Kephalaia (Greek for "chapters" or "headings") are a genre of

Manichaean 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 ...

literature represented mainly by two large

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

containing

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

translations from 5th-century

Roman Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

. The ''kephalaia'' are sometimes seen as the actual words or teachings of the prophet

Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...

, but are probably better viewed as later discourses and interpretations laid upon "an authoritative oral tradition" ostensibly going back to Mani and thus analogous to the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and the ''

ḥadīth Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

'' in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. Although the Kephalaia likely originated, like hadiths as accounts of the life and actions of Mani, the utility of the genre was such that it came to incorporate a wide variety of literary styles subjected artificially to the constraints of the format: instruction, exegesis, narrative, dialogue, parable, miracle-story, and even epic traditions. The discovery of the Kephalaia has been revolutionary in transforming scholarship on early Manichaean traditions, and even the secular history of the Sassanid Empire. Despite the apocryphal and heavily reworked nature of the available text, most prominently from Coptic translation, it is an authentic representation of traditions first held and developed by the Manichean communities in the early

Sasanian period The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

and within the Iranian empire. As such, this is a unique source for literature, religion and society from a known context that substantially pre-dates most other available resources concerning the reigns of Šāpur I and his successors. While Jesus is only rarely called ''Jesus the Splendour'' in other Manichaen writings, he is commonly called as such in the

Kephalaia of the Teacher Kephalaia (Greek for "chapters" or "headings") are a genre of Manichaean literature represented mainly by two large papyrus codices containing Coptic language, Coptic translations from 5th-century Roman Egypt. The ''kephalaia'' are sometimes seen ...

. In the Kephalaia, Jesus is an emanation of the

Father of Greatness The Father of Greatness (Syriac-Aramaic: ; zh, t=明尊, zhu=ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄗㄨㄣ, w=Ming2-tsun1, p=Míngzūn, l=Radiant Lord) is the eternal divine manifestation of good in Manichaeism,Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer. ''The Gnostic Bible: Revi ...

and apparently identical with the ''Third Envoy'' and the ''living word'', brought forth to restore the damage done by the rebellion of the

Archons ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

. When Jesus the Splendour descends to the earth, he later takes on the shape of flesh to manifest himself in the material world.

Majella Franzmann Majella Franzmann is a professor in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA). Early life and education Majella Maria Franzmann was born in 1952. Franzm ...

''Jesus in the Manichaean Writings'' Bloomsbury Publishing 2003 p. 101

References

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External links

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