Roozbeh Zarrinkoob; Toufiq Hosseini
Abstract
The impression and influence of intellectual concepts and beliefs on one another has always been the subject of scholars’ research throughout of history. The evolution of the ...
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The impression and influence of intellectual concepts and beliefs on one another has always been the subject of scholars’ research throughout of history. The evolution of the myth of creation in religions’ beliefs that were influenced by previous concepts and religions is a notable example of such internal interactions. Mani, as the creator of the Manichaean, spent much of his intellectual and mental life among believers in Gnostic thought, and was influenced by these beliefs when the Manichaeism was formed by him. An important and widespread part of Mani's teachings and beliefs, is the myth of creation that included the pretext of Mani and his Prophecy, namely, the need to reconstruct the premade creative elements and stories, with possible Gnostic roots regarding the concept of creation. Mani not only in the context of his narrative of creation but also in his perception of the concepts and elements of the myth of creation had used Gnostic beliefs. The identity and style of the myths of this mythical story, though new shaped, are same old concepts of Gnostic patterns. Therefore, this study aims to examine the Gnostic roots of the myth of Mani’s narrative of creation; moreover, by descriptive and analytical method of primary sources of Mani and his Believers, this research examines the influence of Gnosticism on Manichean sources. It concludes that Mani used not only Gnostic themes in recreating the story of the creation myth but also in the elements and concepts of his narrative of creation.
