Talk:Mani (prophet)

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Contents 1 Gospel of Mani 2 Not Gnostic 3 Corrections sent to OTRS. 4 Hermes and Plato? 5 On "Manes" 6 Mani in fiction 7 Unprovable claims 8 Legacy

[edit] Gospel of Mani

Should the Gospel of Mani be mentioned?

[edit] Not Gnostic

Maichaeanism is not a Gnostic religion. In it you were not saved by Gnosis but by ascetic practice and the ritual meal as one of the elect.

There is a theory that Manichaenism influenced the development of Gnostic belief, though. - cf IN SEARCH OF ZARATHUSTRA. ThePeg 2006

[edit] Corrections sent to OTRS.

The error is in this entry: ? Mani (prophet), a third-century Iranian prophet, the founder of the dualistic Manichaean religion, which borrowed eclecticallyfrom Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism

Mani was from Babel, not Iran; he was protected by the Sassanian emperor Shapur during Shapur's lifetime. Guided by an inner voice, Mani taught, not so much a new religion as divine generosity, reverence for the light in every soul, and respectful enquiry into wisdom in all religions, an enquiry to be led by an elect that lived as mendicants and studied texts and fine and applied arts,using their knowledge and skills for the benefit of all,with particular attention to those most in need. Mani's influence spread widely, including among the worshippers of Ahura Mazda (or Zoroastrians) -- the official religion of the empire, of muhammad, and of Jesus of Nazareth. Queen Zenobia of Palmyra was one of his adherents.

Manichee (Mani-Hayy) means" the living Mani"and was the name used by those faithful to him after his death, ordered by the usurping son of Shapur (heavily influenced by the head magus): see Les Jardins de Lumiere by Amin Maalouf, editions J-C Latte[accent grave]s1991 (The Gardens of Light in English translation by Dorothy Blair, Imprint 1999)

So then this entry seems incomplete: ? Mani (name), a Persian and Indian masculine personal name

From OTRS 2006081710008202. -- Jeandré, 2006-08-24t11:36z

[edit] Hermes and Plato?

The article on Mani says, 'He [Mani] later claimed to be the Paraclete promised in the New Testament, the Last Prophet or Seal of the Prophets, finalizing a succession of men guided by God, which included figures such as Seth, Noah, Abraham, Shem, Nikotheos, Enoch, Zoroaster, Hermes, Plato, Buddha and Jesus.' I am not sure what evidence there is that Mani considered Hermes or Plato prophets. I suggest that this claim be either supported with a reference or else deleted (I've raised the same issue on the Manichaeism talk page). Skoojal (talk) 07:18, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] On "Manes"

The statement in the main text:

"his name to Mani (from "Manes" in Persian, meaning "discourse")."

does not make sense to me! I have consulted various dictionaries (Dehkhoda for modern Persian and various dictionaries on Avestan, Old Persian and Middle Persian) but have proved unable to find any word resembling "Manes". The word "Munes" (companion, friend) does exist in Modern Persian, as well as the verb "Mānestan" (to resemble). In English we have the Latin word "Manes" which according to OED means: "The deified souls of departed ancestors (as beneficent spirits; ...). Also, the spirit, `shade' of a departed person, considered as an object of homage or reverence, or as demanding to be propitiated by vengeance." In short, I am unable to connect "Mani" with the supposedly "Persian" word "Manes", meaning apparently "discourse". The closest that I have been able to get is to the Avestan word "ąnmā", meaning "spirit", "breath", and the Old Persian word "manā", meaning "I". --BF 01:27, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mani in fiction

I'm not sure what the point is of having a 'Mani in fiction' section. Plenty of novels have been written about Jesus, but the article on Jesus has no section about fiction. Skoojal (talk) 09:23, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I've contented myself with shortening this section. Skoojal (talk) 09:32, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Unprovable claims

The article says, 'Mani was an exceptionally gifted child and he inherited his father's mystic temperament.' I have added a citation needed tag for this, but really, I wonder whether it shouldn't just be removed altogether. Obviously there is no way of knowing what kind of temperament Mani may or may not have inherited. For that matter, how can one know for sure that he was an 'exceptionally gifted child'? Skoojal (talk) 23:17, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Legacy

Much of the material in the section I've retitled Legacy seems to over-lap with what can be found in the main article on Manichaeism, so I wonder whether it should be deleted. Skoojal (talk) 23:33, 2 June 2008 (UTC)