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Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith Rediscovered de Dr Nicholas J. Baker-Brian

Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith Rediscovered

Autor Dr Nicholas J. Baker-Brian
en Limba Engleză Paperback – 17 feb 2011

Apreciem modul în care Manichaeism reușește să transforme un subiect academic complex într-o expunere accesibilă, fără a sacrifica rigoarea științifică. Vocabularul tematic acoperit de Dr Nicholas J. Baker-Brian introduce cititorul în terminologia specifică tradiției creștine aramaice din Mesopotamia secolului al III-lea, explorând concepte fundamentale precum dualismul cosmogonic, structura ecleziologică și natura sincretică a credinței. Suntem de părere că această lucrare umple un gol esențial, fiind prima introducere generală care nu se adresează exclusiv specialiștilor, ci și studenților la teologie sau istorie.

Structura volumului urmărește o progresie logică, începând cu redescoperirea surselor și controversele istorice, continuând cu viața lui Mani și culminând cu două capitole dense dedicate teologiei, universului și ritualurilor comunității. Autorul analizează evoluția bisericii maniheene de la emergența sa în Imperiul Roman și cel Bizantin până la supraviețuirea sa surprinzătoare în China medievală. Această perspectivă extinsă completează excelent volumul The Founder of Manichaeism de Iain Gardner, adăugând o analiză teologică și ecleziologică detaliată biografiei deja existente a profetului Mani.

Ceea ce diferențiază acest titlu este efortul de reabilitare a imaginii maniheismului. În loc să se bazeze doar pe scrierile polemice ale adversarilor religiei, Baker-Brian integrează surse literare originale, oferind o viziune echilibrată asupra sistemului de gândire manihean. Textul depășește percepția tradițională a religiei ca fiind doar o erezie gnostică, prezentând-o ca o credință mondială de sine stătătoare, cu o influență vastă asupra drumului mătăsii și a schimburilor culturale între est și vest.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780567031679
ISBN-10: 0567031675
Pagini: 176
Ilustrații: 10
Dimensiuni: 154 x 232 x 12 mm
Greutate: 0.28 kg
Editura: Bloomsbury Publishing
Colecția T&T Clark
Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom

De ce să citești această carte

Recomandăm această carte studenților și pasionaților de istoria religiilor care doresc să înțeleagă una dintre cele mai influente credințe ale antichității târzii. Cititorul va câștiga o perspectivă clară asupra teologiei maniheene și a modului în care aceasta a navigat între creștinism, zoroastrism și budism. Este un ghid esențial pentru a decoda complexitatea sincretismului religios și a influenței lui Mani asupra gândirii universale.

Descriere

This is the first general comprehensive introduction to Manichaeism aimed at a non-specialist and undergraduate readership. This study will be a historical and theological introduction to Manichaeism. It will comprise a biographical treatment of the founder Mani, situating his personality, his writings and his ideas within the Aramaic Christian tradition of third century (CE) Mesopotamia. It will provide a historical treatment of the Manichaean church in late antiquity (250-700 CE), detailing the emergence of Manichaeism in the late Roman and Byzantine empires, in addition to examining the continuation of Manichaean traditions in the eastern world (China) up to the thirteenth century and beyond. The book will consider the theology of Mani's system, with the aim of providing a clear-eyed treatment of the cosmogonic, scriptural and ecclesiological ideas forming its foundations. The study will base its analysis on original Manichaean literary sources, together with rehabilitating the representation of Manichaeism in those writings that polemicised against the religion. The study will aim to demonstrate the highly syncretic nature of Manichaeism, and will look to move forward 'traditional' perceptions of the religion as being simply a form of Christian Gnostic Dualism.

Cuprins

Introduction / Chapter 1: The Rediscovery of Manichaeism: Controversies and Sources / Chapter 2: Lives of Mani / Chapter 3: Manichaean Theology I: Theology and Text / Chapter 4: Manichaean Theology II: The Universe, Its Rituals, and its Community

Recenzii

Not too long ago, most of what we knew about the Manichaeans - followers of the third-century religious visionary Mani - came from the pens of their many enemies. It was hard to understand how a religion that preached sexual abstinence and vegetarianism as a means to cope with a world ruled by Evil ever enjoyed any success. Yet at its height Manichaeism spread from Mesopotamia to China in the east and Spain in the west; in North Africa, it appealed to the young Augustine of Hippo. In this richly informative new study, Nicholas Baker-Brian digests new discoveries and the explosion of new thinking they have provoked into a solid introduction to a belief system that influenced religious thinking in Europe and Asia for a millennium. He is especially attentive to the connection between lost rituals and myths that for the first time allows readers to see Manichaeism as a comprehensive set of ideas and practices. His exemplary handling of sources and discussion of how to use them make this book as much a primer for students of antiquity as for students of religion.
In the studies of ancient religions and cultures few disciplines are more difficult to approach than Manichaeism, quite simply for its code of conduct, teachings and internal organization has long puzzled scholars. Its study involves the analysis of a number of key areas -theology, mythology, comparative literature and ancient history to name but a few- and deals with texts written in countless languages -namely Latin, ancient Greek, Syrian and Arabic- spanning a period of thirteen centuries, throughout a vast territory. Nevertheless misconceptions, a biased historiographical heritage and a certain degree of sluggishness on the part of many modern scholars in dealing with original sources have all contributed towards constructing a somewhat distorted image of Manichaeism. Hence it is within this context that Nicholas Baker-Brian´s book sets out to dispel such inaccuracies and work towards establishing a more coherent understanding of such a complicated topic, irrespective of the fragmentary and corrupt nature of many of the sources on Mani´s life and teachings. In doing so, Dr. Baker-Brian contests that certain beliefs in such misleading information and evidence derived from ancient heresiologists have long been perpetuated by modern scholars. Insightful analysis of original sources that had been carelessly read and therefore led to methodological misreading are constant throughout this work and help decipher the intricate layers that came to constitute Manichaeism. In free from stereotyping analysis Dr Baker-Brian sets out to deconstruct the monolithic conception that many scholars have come to embrace with regards the figure and doctrines of Mani, citing that they themselves have projected their own concerns onto a very different historical setting and thus adopted many of the ill-found, often biased testimonies that late antique heresiologists had already ascribed to Mani´s doctrines. In analyzing each text and testimony within its own historical context, Dr Baker-Brian goes on to reveal the various literary and historical strategies that helped make up the identity of Manichaeism, elaborating upon religious, mythological and historical elements, rearranged in a final portrait that both clarifies and enriches our knowledge of the religion. Credit is due for the construction of this monograph: for ultimately, thanks largely to the author's endeavors, such exposure seeks to help prevent both scholars and students from relying on simplistic and oversimplified concepts, in turn fortifying the belief in Manichaeism as an autonomous discipline, and most importantly perhaps, opening new lines of investigation for future research free from untainted historical inaccuracies. Once again, this is indeed a very much welcomed contribution that successfully manages to expurgate mistaken beliefs from original sources and modern bibliographies whilst at the same time offers a concise, detailed and substantiated image of Mani and his doctrine.
... manages to incorporate many critical perspectives and discussions... a straightforward and accessible treatment of a topic that is too often neglected.
In short, Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith Rediscovered is quite a straightforward and accessible treatment of a topic that is too often neglected or considered as tangential to other "world" world religions. Baker-Brian's analysis is at home in the academic study of religion, which does not take as self-evident either its object of study or the categories available to describe it.