Leaf from a Manichaean Book (MIK III 4979)

The Father of Greatness (

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

: ; zh, t=明尊, zhu=ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄗㄨㄣ, w=Ming2-tsun1, p=Míngzūn, l=Radiant Lord) is the eternal divine manifestation of good in

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

,Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer. ''The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition'', Shambhala Publications, 2009, , pages 4, 595, 827 a four-fold deity, embracing

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

and

good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

ness. His throne is surrounded by at least 156 peaceful entities: 12

aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...

s, aeons of the aeons and

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

s. When the Prince of Darkness assaulted the ''realm of light'', he invoked entities of light to ward off the invaders. These entities mingled with the

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

s and gave existence to the earthly beings, thus humans carry consubstantial light particles of the Father of Greatness, but are unaware of them, until they awaken from their ''sleep'' by remembering their divine origin. The Father of Greatness responds by creating a series of entities to prepare a rescue for light particles.

Theodicy

Manichaeism rejects everything associated with evil from the Father of Greatness, the Manichaean

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

. Neither can he cause suffering nor is he able to charge. He can merely defend. Thus, the power of the Father of Greatness is limited by its own nature. Although he is not all-powerful, in the

end time The end time (also called end times, end of time, end of days, last days, final days, doomsday, or eschaton) refers to: * Eschatology in various religions—beliefs concerning the final events of history or the destiny of humanity End Time, En ...

he will have gathered all light particles and evil will be banished into its own kingdom never commingling again. Therefore, Manichaeism also rejects the portrayal of God in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, who promises victory over one's enemies (

Lev Lev may refer to: Common uses *Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah People and fictional characters *Lev (given name) *Lev (surname) Places *Lev, Azerbaijan, a ...

: 26:3-10). Accordingly, the

problem of evil The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,The Problem of Evil, Michael TooleyThe Internet Encyclope ...

can be solved straightforwardly as God is limited in his power against forces beyond the ''world of light'' and by his own nature.David Vincent Meconi, Eleonore Stump The Cambridge Companion to Augustine'' Cambridge University Press 2014 p.98''

References

Conceptions of God Gnostic deities Manichaeism Names of God in Gnosticism {{Manichaeism-stub

Theodicy

See also

References