mitglied der Sekte, das sich später ganz gegen ihn

wendet®9, Es handelt sich nicht darum, daß ihm in der Wüste das Angebot gemacht wird, übermenschliche Wunder zu vollbringen, sondern um die für einen natürlichen Menschen sehr verlockende Möglichkeit, sich einen großen Fund anzueignen. Wie bei Jesus steht hier bei Mani die Versuchung zwischen Berufung und Verkündigung. Bevor Mani mit dem, was ihm offenbart worden ist, an die Öffentlichkeit tritt, findet also eine Prüfung statt, ob er

T4ps.-B. 34,19; 17,10. 75Hom. 60,1ff. 76F.C. Andreas - W. Henning, Mitteliranische Manichaica aus Chinesisch Turkestan III

(SB d. Preuß. Akad. d. Wiss. Berlin 1934), S. 860-862. TTEbenda S. 863-865. 868f. 78Ebenda S. 881-883. ?9Jesus: Mat 4,1-11; Marc 1,12-13; Luc 4,1-13. Mani: CMC 74,8-77,2. 80CMC 88,16-90,2.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

53

auch wirklich von Gottes Auftrag so erfiillt ist, daB nichts anderes ihn ablenken kann. Nicht irdische Schitze, die ihm angeboten werden und deren Besitzer sterben, sind fiir ihn erstrebenswert, sondern der Schatz, der zum ewigen Leben fiihrt. Mani schlieBt seine Worte an Sita mit dem Satz: "Denn der Schatz Gottes ist der größte und reichste und führt jeden, der ihn erbt, zum Leben"®!. Damit erfüllt er die Aufforderung Jesu: "Sammelt euch Schätze

im Himmel"®2, Das darauf folgende Wort Jesu: "Denn wo dein Schatz ist, da wird dein Herz sein"83 wird in den Kephalaia, allerdings in der umgestalteten Form, zitiert:84 "Wo dein Herz ist, wird dein Schatz sein". Wenn man annimmt, daß Jesus in der Perikope damit ein Sprichwort anführt, in dem von der Qualität des Schatzes ursprünglich nicht die Rede war, scheint Mani das Sprichwort

noch fester in die Perikope eingebaut zu haben. Er meint, daß die richtige Gesinnung, die ja ihren Sitz im Herzen hat, sich den Schatz im Himmel

bereitet. Keph. 223,3ff. wird das Wort argumentativ verwendet, Mani wird vorgehalten, Gott handle als Richter böse an den Sündern. Sie handeln aber selber gegen sich und werden durch ihre eigenen Werke verurteilt: "Wie der Heiland gesagt hat: "Wo euer Herz ist, da wird euer Schatz sein', so werden | die Seelen nach [ihrem Herzen] und ihrem Schatz, den sie beim Teufel

niedergelegt haben, zu dessen Teil gerechnet". Die böse Gesinnung hat sich

den Schatz

im Bereich

des Bösen

bereitet.

234,9f. wird von dem

Katechumenen, der in einem einzigen Körper gerettet wird, von seinem Erreichen des Ortes der Ruhe gesagt: "damit, wo sein Herz ist, sein Schatz

sein wird". Auch hier ist der Schatz das Ergebnis des auf ihn gerichteten Herzens.

In CMC

steht der Sinn dem

Bibelwort

am nächsten.

Versuchung durch Schätze und Besitztum versucht Ahrmén

Die

über eine

Gläubige zu bringen®°. 81CMC 76,16-20. 82Mat 6,20. . 83Mat 6,21 = Luc 12,34. 84Keph. 234,9f.; vgl. auch 223,3ff. 85M 4576 ed. W. Sundermann, Mitteliranische manichäische kirchengeschichtlichen Inhalts (Berliner Turfantexte XI, Berlin 1981), S. 59.

Texte

54

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Mit der Geschichte von der Versuchung hängt die Vorstellung von der

Einsamkeit zusammen, in der Mani meditiert und das Gesicht hat, daB Sita seine Botschaft nicht annimmt, sondern geistlich untergeht. Darauf macht er sich zur Verkiindigung auf. Die kritische Haltung, auf die er dabei teilweise

stößt, erinnert an das Unverständnis, ja die Feindschaft, auf die Jesus in Nazareth

gestoßen

ist86. Mani

setzt sich in einer Form mit seinen

Mitsektierern auseinander wie Jesus in den Streitgesprächen mit Pharisäern und Schriftgelehrten. Der Weg Gottes ist die allgemeinste Formulierung des

Glaubensinhalts. Schon im Gegensatz zu Sita wandelt Mani auf einer Mole,

die einen festen Weg darstellt im Gegensatz zur Welt, in der Sita untergeht87. Hier wird entsprechend dem zentralen Glauben der Manichäer der Dualismus in der Lehre von den zwei Wegen zu verstehen sein. Schon Markion hatte

diesen Dualismus angenommen. In den Kephalaia wird berichtet, daß in der Zeit nach dem Apostel Paulus die Kirche die Gerechtigkeit verlassen hat und nicht den engen beschwerlichen Weg gegangen ist, sondern "vorgezogen hat,

auf dem breiten Weg zu gehen"88. Dieser Vorwurf steckt bereits darin, daß von der Predigt des Weges Gottes®? Mani in seiner Sekte spricht. Er spricht ja auch von den Geboten des Heilands gleich im Anschluß daran und tadelt ebenso, daß sie die Gebote des Heilands nicht annahmen™, ja er macht ihnen zur Auflage, sie zu halten. Wie Jesus wehrt er sich gegen den Vorwurf, er löse das Gesetz auf?!. Aber Mani lehnt die Taufe des Menschen und die der Speisen ab. Durch seine Deutung der neutestamentlichen Worte kann er die Gegner ad absurdum führen. Nicht durch Taufen, sondern nur durch die Einnahme weniger beschmutzender Nahrung kann der Mensch reiner werden. So sind die Worte Jesu aufzufassen??, Der Ritus der Elkesaiten kann nicht helfen, wenn nicht die echte Gnosis über die wirkliche Existenz des

861uc 4,16-30; Mat 13,53-58; Marc 6,1-6a. 87CMC 77,4-79,12. 88k eph. 13,27-29; vgl. Mat 7,13-14 = Luc 13,23-24. 89CMC 79,20. 90CMC 80,11f. ; 84,20f. 91 Jesus: Mat 5,17. Mani: CMC 91,9-11, dagegen 91,20ff. 92Mat 23,25.26, Luc 11,9 sind der Schlüssel für CMC 83,20-85,16.

ALEXANDER BOHLIG

55

Menschen ihm Auskunft gibt. Wenn er diese besitzt, so weiß er, welche mindere Qualität sein Körper und seine Speise hat. Nicht wie man iBt, sondern was man iBt, ist die Frage. Vielleicht kann man aus Luc 11,41 eine ' Anweisung für die Ernährung der Elekten durch Almosen entnehmen. Auch bei der Widerlegung der Sektenbriider, die ihn wegen seiner revolutionierenden Forderungen nach einer internen Beratung mit seinem Vater zur Rede stellen, beruft er sich eingehend auf Worte Jesu. Er hebt die

Gebote des Heilands nicht auf. 1. Er hat Weizenbrot gegessen, weil Jesus das sowohl beim Abendmahl

als auch bei Zöllnern und Siindern gegessen hat93. 2. Wenn er sich auf das Wort Jesu gegenüber Martha beruft, so geht das nicht nur auf die Art des Brotes, sondern auch darauf, daß er sich bedienen läßt, was auch für die Zöllner und Sünder gelten kann?#. Ebenso sollen seine Jünger nicht selber Brot bereiten und mit auf die Wanderschaft nehmen, Aus den Worten Jesu sind die Verfügungen über die Versorgung der Elekten durch die Katechumenen zu entnehmen. Man sieht, wie der Stil und die Argumentation ganz auf biblischer

Grundlage aufbaut. Aus anderer manichäischer Literatur, insbesondere den

Kephalaia und Hymnen ist noch weiteres Material zu den Worten Jesu zusammenzustellen. Doch das würde hier zu weit führen; ich muß dafür auf meine Arbeit über die Bibel bei den Manichäern verweisen.

VII. Schlußfolgerungen

Aus den vorgetragenen Beobachtungen lassen sich folgende Ergebnisse zusammenfassen. Mani ist von den Erlebnissen in der judenchristlichen Täufersekte so stark

beeinflußt, daß ihm die Verbundenheit mit ihrer asketischen Haltung den

93CMC 91,20-92,14; vgl. 93,3-8. 94CMC 92,12-93,2; vgl. 93,3-8. 95Marc 6,8, Luc 9,3.

56

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Abschied von ihr schwer werden läßı?6, Zugleich hat er die bedeutsame Stellung Jesu, der den Höhepunkt der von Adam herkommenden Propheten

bzw. Apostel bildet, sich so zu eigen gemacht, daß er im Verständnis seines Werkes und in der Durchführung seiner Gebote sich als berufener Apostel fühlt. Als solcher sieht er sich als Paraklet an. Diese johanneische Aufgabe kann ihm sowohl vom Judenchristentum als auch vom Gnostizismus her nahegebracht worden sein. Die besondere, letztlich von Jesus herkommende Aufgabe seines Lebens

wird Mani durch Offenbarungen immer neu gestellt, so daß er schließlich sein

Weltbild im Mythos »"schaut", wie es ihm als religiösem Denker und erlebendem Künstler gemäß ist. Dabei verbindet sich Monismus und Dualismus nach gnostischer Art.

Nachtrag: Die von mir zu 'Inooöc tijc etAnc angestellten Überlegungen erübrigen sich, wenn man statt tijc etAnc die von K. Maresch in ZPE 74 (1988) 84 vorgeschlagene Lesung tic éufic in Verbindung mit dem

folgenden rapapvAaxfic xapıv annimmt. Frau C. Römer möchte sich auf Grund einer Nachprüfung am Original dieser Änderung anschließen, so daß in den Ausgaben entsprechend zu ändern wäre.

96CMC 102,5ff.

Il codice ‘‘Mani’’ di Colonia come fonte per la storia giudaica JOHANN

MAIER,

Koln

Note preliminari.

La pubblicazione, nel 1986, degli "Atti del Simposio Internazionale Rende/Amantea 3-7 Settembre 1984" ha posto nuove basi alla discussione sul CMC, e permette, ora, di riesaminare l'argomento su un piano più vasto. Inoltre vanno notate: la Concordanza pubblicata a cura di L. Cirillo, A. Concalino e A. Roselli! e le stupende nuove edizioni del CMC, curata da L.

Koenen e C. Römer?. Dal punto di vista storico religioso, meritano di essere citate due fondamentali monografie: la ricerca di L. Cirillo su Elchasai e gli Elchasaiti3, e

‚il tentativo fatto da G.P. Luttikhuizen d'individuare, sotto le tradizioni elchasaite, un'apocalisse babilonese-giudaica®. Partendo da questa premessa,

si ripropone il problema del rapporto esistente fra il CMC, e la tradizione e l'ambiente giudaico. Adesso, per6, in maniera differente dal 1984. In sintesi, la questione, tradotta in termini di tesi, é di sapere se e in che modo il CMC può essere considerato una fonte utile per la conoscenza del giudaismo. Per IL, Cirillo - A. Concolino Mancini - A. Roselli, Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis. Concordanze, Cosenza 1985.

2Ludwig Koenen - Cornelia Römer, Der Kölner Mani-Codex. Abbildungen und diplomatischer Text, Bonn 1985. - Der Kölner Mani-Kodex. Über das Werden seines Leibes. Kritische Edition, herausgegeben und übersetzt von L. Koenen und C. Römer, Opladen

1988. 3L. Cirillo, Elchasai e gli Elchasaiti. Un contributo alla storia delle comunitä giudeoeristiane, Cosenza 1984. 4Gerard P. Luttikhuizen, The Revelation of Elchasai. Investigations into the Evidence for a Mesopotamian Jewish Apocalypse of the Second Century and its Reception by JudeoChristian Propagandists, Tubingen 1985.

58

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

evitare qualsiasi equivoco, € bene tener subito presente che, in verità, la ricerca é duplice: la prima mira ad individuare una tradizione "giudaica", che potrebbe essere non stata trasmessa dalle fonti giudaiche; l'altra invece si

propone di riscoprire connessioni effettive col giudaismo coevo.

1. Il giudizio espresso nel 1984 conserva intatto il suo valore: il contenuto del CMC non può essere ricondotto a nessuna fonte giudaica nota. Se, poi, accogliendo la tesi Luttikhuizen, si vogliono notare rapporti indiretti, si tocca una questione differente. Senza tema di smentita, si pu6 tranquillamente affermare che la letteratura rabbinica, letta e valutata correttamente, non serve affatto alla comprensione del CMC. E' una questione differente esaminare il modo in cui persone d'ascendenza giudaica abbiano potuto introdurre un'eredità spirituale giudaica, eventualmente anche tradizioni letterarie giudaiche, nell'ambiente elchesaita, o più genericamente, nell'ambiente giudeo-cristiano, e come poi, per questa via

le abbiano trasmesse a Mani e ai Manichei. Questa trasmissione, per6, non avvenne all'interno della tradizione giudaica. Il fenomeno fu esterno al mondo

giudaico del periodo di Mani e del CMC, a noi noto. Per la giudaistica, il valore del CMC, come fonte diretta e utile alla conoscenza del giudaismo mesopotamico, é pressocchè nullo.

2. G.P. Luttikhuizen riprende in esame le testimonianze patristiche riguardanti Elchasai/Elxai, gli Elchasaiti, e i gruppi e le persone in rapporto con loro. La sua revisione critica della storia degli studi lascia trasparire inesorabilmente quanto siano discutibili e incerte le tesi sostenute fino al presente, tenendo conto del carattere particolarmente difficile delle fonti. In questa situazione, l'apporto di nuove informazioni, ricavate dal Codice di Mani, promette d'essere un aiuto decisivo, rispetto alle soluzioni proposte nel passato. Nella presente relazione, mi limito a trattare l'aspetto delle implicazioni e delle tradizioni giudaiche, tenendo presenti le fonti patristiche e il CMC, ma anche il solo CMC. La questione, così impostata, tocca, in primo luogo, la figura di Elchasai/Elxai, e in secondo luogo la solidità dell'assunto,

JOHANN MAIER

39

secondo cui alcune tradizioni, rielaborate dal CMC, provengono da fonti

letterarie giudaiche.

3. Luttikhuizen sostiene che le forme nominali, Elchasai(os), Elxai, al-

Hasih

e simili, derivano da una formazione aramaica che designava

originariamente il gigantesco angelo della rivelazione, menzionato nel libro. Il

libro € attribuito, appunto, a questo presunto Elchasai. Il libro andé perduto. Di esso rimase solo la memoria del titolo H/L KSY

("Forza nascosta"). Il

titolo fu frainteso e venne reinterpretato come nome di persona. Ippolito nomina la "persona" cosf sorta come colui che ricevette e trasmise il libro, e lo consegnö ad un certo Sobiai. Anche questo nome € il risultato di un

fraintendimento. In origine, designava una setta. Gruppi numerosi, e ben differenziati fra loro, si appellavano all'autorità di "Elchasai(os)". Ci6 potrebbe aver causato lo scambio e la confusione di persone recanti nomi simili. La storia miracolosa di Elchasaios, nel CMC 94-97, presuppone l'esistenza di una figura leggendaria, colorata con tendenze manichee. Ma non

esiste nessuna personalità storica che porta questo nome, alla quale si pu6

attribuire il libro. 4. Secondo Luttikhuizen, il libro € più antico. Fu composto da un autore

ebreo, nell'autunno o nell'inverno del 116 d.C., nel terzo anno dell'invasione della Mesopotamia condotta da Traiano, allo scopo di consolare gli Ebrei che si erano ribellati a Roma. Il libro, adottando la definizione di Collins, era un'apocalisse. La cornice é costituita dall'apparizione di due gigantesche figure angeliche. Il contenuto é costituito dall'annuncio della fine prossima, connessa con la campagna militare di Traiano, elevata a guerra contro gli

angeli cattivi. V'è la richiesta di una nuova e definitiva conversione, cioè la richiesta di una solenne promessa di rinuncia al peccato, a cui assistono sette testimoni (i fattori cosmici, gli angeli della preghiera, gli spiriti santi) in vista del giorno del grande giudizio. Tutto questo, secondo Luttikhuizen, prova che

5J.J. Collins, Toward the Morphology of a Genre, Semeia 14, 1979, 1-20.

60

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

questa apocalisse era un libro giudaico-aramaico, circolante nei ciroli giudeo-

cristiani della Siria occidentale, i quali con questo libro cominciarono a svolgere, in Palestina e a Roma, una specie di attività missionaria nelle comunità cristiane. Qui il libro subf una profonda trasformazione e ricevette una nuova interpretazione. L'apocalisse giudaica originaria era stata composta in aramaico e conteneva le usuali rappresentazioni escatologiche connesse con riferimenti a fatti politici e cosmologici. Con la traduzione in greco, secondo

Luttikhuizen, questi riferimenti furono messi in disparte, e l'accento fu spostato sull'escatologia individuale. Luttikhuizen pué descrivere, in maniera abbastanza convincente, il

carattere giudaico di questa apocalisse, solo escludendo numerosi elementi. Così egli esclude (7), dal contenuto originario dell'apocalisse, la richiesta di pregare rivolti verso Gerusalemme. In uno scritto giudaico questa richiesta non avrebbe un senso particolare; in un ambiente non giudaico, invece,

diventa una cosa che può essere richiesta.

Lo stesso vale per il rifiuto della verginità, come ideale ascetico, e per la valutazione positiva del matrimonio. La discussione sulla giustificazione di chi evita il martirio, tradisce gid un'istanza cristiana. Infine, Luttikhuizen esclude il passo sul fuoco e sull'acqua, considerati elementi di valore contrario fra loro. Gli argomenti, che motivano queste esclusioni, sono addotti unitamente e indipendentemente dalla sua tesi di fondo, cioè

dall'assunto che si tratta di un libro giudaico. Gli argomenti, purtroppo, non si appoggiano su una analisi vera e propria del genere letterario e del contenuto del libro. La tesi,che vede in questo libro segreto un'apocalisse giudaica di provenienza babilonese, non è affatto provata, sebbene occorra pure rilevare che l'esistenza ipotetica di un simile documento in questa regione e in questo periodo sarebbe un dato assai stimolante. Anche se non si possono accogliere tutte le proposte di Luttikhuizen miranti a escludere dalle fonti del libro alcune parti essenziali, rimane vero che ci troviamo di fronte a uno scritto giudeo-cristiano. La definizione del suo genere letterario, come "apocalisse", non è così importante, nonostante il favore che ha incontrato fra i teologi cristiani.

JOHANN MAIER

61

Per quanto riguarda la storicità di Elchasai(os) o di una persona con un

nome simile, lo scetticismo di Luttikhuizen porta a ritenere che é inutile discutere sulla provenienza giudaica della persona o sul carattere giudaico della sua opera. La testimonianza di Epifanio é dubbia in quanto, se egli afferma l'origine giùdaica e il carattere giudaico, lo fa solo per diffamare la figura e il pensiero di un eretico. Questo era un topos della letteratura cristiana in polemica con le eresie.

6. Se € vero che Luttikhuizen ha ragione quando nega la storicità della persona di Elchai(os), e non ha ragione quando esclude dal contenuto

originario del libro alcuni passi, € pure vero che i racconti leggendari di

Elchasaios, contenuti nel CMC 94-95, non apportano niente di nuovo alla conoscenza del giudaismo, soprattutto che la pretesa "apocalisse" non svolge alcun ruolo nel libro.

7. La ricerca di Luttikhuizen era già conclusa prima della pubblicazione degli "Atti del Simposio Internazionale" di Rende. Per la trattazione e la ‘valuzione del CMC egli si era basato sulla edizione provvisoria e sulla

bibliografia pubblicata fino al 1981. Condivideva l'uso di una terminologia abbastanza

imprecisa

come

"biblico",

"giudaico"

(di che

tipo?),

"giudeocristiano", "giudaizzante". Era impreciso anche quando nel riferirsi al concetto di "legge", e alle abluzioni rituali. Quest'ultime vengono definite troppo spesso e in maniera semplicistica "giudaiche". Egli non differenziava, con la dovuta attenzione, lo scopo, l'oggetto e la finalità delle abluzioni. Si può dire che la (discutibilissima!) valutazione critica delle fonti patristiche e

l'accento posto sulla dubbia storicità di Elchasaios (o di una persona con un nome simile costuiscano il grosso merito della ricerca di Luttikhuizen,

piuttosto che la sua tesi relativa all'esistenza di una leggendaria apocalisse giudaico-aramaica del 116 d.C. di provenienza mesopotamica. E' chiaro che

le posizioni difese in passato, cioè che si tratta di una fonte aramaica, conservano il loro valore. Però non é necessario attribuire al termine "aramaico" la connotazione di "aramaico-giudaico". Si può benissimo trattare

62

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

di un giudeocristiano o di un cristiano giudaizzante o di un gruppo di persone con caratteristiche simili. Ciò spiegherebbe molto meglio la traduzione dal

siriaco in greco. Niente fa supporre, nonostante il sospetto di Luttikhuizen, che, durante il processo di traduzione in greco, siano state messe in secondo piano le sezioni a carattere storico-politico e cosmologico. Basta supporre che il libro, trovatosi in un nuovo contesto culturale e religioso, sia diventato

accessibile ad un pubblico più vasto. Viene letto, in maniera selettiva, con altri

interessi.

8. Un fenomeno' di ricezione selettiva analogo ha interessato anche i cosiddetti "Apocrifi dell'Antico Testamento", i quali sono giunti a noi grazie all'interesse incontrato fra i lettori cristiani, e spesso dopo che una mano cristiana provvide alla redazione finale. V'erano, in ambiente cristiano, circoli abituati a leggere "cristianamente" testi d'argomento veterotestamentario o altri testi giudaici. Questi testi non li sentivano estranei alla loro sensibilità

religiosa, anzi vi trovavano una risposta alle loro esigenze. Considerato sotto

questo aspetto, il problema dell'origine effettiva di un testo, come il nostro, perde l'importanza che siamo tentati di attribuirgli. D'altra parte, non dobbiamo perdere di vista il fatto che anche la letteratura rabbinica, la quale di per sè rappresenta una specie di scelta "canonica", seppure esente da criteri

selettivi di reinterpretazione, non ha conservato nessuna traccia della letteratura apocrifa. I criteri selettivi non erano soltanto differenti, bensi diametralmente opposti e le priorità erano completamente diverse. 9. Mentre, da parte cristiana, ci è pervenuta qualche notizia su questi gruppi minoritari, sia indirettamente attraverso le polemiche dei Padri della Chiesa, sia direttamente, attraverso le fonti letterarie; da parte giudaica, sotto

questo aspetto, lo stato delle fonti lascia molto a desiderare. Se è vero che dobbiamo all'interesse dei cristiani il fatto che gli "Apocrifi dell'AT" siano giunti a noi, è anche vero che è proprio questo tipo di processo a dimostrare l'esistenza di un terreno in cui si è radicato un tipo di giudaismo diverso da quello rabbinico. Il giudaismo rabbinico riusci ad affermarsi in Palestina e in

JOHANN MAIER

63

Mesopotamia soltanto dopo una lunga lotta. Viene spontaneo chiedersi quale fosse l'ambiente religioso contro cui i rabbini polemizzavano. A parte la polemica con l' 'Am-ha-Aretz®, citato nelle fonti rabbiniche con una connotazione spregiativa, vengono in mente in Minim?, a cui i rabbini rimproveravano non solo pratiche devianti, ma anche e sopratutto concezioni religiose, da cui occorreva diffidare. Mi sembra opportuno rilevare, contro l'opinione oggi corrente, che non é corretto identificare iMinim con i cristiani o con i giudeo-cristiani, poichè ai Minim i rabbini rinfacciavano la tendenza a praticare culti pagani e la tendenza ad assimilarsi. Non si deve dimenticare,

però, che queste informazioni sono viziate della polemica. La suscettibilità dei rabbini diventa ancora più comprensibile se si pensa a quanto fosse problematico il tema delle "due o più potenze", che allora nel giudaismo rabbinico veniva dibattuto spesso nella polemica con i Minim, e con l'ambiente cristiano e pagano8. Per questo motivo, trattando dei Minim, è bene evitare di prendere in considerazione soltanto le variegate tipologie del cristianesimo primitivo. Le tendenze dualistiche erano così attive, che la prima teologia del giudaismo medievale dovette ancora polemizzarre ferocemente

contro di esse?. 10. Il CMC, nelle sezioni, che possono essere ricondotte a presupposti e a tradizioni della Bibbia e del giudaismo, rappresenta il risultato di una elaborazione e di una reinterpretazione della Bibbia, e, in particolare, evidenzia un'aspetto della storia dell'influsso della Bibbia e delle tradizioni bibliche nell'ambiente giudaico. Purtroppo il valore storico del documento

non può essere ulteriormente precisato.

6A. Oppenheimer, The 'Am ha-Aretz. A Study in the Social History of the Jewish - People in the Hellenistic-Roman Period, Leiden 1977. 75, Maier, Jüdische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Christentum in der Antike, Darmstadt 1982 (v. indice).

8A.F. Segal, Two Powers in Heaven, Leiden 1977. 9Saadia Gaon, Kitab al-amanat wa-l-i'tiqadat I,4; S. Rosenblatt, The Book of Beliefs and

Opinions, New Haven 1949, pp. 58ss.

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CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Nel mondo giudaico, prima del 70 d.C., la letteratura apocalittica ebbe un'influsso fortissimo. “E proprio questo tipo di letteratura a essere recepito e trasmesso per mano cristiana.

Verso il 100 d.C., appaiono apocalissi come il IV libro di Ezra e il libro di Baruch siriaco. Ciò renderebbe plausibile la datazione proposta da Luttikhuizen, tendente a collocare il libro di Elxai, da lui considerato un'apocalisse, verso il 116 d.C. Contrariamente all'opinione predominante in passato, secondo la quale il IV libro di Ezra sarebbe stato composto in Palestina, oggi sembra che sia preferibile collocare la composizione di questo libro in area siriaca. Anche questo aspetto è a favore della tesi di Luttikhuizen. Ma tutto questo non è sufficiente per ricavare un'immagine realistica dei circoli giudaici che avrebbero originato l'opera, e per avere un'idea del contenuto originario del libro di Elxai, come ho già detto sopra. Il dubbio

rimane tuttora. E' difficile poter dimostrare che il libro è stato composto in ambiente giudaico. Ancora più difficile rimane l'inquadramento dei gruppi dei battezzatori, i cui battesimi rituali non possono essere ricondotti direttamente ai riti di purificazione ebraici. La letteratura ebraica non contiene nessuna polemica esplicita nei confronti di pratiche simili, mentre, per esempio, polemizza con frequenza contro le pratiche dei Minim, dei Samaritani e degli "Am ha-'Aräs. “E lecito sostenere che, dal punto di vista rabbinico, i battisti non hanno

alcuna rilevanza. Del resto, pare che tali differenze, nei confronti con gli ebrei e col giudaismo, fossere evidenti anche per il CMC e per il giovane Mani. In ogni caso, il CMC ci fornisce un'informazione interessante: questi battezzatori non si stabilirono nelle colonie degli ebrei babilonesi, bensì a Mesene. Questo fu dovuto a necessità, dato che nella zona centrale della Babilonia non

riuscirono ad affermarsi. Mani, assieme ai suoi primi adepti, scelse la via del nord, dove prese contatto anche con gli insediamenti giudaici. Mi sembra opportuno dover notare anche la considerevole importanza delle rappresentazioni dualistiche nell'ambiente, che sottostà al CMC. Essa attesta la tendenza del tempo a diffondersi tramite gruppi attivi. Detta tendenza non è necessariamente manichea. E' condivisa anche dal giudaismo rabbinico, ma

JOHANN MAIER

65

su una base più vasta, e poi ad un livello teologico-filosofico. Nelle prime

testimonianze cabbalistiche traspare una certa somiglianza con le tendenze

tardo-manichee. Ma la Kabbalah non può essere derivata dai Catari e degli Albigesi. E' un fenomeno specificatamente giudaico, di ogni tempo, e

caratteristico di uno spirito che pensa in categorie dualistiche.

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Mani’s Apology (CMC 91,19-97,21) SOREN GIVERSEN, Kopenhagen

Mani's apology could be a common title of the whole text in the Cologne Mani Codex (= CMC) 91,19-97,21. This text, however, does not stand alone but should be understood in its context. It is the purpose of this paper to try to point out that the Cologne Mani Codex, although it is a historical text, could

also be used for apologetical purposes. A very long extract, nearly 30 pages, is preserved in CMC 45,1-72,7. Presumably it derives from Baraies the teacher. The importance of the written tradition is mentioned in several cases in this extract. Already at the beginning of the extract it is suggested that the members of the Manichaean community

should achieve a more profound knowledge of what is written. It is said thus: "Know, then brothers, and understand all these things written herein: concerning

the way in which this apostleship in this generation was sent, just as we have been

taught from him; and also concerning his

body ....... concerning this apostleship of the Spirit, the Paraclete ...' (CMC 45,1-46,3).

If one has read it and become convinced, nobody among the antagonists will be able to say concerning the work of the authors of the book that 'These

alone have written about the rapture of their teacher in order to boast’ (CMC 46,4-7). In the following text it is pointed out that each one of the spiritual

forefathers wrote down a description of the visionary experiences they had had (CMC 47,1-11). They did so, it is said, in order that their accounts should be remembered (CMC 48,12). In what follows the text gives extracts

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CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

of the apocalyptic visionary texts which carry the names of six biblical

persons, namely of Adam (CMC 48,16-50,7), Sethel (CMC 50,8-52,7), Enosh (CMC 52,8-55,9), Shem (CMC 55,10-57,21), Enoch (CMC 58,660,12) and of Paul (CMC 60,18-62,19). Among these texts only Paul's

accounts of his rapture (2 Corinthians 12,2-5 and Galatians 1,11-12) were known before the appearance of the Cologne Mani Codex. The other five texts which include the descriptions of Adam's, Sethel's, Enosh's, Shem's and Enoch's raptures and visions are all slightly damaged in

the manuscript, except the one which is brought under Enoch's name. This text is preserved in full, and it has therefore been used as a starting point for the following observations. Enoch's account mentions as a kind of motivation or mental background

for Enoch's rapture that his distress was great, because of the reproach which he had heard come from the mouth of the impious people. The rapture and vision of which Enoch then gives a description, are to be found inscribed in his writings as it is said here in the text: "He beheld everything and carefully

questioned the angels, and whatever they said to him, he would inscribe in

his writings." (CMC 60,8-12). Such writings could be used by the Manichaeans in their fight against

reproaches and attacks which, as Enoch said, "came from the mouth of the impious" (CMC 58,13-16). And one thing is clearly common to all six extracts which are preserved in this section of the Cologne Mani Codex: the accounts from Enoch and the other five biblical figures could be of use against atheism and false doctrines. They are all weapons which could be useful to the believers in the battle they had to fight, and together with Mani's

account about his own visionary experiences and rapture they form a corpus consisting of seven descriptions in all of that kind.

This is, naturally, first of all the case for all that appears in extracts from Mani's own descriptions. The editor or the redactor admits at first that the special knowledge which Mani himself had acquired was not found in any other writing (CMC 64,1-4). With regard to this Mani has a background different from that of his believers, but at the same time Mani is here in line

SOREN GIVERSEN

69

with the six prophets Adam, Sethel, Enosh, Shem, Enoch and Paul. Mani has this in common with them that his knowledge like their knowledge comes from God (CMC 64,15-65,22). When Baraies or the editor of the 'Origin of his Body' finally (CMC 70,23-72,7) makes a summing up of what the intention is with the writing, its apologetical or - if one prefers that - polemical

purpose is clearly expressed as "... for the sake of the considerations

of those who have put on unbelief and who think they know something about this revelation and vision of our father ...' (CMC 71,11-17).

The Cologne Manichaean Codex is to be understood as created in such a apologetical or polemical situation. Mani's whole life was from his first public appearance until his death full of continuous fights, confrontation, discussions and disputes. It is clear that the apologetical-polemical trend also became prevalent in the extraordinary great missionary activity which Mani

and his believers soon started and carried out to the West as far as the Atlantic coast and to the East as far as the China Sea. This was also the case when the ‘ Manichaean Church had to fight against the Early Christian Church as can be

seen from quotations in the writings of Augustine (E.g. in Contra Faustum,

Contra Felicem, Contra Epistulam Fundamenti, Contra Fortunatum, Contra Adimantum, De Natura Boni, Contra Epistulam Secundini, etc.). But much

that is preserved in the genuine Manichaean literature, known to-day, is also to be understood as influenced by the fact that this literature also had an

apologetical or polemical purpose in mind when it was composed.

In the Homilies it is openly said that a hard battle is to come. This is found in The Homily of the Big War (Hom. 7,9ff.). From Mani's apologetical speech to the king a long extract is found in another of the Homilies (Hom.

. 47,6ff.). We have also in one of the Homilies parts of Sisinnios' apologetical

speech to king Bahram II, in which these brave words are quoted: 'I have someone who is more worthy than you!' (Hom. 82,21). His successor,

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Innaios, in his apology even dares in the presence of the king to say: '... these evil men have raised the accusations...’ (Hom. 84,12).

Sisinnios as well as Innaios, who became Mani's first and second successor, are both mentioned in other texts in the Manichaean Coptic papyri in the Chester Beatty Library. They are also mentioned as good herdsmen and defenders of the believers in their flock. Sisinnios' activity is thus described

in the Dublin Kephalaia on p. 212,10 (published by me in The Manichaean Coptic Papyri in the Chester Beatty Library, Volume I, Kephalaia, p. 212,10, Geneva 1986). Since it was here int Cosenza/Rende four years ago at the first International

Symposium on the Cologne Mani Codex that I for the first time mentioned the existence of a leaf (two pages) containing the same historial information as that mentioned by Carl Schmidt in Ein Mani Fund (1933) p. 27-28 I think that

it must be suitable now also to mention here that the leaf with i.a. a description of an apologetical act in fact just as I thought must be physically identical with the piece mentioned by Carl Schmidt; colleagues at the Agyptisches Museum in Berlin East (GDR) have during my visit there on April 26, 1988, informed me that the sheet with information mentioned by Carl Schmidt is not among the leaves from this particular codex which are found in the museum; there is therefore nothing against my supposition of the physical identity. This is, however not the place to discuss how the sheet came to Dublin. But in this Dublin text it is related in detail how Innaios, the

leader of the Manichaean Church, succeeded when he defended his church in a speech to the king. The king had arrived together with many Persian noblemen who were his assistants; they had come to the neighbourhood of

the place where Innaios stayed; this was told to Innaios, who was asked to go to the king; Innaios did so, and he defended his church so convincingly that the persecutions were brought to an end, and it is then said: "He achieved mercy upon us and destruction was stopped." (Manichaean Coptic Papyri from the Chester Beatty Library, Vol. II, Homilies & Varia, p. 100,11ff., Genéve 1986).

SOREN GIVERSEN

71

But the apologetical works were not only carried out with the aim to

explain and defend the Manichaean religion; they also became directly

polemical against opponents or antagonists. The Manichaean tradition has proceeded in such a way that the apologists in referring to the antagonists

assert that it is their opponents, who have left the true doctrine or righteous way of life. In not a few cases the apologists refer to founders or former leaders of the opponents’ own community, but they always refer to such persons who have passed away, but are still regarded as authorities by those who are fighting against the Manichaean community; they are now mentioned either with certain acknowledgement or at least without being attacked; what

they have said, done or experienced many years ago is used in an apologetical

polemical attack on the contemporary opponents of the Manichaeans. This can be seen already in the Homilies. It is mentioned there with

acknowledgement that Zoroaster expelled the error of the different false religions from Babylon just as Jesus later on expelled the error out of

Jerusalem, and this is used as a starting-point for the harsh words about what is going to happen in the great war (Hom. 11,21ff.). The author of another of the Homilies speaks about the sufferings of the believers and says that their sufferings are so hard and consequently carried out that even after their death they are treated with such bitterness that they do not even get a grave; but, the author continues, nobody acted formerly with such cruelty; Zoroaster himself got a tomb, or as it is said: "Look, Zoroaster was, as it is written, buried in

the tomb of the Kings ..." (Hom. 70,14-15, Stuttgart 1934).

A similar reference to what Zoroaster said, wrote or experienced in his

lifetime is found in some cases in an apologetical-polemical context in the Dublin Kephalaia.

Here I wish only to. mention some of them. The author of the text is as part of his argument able to refer to something, "Which is written in the Law of | Zoroaster" ETCHY ATINOMOC NZAPAAHC (The Manichaean Coptic Papyri in the Chester Beatty Library Vol. I, Kephalaia 278,3, Genéve 1984. Or he can simply refer to "The Law of Zoroaster, for it says ..." TINOMOC NZAPAHC XE TIETAXOOC (O.c. p. 278,7).

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He is also able to quote directly from Zoroaster when he wishes to refer to the fact that it is Zoroaster himself who says something. He then says explicitely: "Zoroaster proclaimed

in the Law: AZAPAAHC

TEOYAY

2MTINOMOC (Op.c. 278,11). Thus the Manichaean author uses the personal fate or words of Zoroaster against the Zoroastrian magicians who opposed the Manichaeans. This is precisely the same way in which the argumentation is carried out in the apologetical-polemical section of CMC, especially in CMC 91,1-99,21. Although it is clear that the texts and their context are partly influenced by certain situations in The New Testament (e.g. Jesus before the High Council, Pilate,- Herodes, cfr. Luke chap. 22,23,24,25 and 26; the

Stephanus-episode Acts chap. 22-26).

The editors of CMC have already with painstaking admirable care mentioned most of these parallels in the New Testament, just as they have also drawn attention to possible influence from the Diatessaron. What I am concerned with is the procedure, mentioned above, which the Manichaean argumentation is using in the Dublin Kephalaia and the Homilies: that their apologetical argumentation is based upon that assertion that the antagonists in resality are those who have gone away from the true doctrine or correct way

of life. Mani's apology in 91,9-99,21 is handed over to us by three witnesses according to the CMC; Baraies, Za[cheas] and Timothy. The three accounts are apparently joined together without any proper mediating additions, the three texts each immediately introducing a saying by Mani himself. Further in the texts, however, some traces of an editorial revision can perhaps be found, e.g. when Zacheas' account has a "Mani reports ...", "Mani said ..." or "Mani says ..." together with an additional "again" which can often be taken as a result of an editorial work.

Baraies has also an outline story which introduces the account of Mani's apology. Baraies reports that Mani himself had had many discourses with each of the members of the community and that he had questioned them about the rules of conduct of the type of ritual they observed. Baraies' reports also about Mani's preaching before the accusation was raised against him.

SOREN GIVERSEN

73

That Mani had spoken with each of the members of the community probably indicates that he has spoken privately and not preached in public. He had for a while considered doing this, as appears from the text (77,4-12) but in a vision he was warned not to do so (77,13ff.). From this vision Mani draws his conclusion. It is told thus: "Then, when I saw these things, I

revealed nothing to him (Sita). But later, when I was preaching the Word of Truth, I saw him opposing my teaching" (79,5-12). But Mani's thoughts and critical ideas when he was debating with each one of the members of the

community are rendered in detail. Mani has, it appears, concentrated mainly on his critic and on the way in which they practised baptism. Mani speaks here partly about 1) their baptizing i.e. their ritual washing of their food and partly about

2) their own, daily baptism. Concerning 1) Mani here referred

to their own empirical experience which everyone could observe in his own body, and which clearly showed that it had no importance at all, whether the food was ritually cleansed or not. Or, as it is said in CMC: ".. so that what has been baptized, which

[it rejected] and sloughed off, is not at all

distinguishable from that [other] which is not baptized" (82,19-23); it is only

possible to observe any difference in the case when someone abstains totally from food, for in that case no offal will come (82,13-23).

This shows, it is said, that it is the body itself which is unclean.

Concerning point 2) Mani assert that "the fact that you baptize in water each day is of no avail" (82,23-83,3); when they have been baptized and

purified once and for all, whydo they baptize themselves again each day?

their daily baptism is of no avail and superfluos; the pollution does not come from outside, but from the body (83,14-19); the genuine purity comes

through true knowledge (Matt. 3,11ff.; Ephesians 5,25ff., Gospel of Thomas log. 89), and through the keeping of the commandments of the Saviour, but, Mani assert, they departed from such a purification (85,4-5).

Mani has, as I said, probably uttered these hard assertions privately to each of the members of the community, and his radical ideas are probably the reason why the accusations against Mani were raised. In itself the account of

the confusing situation in the community just before the final, public debate

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includes several different points of view on the relationship between Mani and the members of this community. These points of view concerning Mani are really worth a more detailed study in another context with regard to their motives, but they will not be treated here.

The proper dramatic action which is of importance here for the apology is

played in 3 acts. Act 1 depicts how Sita and his friends raise the accusations against Mani towards his father Pattikios. The accusation has here only two points 1) that Mani does not observe their rules of conduct concerning abstinence from wheat bread, fruit and vegetables, and 2) that he is changing their practice of baptism.

Pattikios' role in this drama is probably this that he as master of the house and presumably thus responsible for the young Mani could have rejected the case or, that the case could only be raised with his, Pattikios' permission. This last is what happens in Act 2 of the drama. The accusations are here raised directly against Mani who is summoned to the council, directed by Sita. The accusation is preceded by praise of Mani's former life-style. The purpose of this praise seems to be a verification of Mani's own words about his former life (25,1ff.) and of Baraies' description of him (73,5-74,6), but

the purpose of this praise is presumably also to be a kind of captatio benevolentiae of the one who once was responsible for Mani, his father Pattikios, whom they held in greatest esteem (91,2-4). The accusations are

here somewhat changed. From the rule of conduct only the demand for abstinence from wheat bread and fruit is mentioned, not the demand for abstinence from vegetables. But to these two demands Mani's antagonists have added complaints about the lack of cultivating the ground, and finally they also complain that Mani annihilates old traditions concerning baptism and that he intends to destroy the commandements of the Saviour (91,4-18).

Mani, naturally, rejects the accusations referring to the example of Jesus, to what Jesus said and did in his life, and also to the example of the apostles, and this procedure in the rejection of the accusations is also used in the following. Here the other witness Zacheas mentions some examples from the life of Elchasai: how Elchasai when he has had two visions gives up his ritual

SOREN GIVERSEN

75

baptism, and how Elchasai's ploughs speak to him and cause him to give up cultivating the ground, and how the speaking bread let him stop his disciples' baking (94,1-97,7). Finally two other stories about

a few well known

baptists are told. The intention in telling these stories is to show also that Mani's standpoint concerning eating or not-eating vegetables and fruit is correct. Finally it is said in the tradition from Timothy that Mani directly

invoked these estimated people's example and doctrine. In other words: it was the accusers themselves who behaved in a wrong way.

|

CMC is not an Apology, but in that writing several parts are playing an important role for the whole situation, a crisis in which the Manichaean church steadily had to face: a battle for life, and in such a battle which the

Manichaeans always had to fight a writing like this could be useful. Thus the Cologne Mani text could also be added to the apologetical-polemical tradition.

The writing was, as said before, composed: "for the sake of consideration of those who have put unbelief and who think they know something false about this revelation and vision of our father" (Mani) (CMC 71,11-17). Although

the writing is historical in its whole structure, its primary goal thus includes it in that tradition, which could be used for apologetical-polemical purpose. This apologetical tradition has in Christianity, Jewish as well as pagan roots. They can be traced back, partly to the fight of the Old Testament

Prophets against polyteism, partly to the criticism which Greek philosophers raised against popular religion. This tradition has in Christianity been developed, now in discussions with Jewish antagonists, then in the fight

against pagan, popular religion, then in the struggle with popular superstition. This apologetical tradition is represented now ony in writings which bear the

title "apology" just as e.g. Tertullians Apologia pro christianitate, etc. but also of writings which had another purpose, but turned out to be suitable for the fight. This tradition is found in the New Testament e.g. in parts of the Acts of the Apostles or in the Epistle to the Hebrews.It is represented also in the Letter of Barnabas, The Kerygma Petri, Quadratus' fragment, the writings of

Aristides, Athenagoras, Justin,

Tatian, Melito, Irenzus or Tertullian and

other. It is continued in some of the writings of Clement of Alexandria, and in

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some of the writings of Origenes, e.g. Contra Celsum or probably in the same century in the Letter to Diogenetus.

For the Manichaean church it was a question of life or death to be able to take up the fight against the many, different antagonists: the Catholic church, the local popular religion, pagan philosophy - or political authorities and other possible opponents. In a Middle Persian Text it is said that Manichaean missionaries came to the Roman empire and "saw many disputes with the other religions" and it is

related later on that Mani sent "three scribes, the Gospel and other writings to Adda", about whonà we then are told, that "he composed writings and made wisdom his weapon and resisted the dogmas with these writings" (M2 Middle Persian MM II, 301-306). This is only one of the many examples of the apologetic-polemic use of Manichaean writings. The Cologne Manichaean Codex could also be used in that way.

NB: 1. The quotations from CMC are for the sake of convenience rendered from the translation in R. Cameron and A.J. Dewey, The Cologne Mani Codex, Missoula 1979; in the case of CMC 82,19-23 I have, however,

prefered my own translation. The quotation fromm M2 is taken from J.P. Asmussen, Manichaean Literature, New York 1975. - 2: In my article in Codex Manichaichus Coloniensis, Atti del Simposio Internazionale 1984, Cosenza 1986 I have found two mistakes, a transposition and an omission,

compared with my manuscript: p. 376 section 5 (‘But I have' etc.) should be placed on p. 378 immediately after section 5 's last word ‘here’, and one line has been omitted; in stead of 'From notes and decipherment from 1931' please read: From notes and translations by Sir H. Thompson and H.-J. Polotsky's notes and decipherment from 1931',

Manis Reise durch die Luft CORNELIA

RÖMER,

Köln

Der Kölner Mani-Kodex hat unsere Kenntnisse über die frühe missionarische Tätigkeit des Religionsstifters erheblich erweitert.! Trotz des teilweise lückenhaften Erhaltungszustandes des Kodex können wir recht genau die Stationen verfolgen, die Mani nach seiner Trennung von den Täufern im April

240 n.Chr.? bis zu seiner Audienz bei Shapur I, wohl im Frühjahr 2423, bereiste. Diese friihe Missionsreise nimmt die Seiten 116-163 des Kodex ein.4

1 Zu manichäischen Quellen Uber Manis frühe Missionsreisen neben dem Kölner Kodex ‚vgl. W.Sundermann, Zur frühem missionarischen Wirksamkeit Manis, Acta Orientalia Hungarica XXIV 1971,79-125 und 371-379; ders., Iranische Lebensbeschreibungen Manis, Acta Orientalia Hauniensia XXXVI 1974,125-149; die Texte gesammelt in: W.Sundermann, Mitteliranische manichäische Texte kirchengeschichtlichen Inhalts = Berliner Turfantexte XI, Berlin 1981. 2 Die Trennung von den Täuferr steht in direktem Zusammenhang mit Manis 2.Offenbarung, die dieser mit seinem 24. Geburtstag am 18/19.4.240 synchronisierte (Kodex p.72,15-73,8; dazu Vorbericht, ZPE 5,1970,118-132 und ZPE 44,1981,272 Nr.381; L.Koenen, in: Das rémisch-byzantinische Agypten, Akten des internationalen Symposiums in Trier = Aegyptiaca Treverensia 2, herausgegeben von G.Grimm, H.Heinen und E. Winter, Mainz 1983,100 mit Anm.45; s.auch Fihrist, ed. B.Dodge II 774-775). Bei Hochwasser des Tigris, das seinen Höhepunkt Anfang Mai erreicht, ist Mani bereits in Ktesiphon (Kodex p.109,18-20; dazu ZPE 44,1981,272 Nr.381).

3 S.Vorbericht ZPE 5,1970,132. 4Als Anfangspunkt der Missionsreise nehme ich die Vorgeschichte zu der ersten geschilderten Bekehrung. Mani tritt nach der Auseinandersetzung mit seinem Vater aus der

txxAncia tov &yiwov im Dorf Nasér bei Ktesiphon (p.116,13). Ob der Endpunkt der Schilderung der frühen Missionsreise erst auf p.163 mit der Audienz bei König Schapur I anzusetzen ist, oder schon auf der p.151, nach der eine Seite leergelassen wurde und eventuell ein neues Buch beginnt (vgl. den Tafelband, herausgegeben von L.Koenen und C.Römer, Bonn 1985, S.XIV Anm.12), in dem dann von der Audienz berichtet wird, muß

offenbleiben.

78

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Nach der zweiten Station dieser Reise gerät Mani in der Wüste in einen Sandsturm, aus dem ihn der Syzygos errettet (p.125,1-126,1). Er bringt Mani durch die Luft in zwei Linder, die als abgelegen charakterisiert und nicht benannt sind. In dem ersten Land bekehrt Mani einen am ganzen Leib

behaarten Mann, der dann dort zum Verkiinder seiner Lehre wird (p.126,2129,17). In dem zweiten Land nimmt ein König die manichäische Lehre an und sorgt für deren Verbreitung in seinem Hoheitsgebiet (p.130,1-135,6). Der ersten dieser beiden Stationen von Manis Reise durch die Luft soll dieser Artikel gelten. Ich werde versuchen

zu zeigen, welche

Gründe

den

Kompilator des Kodex dazu bewogen haben könnten, diese Geschichte in den Ablauf von Manis Missionsreise einzubauen.

Dazu sollen jedoch

zunächst die übrigen Stationen dieser Reise, wie sie im Kodex geschildert sind, charakterisiert werden.

Wir treffen Mani zuerst in der Nähe von Ktesiphon, wo er eine Frau und seinen leiblichen Vater Pattikios bekehrt (p.116,13-120,16). Pattikios wird

Mani auch auf den folgenden Reisen begleiten. Die beiden ziehen dann wohl zunächst nach Medien. An dieser Stelle fehlt höchstwahrscheinlich eine Lage im Kodex;> die nächste Episode spielt bereits in Ganzak, einer Stadt im

heutigen Aserbaidschan. Hierhin war Mani "aus dem Land der Meder" (p.121,6-7) gelangt, um seine Brüder zu besuchen. Er heilt die Tochter eines wohlhabenden Mannes, erbittet aber als Belohnung für sich nur die Speisung seiner Brüder (p.121,11-123,13). Dies entspricht den neuen Ergänzungen im

Text.

In einem kurzen Einschub fordert der Syzygos Mani dann auf, Apostel in alle Welt zu entsenden (p.123,15-124,15). Es folgt die Reise durch die Luft (p.126,2-135,6). Zu Pattikios zurückgekehrt - dieser war nicht

wie Mani in die entfernten Länder entrückt worden - zichen beide weiter nach Mesene. Hier besiegt Mani in einem Streitgespräch das Oberhaupt einer Sekte, wohl von iranischen Magiern, den Magusaiern (p.136,17-139,18).

5 Vgl. im Tafelband (s.Anm.4) Einleitung S. XI. 6 Vgl. R.Merkelbach, ZPE 65,1986,58 und ZPE 71,1988,83.

CORNELIA ROMER

79

Diese Ergänzung ist nach wie vor unsicher.” Magische Beschwörungen gegen Pattikios werden vom Syzygos abgeschwächt oder unwirksam gemacht. In der Stadt Pharat besuchen Mani und Pattikios dann eine Täufersekte (p.140,4-143,15). Die Täufer werden durch die Art, wie Mani

betet und fastet, in Erstaunen versetzt. Von Pharat aus tritt Mani seine Reise nach Indien an (p.143,16ff.).

Wie im Kodex gewohnt, laufen die Episoden unter dem Namen von verschiedenen

Gewährsmännern.

Faßbar

werden

jedoch

in diesem

bruchstückhaften Teil nur wenige Namen oder Titel.8 Manis Entrückung zu den beiden abgelegenen Orten steht unter den verlorenen Namen eines

Magisters und eines Bischofs. Es ist schwierig, die Historizität der geschilderten Ereignissse zu beurteilen.

Auch hier gilt, was Werner Sundermann im dritten Teil seiner Studien zur kirchengeschichtlichen Literatur der iranischen Manichäer schreibt:" Die Einandergegenüberstellung von Hagiographie und historischer Tradition wäre eine Scheinalternative. Daß die Hagiographie sich historischer Nachrichten

bemächtigt und sie umgestaltet, ohne sie gänzlich aufzulösen, dürfte in der

. Regel zutreffen.".? Sundermann hat weiterhin bei den iranischen Fragmenten kirchengeschichtlichen Inhalts festgestellt, daß für die iranischen Manichäer

7 p.137,7-8; es könnte sich auch um eine Versammlung von Juden handeln, bei denen

Mani hier spricht. Doch läßt die besondere Rolle, die die Magusaier für das Schicksal Manis hatten, am ehesten an sie denken. In der verlorenen koptischen Schrift historischen Inhalts wurde Mani von den Mayovcaîor vor dem König Bahram I mit den Worten angeklagt: "Mani hat gegen unser Gesetz (vönoc) gelehrt" (C.Schmidt und H.Polotsky, SPAW 1933,28). In den Homilien des Kustaios waren die Magier die Inkorporation der nA&vn, des

Irrtums, gegen die Mani gesandt war (Hom. 11,23ff.; 25,30ff.). In soghdischen Fragmenten aus Leningrad geht es ebenfalls um Außeinandersetzungen Manis mit einem Magier (N.Sims-Williams, BSOAS 44,1981,238-239). 8 Die erste geschilderte Bekehrung der Frau und des Pattikios steht unter dem Namen des Timotheos (p.116,13), der wahrscheinlich auch der Gewährsmann für den Abschnitt ist, in

dem der Syzygos Mani auffordert, Apostel in die Welt zu senden (p.123,14); der Gewährsmann der Heilungsgeschichte in Gandschak (p.120) ist ebenso verloren, wie der der Auseinandersetzung mit den Magusaiern(?) (p.136); für die Schilderung des Besuches bei den Täufern in Pharat zeichnen N.N., der Magister und Ana, der Bruder des Zacheas, des Jüngers (p.140,8-10).

9 Altorientalische Forschungen 14,1987,55

80

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

die hagiographische Stilisierung von historischen Fakten eine weit größere Rolle spielt als die Erfindung von Berichten nach dem Muster anderer, hagiographisch stilisierter Uberlieferung.!° Der gleiche Befund ergibt sich für die Schilderung von Manis früher missionarischer Tätigkeit im Kölner

Kodex.

Unter historiographischer Stilisierung möchte ich hier wie Sundermann verstehen, wenn in den Geschichten sich Bekehrungen ohne Schwierigkeiten vollziehen, der Syzygos helfend eingreift oder Kranke im Handumdrehen

geheilt werden.!! Historische Fakten können wir wohl immer da vermuten, wo es präzise Angaben z.B.von Namen bedeutender oder unbedeutender Orte, oder von

Nebenpersonen gibt.!2 Das trifft für die Überzahl der im Kodex geschilderten Episoden zu. So bekehrt Mani die Frau im Dorf Nasér bei Ktesiphon in Babylonien (p.111,14-15; 117,6-7); das kranke Mädchen wird in Ganzak (p.121,8) in der Provinz Atropatene zwischen Armenien und Medien geheilt. Hier überrascht zudem die Angabe über Zinnvorkommen in der Nähe von Ganzak (p.121,9-11). Das Streitgespräch mit den Magusaiern findet in einem

Dorf der Mesene nicht weit von Pharat statt; der

Name ist teilweise

weggebrochen, begann aber mit S (p.137,4-5); die Täufer besucht Mani in Pharat selbst (p.140,13; vgl. 140,4-5), von wo aus er dann mit dem Schiff

eines gewissen Oggias (p.144,4-5) nach Indien aufbricht; die Seereise nach Indien wird in Persien unterbrochen (p.146,8-9).

Die hier genannten Länder entsprechen schon Manis Aufzählung seiner

wichtigsten Missionsgebiete im 76. Kapitel der Kephalaia. Dort werden

Indien, Persien, Mesene, Babylon, Medien und Parthien genannt.!3 In der

10 Sundermann a.a.O. 41-42

11 Sundermann a.a.O. Nr.143-156 S.42-55 12 Sundermann a.a.O. Nr.157-172 S.55-79 13 Keph. $.184,27; 185,15; 17; 22; 186,7 und 25; 187,17; 20; 22. Es ist auffällig, daß

die Stationen von Manis Reise hier im Vergleich mit dem Kodex in genau umgekehrter Reihenfolge erscheinen.

CORNELIA ROMER

81

fehlenden Lage des Kodex könnte Mani sich demnach noch in einem Ort in Parthien aufgehalten haben. Präzise Angaben über Personen und Orte fehlen bei den beiden Stationen von

Manis Luftreise völlig.14 Diese Geschichten sind daher als Erfindung nach dem Muster anderer hagiographisch stilisierter Überlieferung anzusehen.

Wir dürfen uns wohl vorstellen, daß dem Kompilator des Kölner Kodex eine Fülle von Material der verschiedenen Gewährsmänner auch zu Manis früher

missionarischer Tätigkeit zur Verfügung stand.13

i

Es scheint, daß der Kompilator die Wahl der Exzerpte nach zwei Kriterien getroffen hat. 1.Die gewählten Stationen lassen den Reiseweg Manis deutlich werden. 2.Die gewählten Bekehrungsgeschichten an diesen Stationen lassen Bausteine

zu Manis Kirche deutlich werden . So gilt bezeichnenderweise die erste Bekehrung einer Frau; somit war die Teilnahme von Frauen an Manis Religion überall legitimiert. Dieses war für den aus der frauenlosen Täufersekte stammenden Mani nicht selbstverständlich. Die zweite Geschichte zeigt, wie Mani zum ersten Mal das ‘ Zusammenwirken von Elekti und Auditores eingerichtet hat, indem er als

Belohnung für die Heilung des Mädchens in Gandschak die Gewährleistung

der Speise für seine Brüder erbat und ausdrücklich den Besitz von Gold und Silber ablehnt. Das Streitgespräch mit den Magusaiern (?) manifestiert die

Überlegenheit der manichäischen Lehre auch gegenüber Zauberpraktiken, die

14 Den Beginn der ersten Geschichte (p.126,4ff.) s. u. S. 82; die zweite Geschichte beginnnt (p. 130,1ff.): Bf 10] éxol[pevOny elic térov vullvò XeAn0]ota rai anecyoul4[vicpé]vov ov nodeav | (txetv]ov. dSpotwc SÈ | [kaiEv aldräı rAndoc av(Opor)wv | [Etbyya]vev kai ndAerc 18 [roAAai]. Für den Text s.u. Anm.16. 15 Zur Arbeitsweise des Kompilators vgl. A.Henrichs, Literary Criticism of the Cologne Mani Codex, in: The Rediscovery of Gnosticism, Proceedings of the International Conference on Gnosticism at Yale II, ed. B.Layton, Leiden 1981,724-733; zu den pp.116192 des Codex bes.730; Henrichs stellte für die Schilderung der Missionsreise Manis besonders das Interesse an den Wunder in den Vordergrund.

82

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

dann in den Geboten der Manichäer abgelehnt wurden.!6 Bei den Täufern

führt Mani das richtige Verhalten bei Fasten und Gebet vor. Daß in diesen Geschichten aitiologische Erklärungen von kirchlichen

Institutionen stecken, haben bereits A.Henrichs und L. Koenen im Vorwort des hier interessierenden Textteiles angemerkt.!7

Der Kompilator hat also sehr überlegt die Exzerpte ausgewählt und aneinandergereiht. Was kann ihn nun dazu veranlaßt haben, inmitten der Episoden, die an einem historisch nachvollziehbaren Reiseweg angesiedelt sind, zwei Geschichten einzuflechten, die ohne jede namentliche Ortsangabe als Produkte reiner Erfindung erscheinen? Wie schon im ersten Teil des

Kodex, in Manis Kindheitsgeschichte, die Wunder eine bestimmte Funktion im Ablauf der Handlung hatten, so ist auch hier nicht damit zu rechnen, daß

der Kompilator aus reiner Freude am Fabuliertem die beiden Episoden eingeflochten hat. Der Text von Manis erster Station der Luftreise lautet:18

[N.N. è 81]5dcKadoc | [rai N.N. 6] éxicxonoc 14 [töte toi]vvv petempicac | [pe Jc 6 nakapıwralltöc te] Koi poter voc | [&nexd]prcev eic Anople[pnrtov]c térove ot Aean|[Bacw] tobcde

tovc töllnovc t]@v d&v(Opar)wv xad* otc | [Sidyoplev.

drédertev | 12

[dé por navjra tà éxeice. | [EBeackpn]v Sè Ev adl[toic öpn dre]ppeyéon | [Koi Jove veilis[tovac ] v1 [--- (sex lineae quarum ultima vestigia minima praebet sunt perditae) ---l!272va kai dvdpore [toic] | Ev tabtarc taic [ydpaic]. 4 drfiprov SÈ kai [... ke-]l tasd adrav Kali tov] | d8dtov HSvt[atov kai] | yAvKep@v. àv[m-

16 Vgl. im Fihrist des Ibn An-Nadim, engl. Übersetzung von B.Dodge II, New-York -

London 1970, 789; Fltigel, Mani, 95f. und 301f., Nr. 227 und 228. Siehe auch hier S. 79 mit Anm.7.

17 ZPE 48,1982,5-6

18 Der hier wiedergegebene Text entspricht der Ausgabe: Der Kölner Mani-Kodex, Uber

das Werden seines Leibes, Kritische Edition aufgrund der von A.Henrichs und L.Koenen besorgten Ersten Edition, herausgegeben und übersetzt von L.Koenen und C.Römer = Papyrologica Coloniensia XIV, Opladen 1988,90-93,

CORNELIA ROMER

83

veykev] I° dé pe eic Spoc tò [bynAd]Itatov, eq’ ob elS[ov &v(Bpan)ov] | od ai tpixec tod [c@ua]itoc anyvaiaı Kai [dacei]li2nı drfipyov xou[lndeillcaı xatà rAox[dpove nAo]Ik&novc Kal, lonnvixa 8[é VRE fi ] 115 Eva tOv Lia’ fea ira [..........]Msex lineae perditae sunt, in quibus homo pilosus Manichaeum alloqui COD haa a eto Vee al | J ev optdAncov![5é poi tà tic yvoceoc- I [tobtov] yap

xapıy Evradl[da dvîijiBec."

ey Sè al[pidncla adi.

Ev 161 |

[Jot @c Kai dvateil[Aar tiv clopiav Ev adıa. I[exnpv]éa Sè adıraı nv | [avanalucıv rai tàc évtol[Ade Kali tiv eic todc pol!2[ctipale mpockbvncvw. | [naAıv S]è einov adr: I ["h tpizaci|c tod cHpatdc | [cov h napNAAlaypévyn ral!is[pà navtac d&]v(Opan)ove nöc yel[yévntar; Me] fete tov l---." (sex lineae perditae sunt in quibus homo pilosus respondere coeJ | pov dévdp[ sd I Kai è tv aplictov xaplin®v petérAaPolv, cai E]IE éxeivov tod yp[6vov] | adın Opis yelyévntor] | éxi tod cdpat[dc pov."] I &uod Sì Err éct@[toc np]inayn an’ Eunpo[chev pov] | Kai cic éxeivov [tov td]lrov, EvOa etd[ov 112 todc av(dpwn)ovc, eilceno]lpevßnx[ai tic | €Anidoc] | xfipvé Yéylovev Ev é]lkeivo 10/1 toner Kai] 115 E5e[1Gev toîc av(Opan)oic thv] | cogliav ---.

pit)

ma]...

LI

w

126,5 possis [pe obro]c : [d cotvro]c edd. pr. 5-75 naxapıwtallröc te] --[Grex6]picev : 6 poxapidtal[tdc pov] Kai porervòci [uè Exd]prcev edd. pr. contra verborum ordinem quo interpres noster usus est 14 suppl. sec. 54,1s. 14-17 possis Kai adobe m]nove yeil[tovac tHv HSvutatjov | [kai yAvKepdv bödrav (coll. 127,5-7) 15 xn]rove : té]rove R. Merkelbach

127,1-2 Ee]iva? 2 [toîc] : [&AAouc] ed. pr. 4 [&v(Opwn)ore.g. ed. pr. coll. 129,11s. : [röAeıc B.B. Rosenstock coll. 130,4 14 e.g. xa[Berpévove. 128,9 [éxnpv]Ea (R. Merkelbach, ZPE 71, 1988,53; cf. p. 134,135.) vel [bméSerJEa (edd.

- pr. coll. p. 132,55.) 13 lineam in ecthesi scriptam esse suspicamur 17-19 xai] eic tov I [törov todtov Suù ri avnAldec - 129,1 possis Kat rote Ev ti «Nr pov devöplov avéBnv] vel wai Ev t. x.] p. SevSp[a Epbrevca] 17copliav Kai tüc évtodde ed. pr.

84

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

[NN.,

der] Lehrer[und

NN.,

der] Bischof

[Da] also hob mich der allerseligste und strahlende (Syzygos) in die Luft und

brachte mich zu unsäglichen Orten, die man in den bewohnten Orten nicht kennt, in denen [wir leben]. Er zeigte [mir alles], was es dort gibt. [Ich sah] überhohe

[Berge und schöne Gärten (?)] in der Nachbarschaft

[höchst

lieblicher Flüsse und süßer Gewässer (?)] ... (4 Zeilen zerstört; p. 127:) ... welche [fremd] und denen ungleich sind, die es hier in diesen Ländern gibt.

Zwischen diesen und den höchst lieblichen und süßen Gewässern waren [Menschen (?)]. Er brachte mich auf den [höchsten] Berg; dort sah ich einen [Mann], der [auf seinem Körper] ellenlange und [dichte] Haare wachsen

hatte, die in vollen Locken [herabhingen (?)]. Als aber ... einen der ... (8 Zeilen sind verloren; an deren Ende sagt der haarige Mann zu Mani; p. 128)

"... Lehre [mich] die Botschaft der

Erkenntnis! Deshalb bist du ja hier hinaufgekommen." Ich aber belehrte ihn [mit meiner Rede (?)], so daß die Weisheit in ihm aufging.

Ich [verkün-

dete] ihm das Ausruhen, die Gebote und die Proskynese vor den Himmelsleuchten (d.i. Sonne und Mond). [Wiederum aber] sprach ich zu ihm: "Wie ist es zu der [Behaarung deines] Körpers [gekommen], durch die du verschieden bist von [allen] Menschen? [Wozu bist du] zu [diesem Ort hinaufgekommen?]" ... (Der Mann antwortet:) "... (p. 129) ... [In] meinen [Garten (?) bin ich einmal auf einen] Baum [gestiegen] und habe von den besten Früchten genommen. Seitdem habe ich diese Behaarung auf [meinem] Körper." Während ich noch da stand, wurde

er von mir entrückt, ging zu jenem Ort, wo ich ... die Menschen gesehen hatte. Er wurde [dort] zu einem Herold der [Hoffnung] und zeigte den Menschen die Weisheit auf ...

In dieser Geschichte überlagern sich viele Motive, deren genaue einzelne Untersuchung den Rahmen dieses Aufsatzes sprengen würde. Ich verweise daher auf die materialreiche Arbeit zum Motiv des "Hairy Anchorite"

CORNELIA ROMER

85

von Charles Allyn Williams.!9 Da ist der behaarte Mann zunichst der Typ des wilden Fruchtbarkeitsgottes, der in die Zivilisation zuriickkehrt und den

Menschen Segen bringt. Das Motiv erscheint schon im Gilgamesch-Epos2° und hat nahe Parallelen in dem indischen Nationalepos Mahabharata.2! Schließlich wird an Adam und Eva erinnert, die nach dem Sündenfall von Gott in Felle gekleidet wurden.22

In dem zweiten Teil seiner Untersuchungen? hat Williams gezeigt, daß viele dieser uralten Motive in den Geschichten über die ägyptischen Wüstenväter zusammenlaufen. Diese Geschichten entwickelten sich wohl gleichzeitig mit

dem Eremitentum und wurden später aufgezeichnet, z.B. in der Sammlung

der Apophthegmata patrum. Williams Zusammenfassung der wichtigsten Motive aus diesen ägyptischen Anachoretenlegenden lautet (leicht gekürzt): 24

19 Oriental Affinities of the Legend of the Hairy Anchorite, Part 1: Pre-Christian,

University of Illinois Studies in Language and Literature X 1925 Nr.2,1-56; Part 2: Christian, University of Illinois Studies XI 4,1926,55-139; Part 3: The German Legends of

the Hairy Anchorite, University of Illinois Studies XVII, 1935, 1-79

20 Tafel I der akkadischen Fassung, bes. Z.34-37 : "Aruru wusch sich die Hände, kniff sich Lehm ab, warf ihn draußen hin, Engidu, den gewaltigen, schuf sie, einen Helden, einen

Sprößling der Nachtstille, mit Kraft beschenkt von Ninurta, mit Haaren bepelzt am ganzen Leib" (deutsche Übersetzung von A.Schott - W. von Soden, Stuttgart 1963,21); dazu Williams, s.o. I 13ff.

21 In der Geschichte von dem Asketen Vibhandaka " whose body was covered with hair down to the tips of the nails" , Buch 3 (Bana Parva) Kap.110-113, englische Übersetzung von P.C.Roy, Band VI, Kalkutta 1889,342-351;

dazu Williams I 25ff.

22 Genesis 3,21 xai Eroincev xdptoc è Bedc tH Adap Kai tf yovatxi abrod yitavac Seppativove Kal évéducev adbtovc; dazu Williams I 36ff.

‘23 S. Fußnote 19. 24 Williams II 61f. Ich gebe diese Zusammenfassung hier der Einfachheit halber. Um die Motive aus den verschiedenen Geschichten einzeln aufzuführen, müßte jeweils zu weit

ausgeholt werden. Schon in der Antonius-Vita finden sich die Hauptmotive: Antonius zog

| sich für die letzten Jahre seines Lebens allein in die Wüste auf einen Berg zurück }ADev eic

Spoc bymAöv Alav (Kap. 49, PG 26,916A). Er war stets in Felle gekleidet (Kap.47 PG 26,912B). An einer Quelle in der Nähe seiner Höhle hatte er einen Garten angelegt, von dem er sich ernährte (Kap.50 PG 26,916). Wenn jemand ihn besuchen kam, wußte er bereits,

wer der Fremdling war, bevor sich dieser vorgestellt hatte und kannte auch den Grund seines

Kommens xai nepi tv Epxonevov de mpdc abröv nmoAAdKic mpoéAeye Tpd nuéepov, Kai thy aitiav, 5.’ fiv Npyovto(Kap. 62 PG 26,932B).

86

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

"Someone relates how a devoted ascetic, frequently after a suggestion received in a vision, started alone out into the desert, seeking the remotest Christian recluse, yet having no knowledge as to where he might be found.

With the guidance and ministration of an angel he finally arrived at a pleasant spot, maybe represented as the region, "where heaven joins the earth", even

as an Isle of the Blest, or as a mountain retreat, but more often as an oasis. He found there an anchorite of great age, noteworthy in appearance because his nakedness was covered by his long hair and, in some cases, by a growth of hair all over his body. The saint addressed the visitor by name and asked how matters were in'the world; sometimes he told about his life preceding this his last retirement to solitude, how he himself came there, etc.: he stated how many years it had been since he beheld a man in the flesh; he told of the

hardships he had undergone since his arrival: demons had annoyed him, in some versions he had had no food but roots and grass. After many years of suffering he attained "perfection", and was nourished by never-failing fruit from date-palms or other trees of the weel-watered spot where he then dwelt, or he was fed with bread from heaven. The guest, in a night of converse,

learned from him much about the way to spiritual perfection, and partook of the extra portion of food. which was miraculously supplied when the time came for them to sup together. Generally the ancient anchorite welcomed the visitor as one sent by God with the purpose of giving his body a decent

burial. Towards morning the visitor noticed the changed appearance of the anchorite: aside from his hoary whiteness, he seemed to be tranfigured by the inner radiance we hear so much in the gnostic literature. Shortly the saint passed away. The visitor stayed to bury

the holy remains as decently as possible, wrapping them in a part of his own garment.

Then, perhaps with supernatural aid, the witness returned to relate his wonderful experience and to give others the spiritual encouragement of the anchorite’s perfect example", Die Parallelen zu Manis Reise durch die Luft, die zunächst bei dem haarigen Mann auf dem Berg endet, sind deutlich.

CORNELIA ROMER

87

Der Mann auf dem Berg ist ein Eremit, der nicht nur durch seine Entriicktheit von der übrigen Welt, sondern auch durch sein Äußeres als solcher charakterisiert ist. In den Augen der Manichäer mußte jeder Eremit sündig sein. Sein völlig

autarkes Leben schloß ja die tägliche Verletzung der Lebendigen Seele ein. Wir könnten also ein Motiv, das den Kompilator zur Wahl gerade dieser Geschichte veranlaßt hat, auch so fassen: Hier soll deutlich gemacht werden, daß das Leben eines Eremiten verfehlt ist und daß für diese Art von Leben in

der manichäischen Kirche kein Platz ist. Für diese Interpretation spricht auch, daß Mani den Mann als erstes die avanavcıc lehrt, das Stillhalten der Hände vor der "Lebendigen Seele"

(p.128,10). Die "Reinheit", die als Gebot vor der avanavcıc steht, brauchte er ihm nicht besonders zu erläutern.

In p.129,1ff. würde ich jetzt die Ergänzung «ai ev t@ Maw] pov dévdp[a Epbteuca] vorziehen. Es ist ja nicht nur das Pflücken der Frucht, sondern der ganze Lebensstil des Eremiten mit seiner Selbstversorgung, der für die

Manichäer verkehrt war. In der manichäischen Geschichte wird der Eremit daher entrückt und zum Apostel der Lehre Manis. Der Schluß der Legenden,

in denen der Eremit stirbt und so seinen letzten T riumph feiert, wird damit in sein Gegenteil verkehrt. Die Polemik gegen das christliche Eremitentum setzt die Verbreitung dieses Phänomens voraus. Ägypten mag durch die motivgeschichtlich verwandten Legenden zu stark in den Vordergrund dieser Betrachtung geraten sein.

Ähnliche Geschichten wurden ebenfalls im Milieu der syrischen Asketen erzählt. Die oben genannten Motive finden sich auch z.B. in der Vita des Jacob, dem Theodoret sich als erstem Eremiten in seiner PA6Beoc ‘Ictopia

widmet.25 Auch Jakob zog sich auf einen hohen Berg zuriick2®, er war in

25 Edd. P.Canivet, A.Leroy-Molinghen, SC 234, 1977, 160-193.

26 Kap. 2 S. 162.

88

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Felle gekleidet?’, er ernährte sich von dem, was die Natur ihm bot?8 und er hatte das göttliche Vorherwissen.29 Es ist wahrscheinlicher, daß die Motive im Mani-Kodex hierher bezogen wurden. Eine Vertrautheit mit dem syrischen Asketenmillieu läßt sich im Kodex vielleicht daran erkennen, daß die griechischen Wörter povoc bezeichnen

(p. 31,4 und

und novnpnc, die Manis Lage in der Welt 31,1; 44,7;

102,10),

beide

den

syrischen

mönchischen Begriff thidaya treffen.30 Ein Zusammenhang

zwischen

Manis

Reise

auf den Berg und den

Mönchslegenden könnte weittragende Folgen für die Interpretation des Kodex haben. Es stellen sich.hier nämlich chronologische Probleme.

Die Anfänge des Anachoretentums sowohl in Ägypten als auch in Syrien liegen immer

noch im Dunkeln.

Daran

hat auch die materialreiche

Untersuchung von A.Vööbus über das syrische Asketentum mit seiner umstrittenen These vom manichäischen Einfluß auf dieses Asketenwesen wenig geändert.3! Vööbus hat versucht, die Lebensblüte des ersten

namhaften Anachoreten Jakob von Nisibis in die 80er Jahre des 3. Jahrhunderts zu setzen.32 Um diese Zeit zog sich auch Antonius zum erstenmal in die ägyptische Wüste zurück.?3 Aber was war davor; läßt es sich denken, daß die mit ähnlichen Lebensweisen verbundenen Legenden schon vorher in Umlauf waren? Kann man annehmen, daß Mani selbst die Motive dieser Geschichte in Indien bei den buddhistischen Mönchen kennengelernt hat?

27 28 29 30

Kap. 2 S. 162-163. Kap. 2 S. 162. Kap. 3 S. 163. vgl. A.Henrichs, HSCP 73, 1977,36ff. mit Anm.; zum Begriff ihidäyä s. P.Murray,

Symbols of Church and Kingdom, Cambridge 1975,13. 31 A.Vööbus, History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient I CSCO 184, Subsidia 14,

Louvain

1958; II CSCO

197, Subsidia 17, Louvain 1960. Vgl. dazu die Rezension von

A.Adam, Gottingische Gelehrte Anzeigen 213,1960,127-145 (wieder abgedruckt in: Askese und Ménchtum in der Alten Kirche, herausgegeben von K.S.Frank, Darmstadt 1975, 230254).

32 Vööbus I 142-143 33 Yööbus I 145-146

CORNELIA ROMER

89

Der Kompilator des Kodex hat wohl in der ersten Hälfte des 4.Jh. gearbeitet; hat er auf eine ganz junge Quelle zuriickgegriffen, weil es ihm so wichtig

war, zu zeigen, daß das christliche Askeseideal, das zu Beginn des 4.Jh. einen ungeheuren Aufschwung genommen hatte, in den Augen der Manichäer

verfehlt war? Dann aber könnten wir nicht mehr damit rechnen, daß uns an dieser Stelle des Buches Manis authentische Worte vorliegen.

Diesen Fragen müßte weiter nachgegangen werden. Könnte der Kompilator auch an dem Ort interessiert gewesen sein, an dem sich diese Geschichte vollzog?

Das Land, in das der Eremit sofort nach seiner Bekehrung als Apostel der manichäischen Lehre gebracht wird, ist so beschrieben, daß man es für das

eine klassische Land des Eremitentums , nämlich Ägypten, halten könnte. Die geographischen Angaben, die zu Beginn der Geschichte standen, passen vortrefflich dazu. Dort gibt es "hohe Berge" (p.126,14),"höchst liebliche und süße Gewässer" (p.127,6-7) und viele "Städte" oder "Menschen" (p.127,4).

Die Süße des Nilwassers ist ein Topos der antiken Literatur, z.B. bei Diodor (I 40,4), der den Nil den yAvxdratov navtwv tOv rotap@v nennt, und in der Historia Augusta (XI 7), nach der Pescennius Niger zu den in Ägypten | stationierten

Soldaten

gesagt haben

soll: " Nilum

habetis et vinum

quaeritis?"34 Aber hier mag mein Blick zu sehr von der Papyrologie, die es in der Regel

mit Zeugnissen aus Agypten zu tun hat, bestimmt sein. Da das Land nicht benannt ist, bieten sich der Phantasie verschiedene

Möglichkeiten der Identifikation. Ich glaube , es ist nicht zu bestreiten, daß ein Leser des Kodex im S.nachchristlichen Jahrhundert in Agypten diese Geschichte

mit den Eremitengestalten

in der ägyptischen

Wüste

in

Verbindung brachte, wie auch ein syrischer Leser die Berge um Nisibis vor Augen gehabt haben mag.

34 Weitere Stellen bei D.Bonneau, La crue du Nil, Paris 1964,105 mit Anm.4

90

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

Mani hat immer wieder betont, daB seine Religion iiberall verbreitet sein werde. Die wichtigste Stelle geht dem Exzerpt iiber Manis Reise durch die Luft unmittelbar voraus (p.123,14-124,15). In diesem Exzerpt aus Timotheos

fordert der Syzygos Mani auf, an seine Sendung zu denken. Er spricht : "Blicke auf deine Geburt , in der du dem Leibe nach geworden bist, auf sie

und auf die Wahrheit, die ich dir verkiindet habe. Darum werden in deinem Auftrag Gesandte und Apostel zu jeglichen Orten entsandt und diese

Hoffnung und die Botschaft des Friedens in jeder Stadt verkiindet werden, in

die du gehen willst."35 Dieser letzte Satz erinnert an Lukas 10,136, wie Ludwig Koenen in seinem Referat hier vor drei Jahren in Rende deutlich

gemacht hat.37 Bei Lukas schickt jedoch Jesus die Jiinger an Orte voraus, an die er selbst kommen wird. Bei Mani scheint es umgekehrt zu sein. Er selbst kommt erst zu den Orten, an denen dann seine Lehre von Gesandten und Aposteln verbreitet wird wie hier bei dem Mann auf dem Berg. Missionsgeschichte war für die Manichäer Heilsgeschichte. Es mag daher für die einzelnen Gemeinden nicht unwichtig gewesen sein, ob sie sagen konnten, daB der Apostel selbst bei ihnen gewesen sei oder nur einen Gesandten geschickt habe. So entstanden Legenden, in denen der Apostel selbst zum Initiator der Verbreitung seiner Lehre in den betreffenden Ländern wurde. In den Schriften des Al-Biruni haben mehrere solcher Legenden ihren Niederschlag gefunden. Dort heißt es, Mani habe Missionsreisen nicht nur

35 Tei[po0eoc]

|

Kai a[aaww elrev 6 x(6p16)c 116 pou --- (lineae 16-21 perditae sunt geminus Manichaeum alloquitur) [124,17 .. Elon: “eic ım[v | yévvav cov] xa’ fiv

éyevi[vnOnc

16 colla,

eic adv

14 [cxöreı xai] tiv aAnGel[lav

fiv colt

ebayyelıcallunv. «ai olituc x tic | [EvtoX Rc] cov dxoctaAn!®{covtai] npecBevtai kai | [aröcto]Aoı eic navta zöllrov, x]ai KnpuxOncetar | [dx’ adt]av h tArìc avtn 112 (kai 70] xnpöxıov tic eli[piivnc elic nacav xdArv | [etc fiv Bo]vAe xopevOAl[va n].” | 36 Met & Sè tadra avédertev 6 xdproc Erepovc Eßdounkovra S00, kur artoteAev uvtobe Ava 500 xpo xpocdnov abvrod eic ràcav xdAwW kai tonov od Muedàev avtoc

EpyecBar.

37 In: Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis, Atti del Simposio Internazionale, a cura di L.Cirillo, Cosenza 1986,293f.

CORNELIA ROMER

91

nach Indien, sondern auch bis nach China und Tibet unternommen.38 Aber

dorthin ist er nie gekommen. Ich halte es für möglich, daß wir in Manis Luftreise frühe Zeugnisse einer solchen Legendenbildung vor uns haben.

38 The Chronology of Ancient Nations of Albiruni, transl. E.Sachau, London 1879, 192; K.Kessler, Mani, Berlin 1889,323

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Il pastore nell’opera di Erma e il syzygos di Mani LUIGI CIRILLO,

Università della Calabria

Lo studio del Professore Gilles Quispel: "Genius and Spirit"!, citato nella ben documentata ricerca della Professoressa Giulia Sfameni Gasparro, pubblicata negli Atti del Primo simposio internazionale sul CMC (pp. 249283), mette in relazione la figura del Pastore nell'opera omonima di Erma e il syzygos di Mani. Il Quispel dà una nuova interpretazione della figura del Pastore: "immagine" di Erma, sua controparte celeste e suo alter-ego e, in quanto tale, una figura che somiglia a quella del "gemello" di Mani. In questo modo la problematica gnostica si troverebbe già nel libro di Erma, scritto

nell'ambiente romano verso la metà del II sec. d. C.2. Dalla pubblicazione del frammento M 97 in medio persiano fatta dal Mueller nel 1905 si sapeva che i

manichei si erano interessati al libro di Erma e l'avevano associato alle loro Scritture, ma dalla lettura del frammento stesso, peraltro lacunoso, non si vede chiaramente perché l'opera fu adottata?. Il problema è fondamentalmente

1G. QUISPEL, "Genius and Spirit" in Essay on the Nag Hammadi Texts in Honour of Pahor Labib, a cura di M. Krause, Leiden 1975, pp. 155-169. Cfr. dello stesso autore "Das ewige Ebenbild des Menschen. Zur Begegnung mit dem Selbst in der Gnosis", Eranos Jahrbuch" 36 (1967) 9-30. 2E' un'indicazione cronologica approssimativa. In base a questa data sarebbe teoricamente possibile parlare di un influsso del pensiero gnostico sull'autore. Cerdone infatti venne a Roma al tempo del vescovo Igino (138-142 d.C.) prima di Marcione, il quale invece vi giunse al tempo di Aniceto (154/155-166 d.C.). Valentino, a sua volta, era a

Roma al tempo di Igino, mal il suo insegnamento a Roma si svolse al tempo di Pio (142?155? d.C.). Su questi dati cfr. IRENEO, Adv. haeres., III, 4,3; EUSEBIO DI CESAREA, Storia Ecclesiastica, IV, 11,1. 3Cfr. F.W.K. MUELLER, "Eine Hermas-Stelle in manichdischer Version", in Sitzungsberichte der Preufischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse, Berlin

1905, pp. 1077-1083.

94

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

risolto dalla nuova tesi del Quispel mediante l'individuazione di una delle ragioni principali dell'interessamento dei manichei per questa opera. Di qui anche l'importanza della nuova tesi nella storia della ricerca su Erma.

L'opera di cui ci occupiamo è quella che inizia dalla Vis. V e termina con la

Sim. VIII. Per il suo contenuto e il suo carattere essa è diversa dal precedente lavoro che Erma aveva scritto sulle visioni della Chiesa (Vis. I-IV) e può

essere indicata col nome di "Apocalisse" del Pastore, sulla base del titolo che

il Sinaitico dà alla Vis. V (= aroxd&Avyu €’), cioè proprio al testo in cui il misterioso personaggio del Pastore entra in scena e dà la sua rivelazione ad un

visionario che nel corso dell'opera non sarà mai nominato, ma che certamente è Erma, al quale la Chiesa si era rivelata‘. Probabilmente Erma ha voluto restare nell'anonimato per dare alla rivelazione ricevuta un valore atemporale,

non legato a circostanze storiche: poco importa chi sia storicamente il veggente della Vis. V, egli vuole presentarsi nella sua qualità di "capo della

casa" (cfr. Sim. VII,3: n kegaAn tod otkov) e perciò come rappresentante della stessa nel ricevere la rivelazioneS, un aspetto questo da tener presente ai fini della comprensione della rivelazione stessa. E' molto probabile che l''Apocalisse" sia stata pubblicata separatamente da Vis. I-IV e che dopo, nel corso della metà del II sec., i due lavori siano stati messi insieme come due parti di una sola opera, alla quale fu dato il titolo di "Pastore" che era in realtà

4Come si può vedere, per esempio, da alcuni temi: la famiglia di Erma (Mand. II,7;

IV,4,3; V,1,7; XII,3,6; Sim. V,3,9; VII,5-7; e Vis 1,1,9; 3,1.2 ecc.); i suoi peccati (Sim.

VII,2.3; e Vis. 1,1,9; 2,1; 3,1; III,2,2) e quelli della sua famiglia (Sim. VIII,2 e Vis. II,2,2.4) ecc.

SLetteralmente il termine olxog dovrebbe riferirsi alla famiglia naturale di Erma, come nelle Vis. I-IV. Ma probabilmente questo termine nell'"Apocalisse" è stato adoperato in senso traslato per indicare la comunità di cui il veggente è il capo. Cfr. E. PETERSON, "Kritische Analyse der fünften Vision des Hermas", in Frühkirche, Judentum und Gnosis, Rom, Freiburg, Wien 1959, pp. 271-284. Rimane però aperta la questione se per comunità

si debba intendere una ‘comunità di asceti’ e quindi di una ‘élite’, come vuole il Peterson (cfr.

p. 277-281), o l'intera comunità cristiana, cosa che a me sembra più probabile.

LUIGI CIRILLO

95

quello del secondo lavoro. In ogni caso il papiro di Michigan 129 del III sec. e le due versioni copte testimoniano che in Egitto l'Apocalisse del Pastore era letta e divulgata separatamente da Vis. I-IV®. E dovette essere proprio qui, in Egitto, che i manichei conobbero questo testo’. In seguito, all'opera formata da Vis. V - Sim. VIII fu aggiunta la Sim. IX, un testo importante per quanto

riguarda lo sviluppo del pensiero di Erma e le sue cause; in questa parabola l'autore modifica o perfeziona quanto aveva detto nel libro delle visioni della Chiesa. La Sim. X infine è la conclusione dell'intera opera di Erma e fu scritta quando la Sim. IX era stata già aggiunta al testo dell'Apocalisse". Contrariamente alla sua abitudine di spiegare figure e simboli che sono

citati nell'opera8, l'autore non dice chi è il Pastore, lasciando intendere che nell'ambiente dei suoi lettori non v'erano dubbi circa l'identificazione di questo personaggio. Il problema ovviamente si è posto agli studiosi più volte nella storia della ricerca. Limitandoci in questa sede a parlare degli autori più recenti, il Reitzenstein avanzò l'ipotesi che l'autore della Vis. V aveva imitato

l'inizio del Corpus ermetico, I,1-4, e che il Pastore era una imitazione della figura del Poimandres (Intelletto supremo, Noüs). La soluzione del problema

si troverebbe dunque nel mondo della cultura greco-ellenistica. Come in Vis. V, 1-4 anche i testi ermetici parlano della venuta e della trasformazione del

rivelatore, il quale non essendo stato riconosciuto si presenta (éy@ pév, qnciv, eiuì è IowdvSpnc) e si trasforma cambiando aspetto (todto einwv

6Su questo argomento, oltre a quanto già detto da S. GIET, Hermas et les Pasteurs, Paris 1963, p. 72ss., cfr. ora A. CARLINI, "La Tradizione testuale del Pastore di Erma e i nuovi papiri" in Le strade del testo, a cura di G. Cavallo, Bari 1987, pp. 23-43. Tsui manichei in Egitto cfr. L. KOENEN, "Manichäische Mission und Klöster in

Ägypten" in Akten des Internat. Sympos.: "Das römisch-byzantinische Ägypten" , Trier 2730 sett. 1978. M. TARDIEU, "Les Manichéens en Egypte", Bulletin de la Société francaise d'Egyptologie 94 (1982) 5-19. J. VERGOTE, "L'expansion du manichéisme en Egypte” in After Chalcedon. Studies in Theology and Church History (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 18). Studi in onore del Prof. A. Van Roey editi da C. Laga, J.A. Munitiz e L. Van Rompay, Lovanio 1985, pp. 471-478. 8Cfr. Sim. V, 5,2 (lo schiavo); Sim. VIII, 3,2 (l'albero); 3,3 (l'Angelo); Sim. IX, 12,1 (la roccia e la porta); 12,8 (l'uomo glorioso).

96

CODEX MANICHAICUS COLONIENSIS

nAAdeyn tH (dé)? . Ma il punto debole di questa ipotesi sta nel fatto che non si vede in che cosa consista il cambiamento del rivelatore. D'altra parte il Noiis, come principio cosmico, non ha alcun rapporto particolare con colui che riceve la rivelazione né con i destinatari della rivelazione stessa, mentre il Pastore è il protettore, il patrono del veggente e degli altri uomini che sono stati affidati a lui!0, L'ipotesi del Reitzenstein era quindi facilmente criticabile, cosa che fece il Dibelius in due occasioni, nell'articolo pubblicato nel 1921, nel volume collettivo in onore di Harnack, e nel suo grande commento al

"Pastore di Erma" del 1923!!, L'autore tuttavia faceva notare che il Pastore e il Poimandres dipendono da uno schema comune ("Vorlage") di rivelazione.

Ma già precedentemente, nel 1911, G. Bardy aveva criticato la tesi del Reitzenstein per motivi di natura cronologica, affermando che non è per nulla

certo che il primo trattato del Corpus ermetico sia anteriore all'Apocalisse del Pastore. Anzi potrebbe essere vero proprio il contrario e in questo caso si invertirebbero i ruoli di modello e di copia. Rimane il fatto che le due opere presentano analogie interne che, anche per il Bardy, sembrano presuppone

una fonte comune!2, In seguito la tesi del Reitzenstein fu ripresa dal Loisy!3. Per quanto riguarda la tesi del Dibelius, lo studioso dice che l'aspetto più

importante nella scena dell'epifania del Pastore è il riconoscimento di quest'ultimo da parte del veggente (cfr. Vis. V,4), ma non ci viene detto in che cosa si trasformò il rivelatore e quindi a che cosa fu dovuto il suo

9R. REITZENSTEIN,

Poimandres

, Leipzig 1904, p. 13; 32. Hellenistische

Wundererzihlungen , Leipzig 1906, p. 126. Cfr. A.D. NOCK, A.-J. FESTUGIERE, Corpus Hermeticum, tome I, Traités I-XII, Paris, "Les Belles Lettres", 1972, p. 7. Dal raffronto col Corpus Hermeticum il Reitzenstein risolveva anche l'enigma della citazione dell'Arcadia in Sim. IX 1,4, in quanto l'Arcadia era la patria del dio Ermes: cfr. Poimandres , p. 33.

10 Vedere a questo proposito l'uso del verbo rapa8{S@pt nell'opera di Erma. 11M. DIBELIUS, "Der Offenbarungstriiger im "Hirten" des Hermas" in Harnack-Ehrung,

Leipzig 1921, pp. 105-118. Cfr. Der Hirt des Hermas

Ergänzungs-Band), Tübingen 1923, p. 495.

(Handbuch zum Neuen Testament,

12G. BARDY, "le Pasteur d'Hermas et les Livres hermétiques", Revue Biblique 8 (1911) 391-407. 13"L'apocalyptique chrötienne", Revue d'histoire et de Literature religieuses 8 (1922), p. 234ss.

LUIGI CIRILLO

97

riconoscimento. D'altra parte non si può supporre che l'autore ne avesse parlato prima (perchè l'opera comincia proprio con la Vis. V), oppure in una

parte perdutasi dell'opera di Erma, come riteneva F. Spitta!4 (dato che un testo di questo genere non è mai esistito). La sequenza del mancato riconoscimento del Pastore, della sua metamorfosi e quindi del suo riconoscimento esclude per M. Dibelius una relazione con la figura del Pastore nei testi cristiani e nei testi giudaici!5, Il riconoscimento del Pastore si

spiega invece in base al fatto che il Pastore nel trasformarsi prese l'aspetto della persona da lui protetta, del veggente, e cosi si rese riconoscibile. Il

personaggio che può spiegare questa scena è il dio Ermes nella religiosità

ellenistica, secondo la presentazione fattane da Elio Aristide nel quarto discorso sacro. In questo testo Ermes viene descritto appunto nel suo ruolo di

protettore che somiglia all'uomo da lui protetto!®, Il Pastore è una figura analoga a quella del dio Ermes, è un genere di "doppio" celeste, una figura che si trova già negli Atti degli Apostoli, 12,14s. (l'angelo somiglia all'apostolo Pietro) e negli Atti apocrifi di Tommaso, 54-57 (il Cristo è simile

all'apostolo Tommaso). Anche nella leggenda gnostica che è raccontata nella

Pistis Sophia, cap. 61, lo Spirito santo ha un aspetto del tutto uguale a quello di Gesù bambino ed è perciò il suo sosia. In base a questa interpretazione Erma riconosce il Pastore in quanto vede in lui il suo "doppio". Il riconoscimento va spiegato quindi nel contesto della cultura ellenistica che Erma del resto conosceva molto bene, come fa notare il Debelius. Infatti nella Vis, II, 4,1 Erma parla della Sibilla cumana come figura della Chiesa, mentre

nella Sim. IX, 1,4 cita l'Arcadia. Ma diciamo subito che questa tesi non risolve il nostro problema, perchè il Pastore è l'angelo della penitenza (cfr. Vis. V,7 fine) ed è perciò la guida spirituale dell'uomo, un concetto che non

ha nulla a che vedere col dio Ermes; la risposta perciò non può venire dall'ellenismo, va cercata altrove. Il Quispel indica appunto il mondo del 14Cfr. F. SPITTA, Zur Geschichte und Literatur des Urchristentums, vol. II, Göttingen 1986, p. 247s. 1510. 10; 1 Petr. 2,25; 5,4; Hebr. 13,20; libro di Henoch 89,59 ss. cfr. anche Ezech. 34.

16Cfr. B. KEIL, Aelii Aristidis Smyrnaei quae supersunt Omnia , Berlin 1958, vol. II, 440, 19-21.

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giudeocristianesimo - gnostico. Il Pastore è l'angelo custode di Erma, al quale Erma era stato affidato al momento del battesimo. L'angelo custode era considerato come

"immagine"

(igonin ) dell'uomo da lui protetto, sua

controparte divina e suo alter-ego, e, in quanto tale, corrisponde, nel sistema

di Valentino, all'elemento divino della sizigia, al "Se stesso" soprannaturale, col quale si ricongiunge l'io empirico e storico. Questa concezione gnostica

corrisponde al concetto giudaico e cristiano antico di angelo custode, concetto

che, a sua volta, proviene da quello greco-pitagorico di daim6n. Che i cristiani conoscessero questo concetto è dimostrato dal libro degli Atti degli

Apostoli, 12,14s. in ‘cui è detto che non è l'apostolo Pietro a bussare alla porta della casa di Giovanni Marco, dopo la liberazione della prigionia, ma il suo angelo. L'angelo era l'immagine di Pietro. Nella teologia siriaca l'angelo

custode dell'uomo è lo Spirito Santo. Questa stessa dottrina viene espressa dal testo di Erma nella Vis. V; il riconoscimento del Pastore da parte del veggente va spiegato dunque su questa base. Nella Vis. V tuttavia non si parla dell'angelo dello Spirito santo ma dell'angelo della penitenza. Ma Erma nel Mand. XI,9 dimostra di conoscere la dottrina secondo cui l'angelo custode, immagine dell'uomo, è lo Spirito santo, anche se in questo testo lo Spirito è il protettore soltanto del vero profeta. La dottrina secondo cui lo Spirito santo è custode e quindi immagine della persona da lui protetta si trova anche nella

Pistis Sophia, cap. 61: lo Spirito Santo è l'immagine di Gesù, in tutto simile a lui, in quanto forma un tutt'uno con lui. Anche se questo testo è gnostico nella sua forma attuale, la dottrina ad esso soggiacente è giudeo-cristiana, in quanto deriva dai missionari fondatori della chiesa di Alessandria di Egitto. Mani, che si era formato in un ambiente giudeocristiano, come dimostra il CMC, espresse la sua esperienza religiosa in termini conformi a quelli dell'angelologia del suo ambiente di formazione e chiamò il suo syzygos angelo: angelo custode e nello stesso tempo Spirito santo, il Paraclito. Mani non modificò il concetto giudeocristiano dell'angelo dello Spirito profetico, speciale protettore e custode del vero profeta, ma lo arricchi in senso realmente gnostico, come si rileva dal CMC 24,9ss.

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Sostanzialmente la soluzione del Professore Quispel è della stessa natura di quella che era stata proposta dal Dibelius, in quanto il Pastore viene presentato come il "doppio" o l'"alter-ego" del veggente. Ma è proprio questa interpretazione della figura del Pastore che va discussa alla luce di tutto il contesto dell'opera di Erma. Si tratta di capire chi è il Pastore e quale il suo ruolo nell" Apocalisse" che da lui prende il nome.

I La Vis. V, l'introduzione, è l'epifania del Pastore. Il testo contiene una

sequenza che si svolge in cinque punti: a) l'entrata in scena del protagonista dell'opera e la sua descrizione (un angelo che aveva l'aspetto di un uomo in abito di pastore): 1-2a;

b) la sua autopresentazione: 2b; c) il mancato

riconoscimento del Pastore da parte del veggente e il sospetto che possa trattarsi di un angelo tentatore: 3a; d) il Pastore dichiara la propria identità, si trasforma e viene riconosciuto; lo stato di confusione del veggente davanti a lui (un elemente caratteristico dei testi apocalittici): 3b-4; e) la rivelazione dei

precetti della regola e l'esortazione ad osservarli: 5-7a. Alla fine di questo ‘ testo l'autore dice che il Pastore è l'"angelo della metanoia". La seguenza ha

un carattere allegorico che ricorda le allegorie di Vis. I-IV e anticipa quelle che

si trovano dopo in altri testi della stessa "Apocalisse". Perciò dell'intera sequenza (e in particolare quello del Pastore) linguaggio dei simboli che sono adoperati nella sequenza stessa. a mettere in risalto soltanto quegli elementi che contribuiscono figura del Pastore.

il significato dipende dal Limitiamoci a definire la

1) La visione ha luogo dopo la preghiera del veggente. Qui non si tratta

della semplice azione di pregare, cioè di quell'azione che normalmente nei

testi apocalittici prepara una visione. Il veggente è seduto sul suo giaciglio e aspetta la visione meditando. Il verbo xa0ito (e x&ßnuoı) ha un senso tecnico!7. Il Pastore arriva e va a sedersi accanto al veggente, sul suo stesso giaciglio. Si ha perciò l'impressione che il Pastore e il veggente si conoscano 17Cfr. E. PETERSON, art. cit., p. 272.

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già, segno ne è il fatto che si scambiano il saluto. Anche nelle Sim. V,1,1, e

VI,1,2 il Pastore si rivela improvvisamente (&&atpvnc) e va a sedersi accanto al veggente. Tra il Pastore e il veggente vi è, per così dire, familiarità, il Pastore è il compagno del veggente, i testi indicati mostrano molto bene

questo rapporto!8. 2) Il Pastore è il rivelatore. Ma si ignora chi sia realmente, si sa soltanto che è un angelo che ha le apparenze di un pastore: cynpatt ropevixò. Il

termine cyfipa nell'antichità classica e cristiana si adoperava quando si voleda parlare di una divinità pagana o di una persona divina che nel manifestarsi nascondeva agli uomini la sua vera natura!9, La parola oyfipo è

un apax nei Padri apostolici, suoi sinonimi sono idéa e popen (Vis. V,4; Mand. XII, 4,1; Som. VI,1,6; 2,5). La tradizione docetica e gnostica faceva

largo uso di questa terminologia. Marcione, interpretando il termine cya,

citato nella lettera ai Filippesi 2,7 (col significato di apparenza e forma

esteriore), diceva che il Cristo aveva soltanto l'apparenza di un uomo?0, I rapporti esistenti tra la Vis. V e le rivelazioni gnostiche furono indicati già da Hagemann: Valentino diceva che gli era apparso il Logos divino nelle sembianze di un neonato; il valentiniano Marco diceva, a sua volta, che la

18La familiarità del veggente col Pastore deve essere considerata nel contesto più vasto che è quello della vita spirituale del veggente, come si rileva da quel curioso idillio del veggente con le dodici vergini, di cui la Sim. IX, 11,1-8. Dato che le vergini sono le

"potenze" del Figlio di Dio e chiamate "spiriti santi": &yıa xvedpota in quanto sono manifestazione dello Spirito santo, il testo mette in evidenza la familiarità che ha il veggente con i fenomeni della vita spirituale. Da ricordare che il Figlio di Dio è lo Spirito santo (cfr. Sim. V, 5,2 e IX, 1,1,) e che lo Spirito, negli ambienti cristiani di cultura semitica, viene presentato come una donna, cfr. per esempio la visione di Elchasai (ELENCHOS IX, 13,3, G C S 26, 251, 18-20 Wendland). Di qui anche il fatto che nella scena della Sim. IX le potenze dello Spirito santo siano rappresentate da dodici vergini. La visione del Pastore si inserisce nel contesto della vita spirituale del veggente, perché il Pastore stesso è un modo di manifestasrsi dello Spirito santo, come si dirà dopo. 19Per l'antichità classica cfr. W. BAUER, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur, 1952, nell'edizione

inglese a cura di W.F. ARNDT e F.W. GINGRICH, A Greek-English Lexikon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, The University of Chicago Press 1971, p. 804s.

20A. von HARNACK, Marcion: Das Evangelium vom fremden Gott, Leipzig 1921, p. 134,

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Tetrade divina era venuta da lui cxnparı yovarKd, con le sembianze di una

donna?!. I Naasseni dicevano che il Serpente si era manifestato al tempo di Erode Ev &vOporov popofi?22. Secondo i Doceti, citati dall'Elenchos, il Figlio di Dio, nella sua discesa sulla terra rivesti le trenta forme (iö£oc) dei trenta eoni?3, La citazione si riferisce evidentemente al libro dell'Ascensione di Isaia X,9ss.: il Figlio di Dio, il Diletto, si trasformò e divenne come un angelo, successivamente rivesti le forme degli angeli che dimoravano nei cieli da lui attraversati per scendere sulla terra, e giunto qui diventò simile alla forma umana, per cui si credette che fosse un uomo (cfr. IX,13). In questo

stesso apocrifo anche lo Spirito santo è presentato in forma angelica. Si tratta di una concezione cristologica e trinitaria in senso lato, d'origine giudeocristiana, che per raffigurare la trascendenza del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo li presenta in forma di angeli, ma tenendoli ben distinti e superiori rispetto ai verio e propri angeli24. Il cambiamento della forma da parte di una ipostasi divina è attestato anche nella letteratura manichea a proposito del

Liberatore nel suo intento di ingannare le potenze delle tenebre25. L'utilizzazione in senso docetico di cyfiua, idéa, pop@n viene fatta negli Atti di Tommaso?‘ e nei testi di Nag Hammadi27, Il termine pop) costituisce

21Cfr. ELENCHOS VI, 42,2.3, G C S 26, p. 173, 22-24; 173, 26s. Wendland. La fonte di VI, 42,3 era IRENEO, Adv. haeres. I, 14,1. HAGEMANN, "Der Hirt des Hermas", Theologische Quartalschrift, 1860, p. 22.

22ELENCHOS V, 16,10, p. 112, 25. 23ELENCHOS VIII, 10,8-11, pp. 230,26-231,1ss. cfr. X, 16,3-5. 24M. SIMONETTI, "Note sulla cristologia dell'Ascensione di Isaia" in Isaia, il Diletto e la Chiesa. Visione ed esegesi profetica cristiano-primitiva nell'Ascensione di Isaia (Istituto per le Scienze religiose di Bologna), Paideia Editrice 1983, p. 188. Sulla cristologia angelica cfr. J. BARBEL, "zur "Engel-Trinitätslehre' im Urchristentum" Theologische Revue 54/2 (1958) 49-58; 103-112. G.G. STROUMSA, "Le couple de l'Ange et de l'Esprit", Revue Biblique 1981, 42-61.

25Cfr. H.-J. KLIMKEIT, "Gestalt, Ungestalt, Gestaltwandel” in Manichaean Studies. Proceedings of the first International Conference on Manichaeism, a cura di P. Bryder, Lund - Plus Ultra 1988, p. 62s. |

| 26R.A. LIPSIUS, M. BONNET, Acta Apostolorum apocrypha, 2,2, Lipsiae 1903, cfr. per es. cap. 45, p. 162,18; cap. 72, p. 188,2; cap. 152, p. 262,9. 27Cfr. F. SIEGERT, Nag Hammadi - Register (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 26), Tübingen 1982, p. 308.

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un caso a parte, in quanto nelle Ps.-Clementine, Hom. III,22, viene utilizzato per indicare le trasformazioni del Profeta di verità nelle sue periodiche

manifestazioni nella storia umana: poppàc ddAAaccov. La dottrina espressa da testi come questo è anch'essa giudeocristiana; Epifanio, Pan. haer. XXX,

3,3-6, l'attribuisce agli Ebioniti. Il Profeta di verità assumeva il corpo di Adamo. Il verbo évSdopar e il sostantivo évSvpa hanno a questo proposito un significato rilevante. Le apparizioni del vero Profeta col corpo di Adamo è una dottrina che risale agli Elchasaiti. Nell'eresia dei Sampsei infatti. Pan. haer. LIMI, 1,8, il corpo di Adamo, in cui il Cristo si rivela, è chiamato #vSvpa, un termine che è citato peraltro anche nel CMC 87,528. E'noto infine che cyfina e noppn di Filippesi 2,7 sono

adoperati nella letteratura

manichea, Kephalaia, I,24-26, e libro dei Salmi, p. 194 1-3, e interpretati

secondo il pensiero di Marcione, per dire che Dio assunse soltanto l'apparenza di un uomo2?, | Alla luce di questo contesto sembra che sotto lo cyfiua di un pastore si

riveli una persona divina. Ma il Pastore non è una persona divina, ma un suo inviato, l'inviato dell'"Angelo

più santo"

(Vis. V,2). Questo

angelo

rappresenta il Figlio di Dio39 che per Erma è lo Spirito santo, come è detto in

Sim. V, 5,2 e IX, 1,131. Di qui la somiglianza e la differenza dell'opera di

28Cfr. A. HENRICHS, L. KOENEN in ZPE 19 (1975) p. 74 e 32 (1978) p. 140. R. MERKELBACH, "Die Täufer, bei denen Mani aufwuchs" in Manichaean Studies, p. 116119. Nils Arne PEDERSEN, "Early Manichaean Christology", ibidem, p. 180s. 29Cfr. A. BOEHLIG, Mysterion und Wahrheit (Arbeiten zur Geschichte des späteren Judentums und des Urchristentums VI) Leiden 1968, p. 208.

30Cfr. Vis. V,2; Mand. V, 1,7; Sim. V, 4,4; Sim. VII,5. In questi testi si tratta sempre dello stesso angelo, chiamato "santo", "il più santo", "glorioso", "angelo del Signore", e che corrisponde all'arcangelo Michele della Sim. VIII, 3,3. La figura dell'arcangelo Michele tuttavia non è stata cristianizzata, ma da tutto l'insieme si vede che essa è il simbolo del Figlio di Dio, cfr. Sim. IX, 6,1 e 12,8.

31Nella concezione teologica di Erma le persone divine sono due: Dio (chiamato "Padre" solo raramente, cfr. Sim. V, 6,3.4; IX, 12,2) e il Figlio di Dio = Spirito santo che è rappresentato appunto dall'Angelo supremo. E' la dottrina binitaria simile a quella che poi sarà espressa da Lattanzio, Institutiones divinae, IV, 6,1: "Deus igitur ... antequam praeclarum hoc opus mundi adoriretur, sanctum et incorruptibilem spiritum genuit, quem filium nuncuparet". E subito dopo, in IV, 6,3, lo stesso autore parla dell'Angelo dello Spirito santo: "Et quamis alios postea innumerabiles creavisset, quos angelos dicimus, hunc

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Erma con il libro dell'Ascensione di Isaia, 9,27-30 e 33-36, il quale distingue il Figlio di Dio dallo Spirito santo e raffigura le due persone divine come due Angeli. Che per Erma invece esista presso Dio un solo Angelo superiore e distinto dagli altri si vede anche dal modo col quale l'autore parla degli angeli

protoctisti. Questi angeli sono sette, essi però sono rappresentati come un gruppo di sei angeli (cfr. Vis. III, 4,1) che è presieduto dall'Angelo supremo

(cfr. Sim. IX, 6,1 e 12,8). La concezione teologica di Erma è più arcaica

rispetto a quella del libro dell'Ascensione di Isaia?2, essa si basa su presupposti più giudaici che giudeocristiani. Il libro della rivelazione di Elchasai, per esempio, parla di due Angeli, figure rispettivamente del Figlio di

Dio e dello Spirito santo33. L'Angelo supremo, di cui parla Erma, è l'angelo protettore di Israele, il quale con nomi diversi era venerato in tutti e settori del

giudaismo34. Il Pastore dunque è l'inviato del Figlio di Dio e un suo subalterno in quanto è il suo interlocutore presso gli uomini per quanto riguarda la rivelazione del piano della metanoia, come si vede anche dal testo di Sim. VII, 11,1. La relazione del Pastore col Figlio di Dio si può forse precisare ulteriormente sulla base del testo dell'introduzione alla Sim. IX: 1,1-

2, un testo tuttavia che non è tra i più chiari dell'opera di Erma. Sostanzialmente da esso si apprende che ogni rivelazione proviene dallo Spirito santo e che il Pastore è un agente della rivelazione (cfr. v0

yyéAov), come lo era stato la Chiesa nelle Visioni I-IV. Ma nella concezione di Erma lo Spirito santo è la Sapienza preesistente e trascendente (come si

tamen solum primogenitum divini nominis appellatione dignatus est, patria scilicet virtute ac maiestate pollentem" (C S E L 19, 286, 5-8; 8-11 Brandt).

32Cfr. P.C. BORI, "L'esperienza profetica nell'Ascensione di Isaia" in /saia, il Diletto e la Chiesa (op. cit. in nota 24), p. 142.

33Cfr. ELENCHOS IX, 13,2 s, C G S 26, p. 251, 14-20 Wendland. 34Più comunemente l'angelo protettore è Michele. A Qumran si dava una grande importanza anche all'angelo Melchisedech considerato come il redentore celeste, cfr. il testo di 11QMelch. e lo studio di S.A. VAN DER WOUDE, "Melchisedek als himmlische Erlösergestalt in den neugefundenen eschatologischen Midraschim aus Qumran Hoehle XI" in Oudtestamentische Studien 14 (1965) 354-373.

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vede dal confronto di Sim. IX, 1,1 con Sim. V, 6,5)35, Perciò attraverso il Pastore si rivela la Sapienza divina e il Pastore potrebbe essere chiamato

l'angelo della Sapienza. Dal rapporto del Pastore con lo Spirito santo = Figlio

di Dio scaturiscono alcune prerogative del Pastore stesso, che nella tradizione

neotestamentaria sono del Cristo e dello Spirito santo36 è più specificamente le sue prerogative sapienziali, come vedremo subito dopo. Questo ci porta a parlare della caratteristica dell'opera di Erma per quanto riguarda le sue fonti e i suoi modelli culturali. Sostanzialmente cioè Erma non dipende dalla

tradizione neotestamentaria scritta, ma da una tradizione popolare caratterizzata da alcunî filoni culturali del Tardoantico e da modelli della religiosità giudaica degli ultimi secoli prima di Cristo e dei primi tempi dell'era cristiana. Il più influente e autorevole modello era proprio quello sapienzale, il quale, d'altra parte, ha esercitato un influsso consederevole sulla tradizione cristiana?7, In questo contesto si ha l'impressione che il Pastore, rivelatore e inteprete dei precetti, sia stato visto come il mediatore della Sapienza. Ma a questo proposito bisognerebbe parlare dettagliatamente dell'ideologia

sapienzale. Ricordiamo soltanto il duplice momento dell'essere della Sapienza, messo in risalto in particolare dal libro del Siracide: (a) la Sapienza preesistente, (b) diviene la Sapienza degli uomini, fissando la sua dimora im mezzo al popolo. In questo suo secondo modo di essere la Sapienza veniva 35Cfr. Ecclus, 1,4: rpotépa xavtwv Éxtictar copia e Sim. V, 6,5: tò xvedpa tO Gylov TO rpodv, tO Kticay rücav tiv x«ticiv...Ma mentre in Sim. IX, 1,1 lo Spirito santo è il principio della rivelazione, in Sim. V, 6,5 è lo Spirito che Dio fece abitare nella "came" del servo. Per quanto riguarda l'interpretazione giudaica di Spirito santo (ruah Jhwh) come principio della rivelazione cfr. ThWNT, VI, 379ss; D. HILL, Greek Words and Hebrew Meanings. Studies in the Semantics of sotheriological Terms. Cambridge University Press 1967, p. 226ss. A. MARMORSTEIN, Studies in Jewish Theology, pp. 122-144. W. BAUER, op. cit. (in nota 19), p. 767. 36]] Pastore rivela i precetti della regola come il Cristo rivela i "sentieri della vita" (Sim. V, 6,3) e l'arcangelo Michele (figura del Figlio di Dio) dà la legge ai fedeli (Sim. VIII). Cfr. S. GIET, op. cit.(in nota 6), pp. 181-184; 224. D'altra parte il Pastore "fortifica"

gli uomini (azione espressa dai verbi icyupdw e éySvvapdw) come fa l'Angelo glorioso e lo Spirito santo, cfr. Vis. V,5; Mand. XII, 6,2; Sim. VI, 3,6; Sim. V, 4,4; Sim. IX, 1,2.

37Cfr. l'articolo di J. HELLWAG, "Die Vorstellung von der Praeexistenz Christi in der

ältesten Kirche", Theologische Jahrbücher 7 (1848) 227-263. Cfr. anche R.P. BRAUN, "Saint Jean, la Sagesse e l'histoire” in Neotestamentica et Patristica (volume in onore di O, Cullmann), Leiden 1962, p. 123ss.

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identificata di fatto con la Torah, con sviluppi ricchi di significato per la

concezione della Legge e la sua interpretazione38, L'attività del Pastore sembra corrispondere al secondo modo di essere della Sapienza. 3) Il Pastore guida gli uomini alla metanoia. Ad esprimere questa idea serviva appunto l'immagine del pastore, peraltro già largamente adoperata in

molte forme e modi tanto in oriente quanto in occidente??. Gli esempi della cultura ebraica sono ben noti. Nella Bibbia Dio stesso è il pastore di Israele (cfr. Ps. 23(22),1; 80(79),2, Ezech. 34). Dall'Antico Testamento dipende

l'allegoria del pastore nel Nuovo. Il cap. 10 del vangelo di Giovanni ne è l'esempio più rappresentativo: il buon pastore è il Cristo. Per Erma invece il Pastore è un angelo, presentato come un leader spirituale, il quale non si limita a dettare la regola di vita ma rimane sempre col veggente (crfr. Vis.

V,2) e con tutti i "penitenti" (cfr. Mand. XII, 4,5) come il loro responsabile®. Una figura analoga a quella del Pastore sembra essere quella del Maestro di

giustizia della comunità di Qumran‘*!, Quello straordinario scenario dell'ottava parabola, in cui il Pastore ripianta i rami secchi scartati dall'arcangelo Michele

e li innaffia, ricorda l'azione del Maestro di giustizia nell'inno ottavo, il quale 38Cfr. Ecclus. i capp. 1 e 24. Sull'argomento esiste una vasta bibliografia, cfr. l'opera del prof. M. HENGEL, Judentum und Hellenismus. Studien zu ihrer Begegnung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Palästinas bis zur Mitte des 2. Jhs. v.Chr., 1973, nell'edizione inglese: Judaism und Hellenism, SCM Press 1974, vol. I, pp. 153-164; 248 s. Sulla Sapienza identificata con la Legge, cfr. p. 99, 128, 160, 169, 311.

39Cfr. J. QUASTEN,

"Der Gute Hirte in hellenischer und frühchristlicher

Logostheologie. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Alten Mönchtums und des Benediktinerordens". Supplementband, Miscellanea Herwegen, Minster 1938, p. 51-58. A. PARROT, "Le bon Pasteur", Mélanges M.A. Dussaud, vol. I, 1939, p. 171-182. V. HAMP, "Das Hirtenmotiv

im Alten Testament", Miscellanea Kardinal Faulhaber, Minster 1949, pp. 7-20. Si veda anche la citazione di TERTULLIANO, De pudicitia, VII,1, (Corpus Christianorum 2, 1292

Dekkers). H. LECLERCQ, "Pasteur (bon)" in Dictionnaire d'Archéologie chrétienne et de Liturgie XIII, 2293s.

40Da questo punto di vista l'azione del Pastore richiama quella dell'“angelo dello spirito

profetico" responsabile del vero profeta e a lui preposto: xeinevoc Er’ abr@ (Mand. XI1,9). Questo angelo non è il daimon paredros, cfr. G. QUISPEL, art. cit. p. 161, ma non è neanche un angelo custode, si tratta invece dell'angelo preposto alla vera profezia e in quanto tale responsabile delle parole del vero profeta. 41Cfr. G. JEREMIAS, Der Lehrer der Gerechtigkeit (Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments 2), Göttingen 1963. O. BETZ, "Die Geburt der Gemeinde durch den Lehrer”, New Testament Studies 1957, pp. 316-326.

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ha cura della sua comunita, "la pianta di verita", e la fa crescere somministrandole l'acqua viva42, Nell'ideologia sapienzale l'acqua è il simbolo della dottrina vera, della conoscenza, della gnosi43. Nell'ottava parabola i rami secchi rinverdiscono. Citando il Mand. IV, 2,2, si può dire

che questo risultato è dovuto alla còvecic, intelligenza o sapienza, che il. Pastore ha dato loro e che nella letteratura sapienzale viene indicata col termine tvedua cogiac (Sap. 7,7): lo spirito di sapienza, cioè il senno per necessario per altuare il retto comportamento. E dalla obveou scaturisce la metanoia che è qualcosa di più della conversione/penitenza, è un programma di vita. Il rapporto chè esiste tra l''intelligenza" e la metanoia spiega in che

senso il Pastore sia l'angelo della metanoia, in quanto cioè ha potere sulla metanoia e guida l'intero processo spirituale che conduce ad essa‘4. Per questo il Pastore è il pedagogo, la sua attività viene chiamata rordeta (Sim.

VI, 3,6), e gli viene dato il titolo di wöp1oc#S, lo stesso titolo dato a Dio e al Cristo. L'immagine sapienzale dell'acqua viva viene ripresa dalla tradizione cristiana. Nel vangelo di Giovanni 4,10 l'acqua viva è l'acqua che dà agli uomini la vita eterna, è l'acqua della salvezza, interpretazione che rimane sostanzialmente identica nella letteratura patristica come nella tradizione gnostica46. E fu proprio da questa premessa che si passò, nella tradizione

extracanonica, ad identificare l'acqua viva con Cristo47, donde un altro argomento per considerare il Pastore come una figura cristologica e la sua 425, CARMIGNAC,

P. GUILBERT, Les textes de Qumran traduits et annotés, vol. I,

Paris 1961, p. 236ss. Cfr. A.T. HANSON, "Hodayoth VI and Studia Patristica (ed. F.L. Cross); Berlin 1970, 105-108. interpreter" of the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Second Studies 4 (1953) 159-175; H. RINGRENN, The Branch Hodayoth", Biblical Research 6 (1961) 3-9.

VIII and Hermas Sim. 8" in N. WIEDER, "The Law Moses" Journal of Jewish and the Plantation in the

43Sull'uso traslato di "acqua” cfr. ThWNT VIII, 321. Nel libro del Siracide 15,3 è detto

che la Sapienza darà da bere U5wp cogias. 44Cfr. Mand. IV, 2,2 e 3,5: Eyò... éxi tig petavoias elpi. guoì i EEovoia tic Ketavolog taving Eöößn. 45Cfr. per esempio Mand. 1II,3; IV, 1,4 etc. V, 1,7; X, 1,2.3; XII, 1,3; 3,1; 5,leıc.

46Cfr. L. KOENEN, "From Baptism to the Gnosis of Manichaeism” in Proceedings of

the Intern. Conference on Gnosticism at Yale (March 1978), vol. II, Leiden 1981, p. 745.

Cfr. anche ZPE 5 (1970) 137 n. 102.

47Cfr. A. RESCH, Agrapha, TU, 30, 3-4, Leipzig 1906, n. 119.

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azione come un'offerta di redenzione, di una redenzione tuttavia che poggia su basi "sapienzali" e non "sacramentali". E fu proprio a causa di questa sua caratteristica che l'opera di Erma ebbe tanta fortuna nella tradizione ascetica. La parola 'metanoia' come adoperata da Erma include ovviamente tutta la gamma dei significati che la tradizione dava ad essa (pentimento,

cambiamento di mentalutà e di vita, conversione, penitenza come osservanza di pratiche idonee sia all'espiazione della colpa sia alla riabilitazione del peccatore)*8, ma l'autore la utilizza con un significato più pregnante che è quasi sinonimo di vita spirituale, identificando con la metanoia tutto il comportamento dei fedeli nella Chiesa. La metanoia in fondo non è altro che

la vittoria dello "spirito santo" sullo spirito del male, e i petavoodvtec sono coloro che la realizzano mediante la pratica dei precetti del Pastore. Questa particolare interpretazione della metanoia deriva dalla concezione dualistica che si aveva dell'esistenza, una concezione diffusa in tutti gli ambienti

giudaici, secondo la quale l'uomo è conteso da due spiriti e da due angeli,

l'angelo della giustizia e l'angelo del male, da due opposti desideri o da due

istinti4?. L'uomo di trova dalla parte di Dio o da quella del demonio nella 48Cfr. ThWNT IV, 974ss. 49Spiriti, angeli e istinti sono i nomi di due forze opposte che si lottano nell'uomo. Per Qumran cfr. l'istruzione sui "due spiriti" in IQS III 13 - IV. I Mandati parlano di due spiriti (Mand. V, 1,2-5; 2,5-8) di due vie (Mand. VI, 1,2-5) di due angeli (Mand. VI, 2,1-9) e di due "desideri" contrapposti (Mand. XII, 1,1-3). Quest'ultima versione del dualismo è simile

alla dottrina rabbinica relativa ai due istinti o due cuori che sono nell'uomo y® zer tob, y® zer hara ,causa del bene e del male. In questo contesto tuttavia vi era la tendenza ad identificare il cattivo istinto con la concupiscenza e a considerare questa non più come "inclinazione" al male, ma come un male in se stessa e causa di male. Tale tendenza si nota già nei Testamenti dei XII Patriarchi, cfr. Ruben III,3; 10-12; IV,1, tendenza che si consolida successivamente, cfr. STRACK-BILLERBECK, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash, München, ed. 1978, vol. IV/1, p. 466ss. Allo stesso modo, nel pensiero di Erma, il "desiderio" è un grave peccato (Mand. IV, 1,2). Sul desiderio come peccato e causa di peccato nella tradizione giudeocristiana, cfr. L. CIRILLO, "Le bapteme, remède a la concupiscence selon la catéchèse ps.-clémentine de Pierre (Hom. X1,26: Rec. VI,9; IX,7)" in Text and Testimony. Essays in honour of A.F.J. Klijn (ed. T. Baarda, A. Hilhorst, G.P. Luttikhuizen, A.S. van der Woude), Kampen 1988, pp. 79-90. Anche la lettera di Barnaba 18,1-2 parla delle due vie (la via della luce e la via delle tenebre)

alle quali sono preposti gli angeli di Dio e gli angeli di Satana e dice che Satana è il principe del mondo presente, preludendo così alla dottrina pseudo-clementina relativa ai due mondi contrapposti.

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misura in cui fa vincere la forza del bene o quella del male. L'ideale è "non macchiare lo spirito santo" come si diceva a Qumràn50, Il modello da seguire

per raggiungere questo ideale è il servo della quinta parabola. Il servo non

macchiò lo spirito santo che dimorava nella sua "carne" e fu perciò ritenuto degno di essere associato alla vita dello Spirito santo (= Figlio di Dio) e di

divenire cosi Figlio di Dio5!, In questo contesto l'autore dice che ogni uomo riceverà la ricomprensa se farà come il servo (Sim. V, 6,5-7)52, senza

precisare tuttavia se questa ricompensa è uguale o simile a quella data al

servo. In ogni caso si tratta della versione giudeocristiana della santità, come

dimostra una tradizione che l'Elenchos VII, 34,1-2 attribuisce agli Ebioniti3. In tutto questo processo spirituale il Pastore ha un ruolo decisivo: rimanendo con i "penitenti" (cfr.Vis. V,2 e Mand. XII, 6,1) permette loro la vittoria sullo

spirito del male (cfr. Mand. XII, 4,7 e cap. 5) e di raggiungere perciò lo stato della metanoia. 4) Infine, come in parte è stato già detto, il Pastore è il protettore dei "penitenti", il loro angelo custode, secondo l'espressione che viene adoperata

in tutti icommenti. Si deve aggiungere tuttavia che questa presentazione del Pastore è vera soltanto nel caso dei "penitenti", perchè il Pastore, non è il protettore di tutti gli uomini, ma soltanto di coloro che osservano i precetti della sua regola. Che la tutela del Pastore si limiti ai "penitenti" lo fa capire il Pastore stesso nel Mand. IV, 4,3 quando dice al veggente di osservare i suoi precetti dirò tod viv, cioè dal giorno in cui è stato affidato a lui e che solo a questa condizione abiterà con lui e quindi lo proteggerà. La logica conseguenza è che l'osservanza dei precetti e la protezione del Pastore vanno

insieme; la protezione dipende dall'osservanza dei precetti. Anche al riguardo 59Cfr. Documento di Damasco V,11 (e Regola della Comunità IV, 23-24); VII 3-4; si veda anche F. NOETSCHER, "Heiligkeit in der Qumranschrift", Revue de Qumràn 2 (1960) p. 312.

51E' l'adozionismo cristologico secondo Erma. 52Questa sezione è un compendio della tematica principale della regola del Pastore, cfr. L. CIRILLO, "La christologie pneumatique de la cinquième parabole du "Pasteur" d'Hermas" in Revue de l'Histoire des Religions 184 (1973) 24-48. 53Gesii Cristo fu giustificato dall'osservanza della Legge; ogni uomo può divenire come Cristo se osserva i precetti della Legge: GCS 26, 221 Wendland.

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del ruolo di protettore dei "penitenti" che svolge il Pastore si pud osservare

che esso ricalcava un modello della religiosità giudaica e più particolarmente quello del "principe delle luci" secondo l'istruzione qumränica sui due spiriti (cfr. IQH III,20). Questo angelo, comunemente identificato con l'arcangelo

Michele (cfr. 1QM XIII, 9-10), ha "il potere su tutti i figli della giustizia", in

quanto esercita il controllo sullo "spirito di verità (= spirito santo) e perciò

sulla vita spirituale dei figli della luce, come analogamente fa il Pastore*4. Sulla base di queste poche ma indispensabili premesse, ritorniamo alla scena del riconoscimento del Pastore. La Vis. V non è soltanto il testo dell'epifania del rivelatore, della guida e del protettore dei "penitenti", ma

anche il testo che fa capire a quali condizioni si realizza la pretezione del Pastore. Il significato della scena dipende interamente dall'aspetto che aveva il Pastore al suo arrivo e dalla sua trasformazione (1AA.0100m n ide& abdrod). Come è stato detto sopra, il veggente conosceva il Pastore,

se ora non lo

riconosce è perchè si è rivelato con un aspetto diverso. Infatti alla domanda del veggente "Chi sei?", il Pastore risponde meravigliato: "Non mi riconosci? Io sono il Pastore al quale sei stato affidato!". Così è chiaro che il mancato riconoscimento è dovuto all'aspetto esteriore del Pastore.Ci chiediamo allora

qual era la forma che aveva assunto. Come già aveva indicato il Peterson°®, la risposta si trova nelle parabole sesta e settima della stessa "Apocalisse", le quali dimostrano che esistono altri due pastori (oltre al Pastore): (1) l'angelo

della voluttà e dell'errore (6 &yyeAoc tpveiic Kai ardmnc), (2) l'angelo del

castigo (ò üyyeAoc tic tipopiac) o angelo giustiziere (tiu@pnine). Il primo ha tutta le caratteristiche dell'angelo del male (cfr. Mand. VI, 2,4-6) ed è perciò una rappresentazione dello spirito del male (o "spirito cattivo" di cui sopra). L'angelo del castigo invece ha la funzione di accogliere i peccatori che abbandonano l'angelo dell'errore, di sottoporli a dure prove (simboleggiate dalle "spine" e dai "cardi" che abbondano nel luogo ripido che fa da scenario alla visione, cfr. Sim. VI, 2,6) e di prepararli cosi all'azione che il Pastore si accinge a svolgere. Le sofferenze alle quali l'angelo del castigo sottopone gli 541 ‘autore ha dato al Pastore ruoli diversi che si ispirano a modelli giudaici diversi.

SSArt. cit. p. 278s.

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uomini sono perciò delle prove salutari. In pratica la sua azione è quella dell'angelo della giustizia (cfr. Mand. VI, 2,3) e quindi dello "spirito buono".

L'aspetto che il Pastore aveva al suo arrivo era quello dell'angelo del castigo, come si può vedere confrontando il testo di Vis. V,1 con quello di Sim. VI, 2,5. Di qui il suo mancato riconoscimento e il sospetto da parte del veggente

che fosse venuto per tentarlo. Dalle due parabole citate, importantissime nella struttura dell'Apocalisse" perchè illustrano il processo attraverso cui si realizza la metanoia, sembra che l'angelo del castigo rappresenti un modo di

agire del Pastore e che sia perciò soltanto un modo diverso di manifestarsi del Pastore stesso. La Occorre richiamare a questo proposito uno dei principi basilari del

dualismo di Erma (o del suo ambiente): le opere di Dio hanno due aspetti o due volti, sono duplici56, Il Pastore non sfugge a questo principio: (a) sottopone i "penitenti" a dure prove, (b) li protegge. La dinamica della Vis. V, come l'intero contesto cui si accennava prima e relativo alla protezione del Pastore, insegna che il secondo momento dipende dal primo ed è conzizionato ad esso. L'uomo conosce il Pastore come suo protettore dopo aver superato le prove alle quali viene sottoposto. Il termine OXiyıc e il verbo ad esso corrispondente, nelle due parabole indicate, hanno ovviamente un significato del tutto diverso da quello che aveva lo stesso termine nelle Vis. I-IV e soprattutto nella Vis. IV, ove

indicava cioè la persecuzione che si preparava e che i fedeli dovevano attendere senza aver paura. Nelle due parabole invece le "prove" sono di natura spirituale e tra queste bisogna includere certamente l'osservanza dei precetti della regola rivelata dal Pastore. Questa idea corrisponde al significato del testo di Sim. VI, 3,6, in cui l'azione dell'angelo del castigo precede cronologicamente, in quanto prepara alla naideia del Pastore. E questo conferma che il Pastore è l'angelo custode solo dei "penitenti". Ma è anche possibile che la dipendenza del secondo momento dal primo sia più di natura logica che cronologica. Sembra essere proprio questa l'idea del Pastore

S6R' un'applicazione della concezione dualistica del mondo, cfr. Mand. VIII,1; VII,4.

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quando dice al veggente: "Non mi riconosci? Sono il Pastore al quale sei stato affidato!". Cioè il Pastore è simultaneamente angelo del castigo e angelo protettore. A questo punto il Pastore si trasforma e il veggente lo riconosce (cfr. éréyvov adtdv ) nella sua doppia funzione di angelo del castigo e angelo protettore. E una volta riconosciuto, il Pastore detta "i capitoli

fondamentali" della regola. In questo modo la conoscenza del Pastore coincide con la conoscenza della regola e ovviamento con l'impegno ad osservarla. Questo movimento di idee rivela che Erma aveva una concezione

della Legge affine a quella che viene espressa dall'autore della prima lettera di Giovanni 2,3. Da questo sappiamo di conoscere il Cristo, se osserviamo i

suoi precetti (EvtoAat). Nella lettera giovannea come nell'opera di Erma la consapevolezza della conoscenza del Cristo o del Pastore è attestata dall'osservanza dell'intero corpo disciplinare voluto dall'uno o dall'altro. Il terzo elemento fondamentale da mettere in risalto nella Vis. V è che la salvezza (conformemente alla mentalità giudaica) dipende strettamente

dall'osservanza dei precetti (cfr.: "Riceverete dal Signore tutto ciò che vi ha promesso", vers. 7). Si hanno così tre idee importanti nella scena del riconoscimento del Pastore: (a) la conoscenza del Pastore si identifica con (b)

la conoscenza della sua legge, (c) l'osservanza della legge causa la salvezza.

In questa interpretazione della Vis.

V nessun elemento fa pensare che il.

veggente riconosca o incontri nel Pastore la sua propria "immagine" o il "Se

stesso". Trasformandosi il Pastore non assume l'aspetto di Erma, ma da angelo del castigo, quale appariva inizialmente, si trasforma in angelo protettore. Diverso invece è il significato della stessa espressione della Vis. V,

éréyvov avtov, adoperata da Mani nel CMC 24,10. Qui Mani riconosce ‘veramente nell'angelo rivelatore dei misteri celesti la sua controparte divina, il suo gemello, Colui dal quale si era separato venendo nel mondo. La figura dell'angelo rivelatore, che è anche protettore e difensore, Mani l'aveva certamente conosciuta dalla tradizione dei Battisti. Mani tuttavia ha profondamente trasformato questa figura considerandola come una rappresentazione del "Se stesso" divino che si incarna in lui e lo rende

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"Apostolo della luce" o la manifestazione definitiva del Profeta di verita,

secondo la terminologia giudeocristiana57. Si può forse dare una diversa valutazione alla leggenda gnostica citata nel

cap. 61 della Pistis Sophia e ai capitoli degli Atti di Tommaso di cui sopra. La leggenda gnostica infatti sembra essere basata su una fonte giudeocristiana

che, come Erma, parlava di binitarismo, e identificata lo Spirito santo col Figlio di Dio. Dagli Atti di Tommaso invece si deduce che il rapporto dell'apostolo Tommaso col Cristo è affine a quello del Pastore col Figlio di

Dio nell'opera di Erma. Giuda Tommaso infatti è apostolo e collaboratore del Cristo specificamente per quanto riguarda della metanoia58, D'altra parte Giuda Tommaso è il "gemello" del Cristo e il Cristo è "simile" a Tommaso. Il rapporto così descritto corrisponde a quello che esiste tra Mani e il suo gemello ma non al rapporto di Erma col Pastore. La Vis. V non riguarda questo problema, essa prospetta invece una

particolare dottrina della rivelazione, analoga mutatis mutandis a quella della rivelazione manichea: la conoscenza del Pastore coincide con la conoscenza dei suoi "precetti", l'ubbidienza alla regola rivelata conduce alla salvezza. Nella rivelazione manichea accettare il szygos e la gnosi da lui rivelata si

STLa figura dell'angelo rivelatore della Legge e intermediario quindi tra Dio e gli uomini è giudeocristiana, come si vede dalle stesse Apocalissi che sono citate nel CMC, cfr. 49,4; 60,12. Per quanto riguarda l'angelo al-Tawm (= compagno) di Mani, (syzygos), cfr. ALNADIM,

Fihrist,

ed. G. FLUGEL, Mani seine Lehre und seine Schriften, 1862, p. 84;

140-144. Cfr. anche le Omelie (ed. H.J. POLOTSKY), p. 47,10 e CMC 2,10; 4,9; 126,11. per quanto riguarda il syzygos rivelatore della sapienza divina cfr. Omelie, p. 47,8-10; Frammento M 49 in medio persiano (ed. F.C. ANDREAS - W.B. HENNING, "Mitteliranische Manichaica aus Chinesisch-Turkestan II", Sitzungsberichte der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig ), p. 307s. Sull'angelo protettore cfr. Kephalaia,

VII (Edd. POLOTSKY, BOEHLIG) p. 36,1-6; CMC 24,8; 32,14; 34,8 (obuBovAoc) 33,4; 105,3 (érixovpog); 33,5 (pbAaE); anche CMC 40,1-6; 105,3-8 e A. HENRICHS, L. KOENEN in ZPE 5 (1970) pp. 161-171. 58Nei capp. 51-61 i temi sono quelli trattati da Erma, (a) la metanoia, la conversione della donna che aveva peccato; (b) la tutela dell'apostolo Giuda Tommaso sulla donna.

L'Apostolo ha dunque il ruolo del Pastore. D'altra parte Giuda Tommaso è compagno del Cristo, suo assistente e collaboratore, suo "gemello" (6 ${Bvpoc tod xpiotod, cap. 31, p.

148,9; 39, p. 156,12.15) mentre il Cristo è "simile" a Tomasso (cfr. è 5€ cor Sporoe, cap. 57, p. 174,7 Lipsius, Bonnet).

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traduce nell'osservanza dei comandamenti e nella pratica delle buone opere, da cui scaturisce la.salvezza.

THEOLOGY LIBRARY CLAREMONT, CA

INDICE

Presentazione

L. KOENEN,

How

Dualistic is Mani’s Dualism?

A. BOHLIG, Die Bedeutung des CMC J. MAIER,

für den Manichäismus

Il codice ‘‘Mani’’ di Colonia come fonte per la storia giudaica

S. GIVERSEN,

Mani’s Apology (CMC 91,19-97,21)

33

Si

67

C. ROMER, Manis Reise durch die Luft

77

L. CIRILLO, Il Pastore nell’opera di Erma e il syzygos di Mani

93

Stampato dalla litogratia F.A.R.A.P. San Giovanni in Persiceto - BO - Tel. 051/822165 Febbraio 1990