The Gospel of the Prophet Mani

by Duncan Greenlees

For many centuries Manicheism was a powerful and far-reaching religion, rivaled only by Christianity in its scope, but today it is virtually unheard of. It was more dualistic, Gnostic and spiritual so became the arch rival of Christianity and was ultimately stamped out. Every effort has been made to remove it from the memory of humankind and, for the most part, these efforts were a success. Today, however, there is a resurgence of interest in Gnostic thought and teachings. This book will contribute a wealth of new information that would otherwise be lost to history. There is without question no better book on the subject. The author has assembled every known lost fragment of the faith that could possibly be found in order to accurately reassemble its doctrines and teachings. The information is presented factually, without a bias in either direction, to document this movement and its history accurately. He lets the teachings speak for themselves, which allows the reader to make an independent assessment regarding its veracity. From an historical point of view the book is valuable because it both broadens and clarifies our view of religious history, showing what Christianity was truly up against and why Manicheism remained so popular for so long. There is no doubt that the prophet Mani was a great spiritual teacher - he had to be for the religion to flourish for so long. It lasted for over one thousand years in one form or another. Many of the holy books written by Mani have been lost or destroyed, only fragments remain, while his followers were killed and persecuted for centuries. What has been recovered has been painstakingly pieced together in this important work for the benefit of scholars, religious researchers and those interested in alternative spiritual paths.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Gnosticism

580 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2007

Reviews

[Yomna Saber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for Greenless to compile the material of this book. Being a gnostic doctrine, Manicheanism was destroyed by the clergymen of the three religions it attempted to bring together, namely, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. The gospel itself only starts on page 200, the long introduction provides a significant context for Mani and his times from the political, geographical, historical and religious backgrounds. It's a pity that this religion failed to survive, the teachings of Mani are amazing and his life story deserves to be told over and over again.

[Massimo Venegoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook version.
It is hard to give a full objective evaluation of a religious book, even more so to an incomplete one.

Nevertheless, the manicheist writings are to be praised as one of the main conveyors of the faith, able to spread it in almost all the corners in the known world in a matter of 2 centuries after its foundation.

Whatever your creed or culture, there are undoubtedly learnings to be taken from such a complex faith, purposedly built on the practices of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. A true world religion.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was eagerly waiting to it's new print at online stores. When i had the book, i faced an opus. Duncan Greenlees wrote a serial, totally 14 books. "Gospel of the..." books about like islam, zoroastrianism, the prophet Mani, Israel, China. This one, "Gospel of the Prophet Mani" is 12th book of the series.

This book ingredients some important fragments of manicheist leaders, wide summary of manichean cosmogony, some prayers, important holy persons and figures, gods and goddesses, main ways of the faith, narrations derivered from manicheist fragments around the world, religious elements and virtues of clergy. He always reffers to sources so you can dig for more information. If you want to understand "what is manicheism" with one book, this is the book you need. Author sided to manicheism and manicheists in stories that the book ingredients. It is written in 1950's. After that decade more manichean fragments had been found around the world or published by scholars. Mr. Greenlees gone in 1966 and if i am not wrong, he or publisher or an editor did not update the book. However in my opinion the original text is still "must read" about manicheism.

[Oğuzhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yazar metinleri olduğu gibi vermemiş, bulduğu fragmanlardan kendisi bir metin çıkarmış daha çok. Böyle daha bütün bir okuma oluyor tabii ama beklentim bu değildi. Konu üzerinde okumaya devam etmek için iyi bir referans kitabı olabilir ama.

[Jönathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of Manichaean texts forming an enchantingly readable introduction to the Faith of the Prophet Mani.