For the work by Evagrius Ponticus, see Kephalaia Gnostika.
Kephalaia
Information
Religion
Manichaeism
Language
Coptic[1]
Period
c. 5th century
Kephalaia (Greek and Coptic: ⲕⲉⲫⲁⲗⲁⲓⲁ, lit. 'chapters, headings') is a genre of Manichaean literature represented mainly by two large papyrus codices containing Coptic translations from 5th-century Roman Egypt.[1] The kephalaia are sometimes seen as the actual words or teachings of the prophet Mani, 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 in Judaism and the ḥadīth in Islam.[2]
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.[1][3]
The discovery of the Kephalaia has been revolutionary in transforming scholarship on early Manichaean traditions and even the secular history of the Sasanian Empire.[1]
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 Manichaean communities in the early Sasanian period within the 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 Shapur II and his successors.[1]
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.[4] In the Kephalaia, Jesus is an emanation of the Father of Greatness and identical with the "Third Envoy" and the "living word," brought forth to restore the damage done by the rebellion of the Archons.[5] When Jesus the Splendour descends to the earth, he later takes on the shape of flesh to manifest himself in the material world.[6]
The descriptions of the Lord of Darkness in chapters 6 and 27 of the Kephalaia have close parallels in chapter 12.6 of the Mandaean Right Ginza.[7]
^ abcdeGardner 2018.
^Pettipiece 2009, pp. 7–8.
^Pettipiece 2009, pp. 231–236.
^Lindt, Paul Van (1992). The Names of Manichaean Mythological Figures: A Comparative Study on Terminology in the Coptic Sources. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 144–5. ISBN 978-3-447-03312-1.
^Heuser, Manfred; Klimkeit, Hans-Joachim (26 October 2020). Studies in Manichaean Literature and Art. BRILL. p. 60. ISBN 978-90-04-44043-2.
^Franzmann, Majella (1 November 2003). Jesus in the Manichaean Writings. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-567-50414-2.
Kephalaia (Greek and Coptic: ⲕⲉⲫⲁⲗⲁⲓⲁ, lit. 'chapters, headings') is a genre of Manichaean literature represented mainly by two large papyrus codices...
one year. The New Testament was divided into topical sections known as kephalaia by the fourth century. Eusebius of Caesarea divided the gospels into parts...
The Kephalaia Gnostika (Greek: Γνωστικὰ Κεφάλαια, meaning Chapters on Knowledge, or Propositions on Knowledge) is a 4th-century work by Evagrius Ponticus...
Persian, and the Arzhang, a series of illustrations painted by Mani. The Kephalaia are not scriptural but rather a secondary literature on Manichaeism commenting...
Manichaen writings, he is commonly called as such in the Kephalaia of the Teacher. In the Kephalaia, Jesus is an emanation of the Father of Greatness and...
Rescriptus use also a division according to the larger sections – κεφάλαια (kephalaia, chapters). Alexandrinus is the earliest manuscript which uses κεφάλαια...
currently held at the Neues Museum in Berlin. P15995 Synaxeis P15996 Kephalaia (volume 1) P15997 Acts P15998 Letters P15999 Homilies (Berlin part) A...
of the Gospels. It contains divisions into larger sections (κεφάλαια (kephalaia), or chapters), the headings of these sections (τίτλοι / titloi) stand...
List of kephalaia (chapters) in the Gospel of Mark, placed after the colophon of the Gospel of Matthew and before the Gospel of Mark, in the Codex Alexandrinus...
Eulogius / To Eulogius) is also an early work. The Praktikos The Gnostikos Kephalaia Gnostica (Problemata Gnostica) De oratione (De oratione caputula = Chapters...
Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings: Studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex (2014), p. 86 Brosius, Maria (2000). "WOMEN i. In Pre-Islamic Persia"...
impassible, to reveal the truth hidden in every being. The third book, Kephalaia Gnostika, was meant for meditation by advanced monks. Those writings made...
of the Book of Giants they are referred to as kʾw, while in the Coptic Kephalaia as gigas. In accordance with some interpretations of Genesis 6:1–4, the...
paintings. Therefore, Iranians gave him the title of "The Painter". The Kephalaia of the Teacher (Κεφαλαια), "Discourses", found in Coptic translation....
century A.D., Aksum had gained recognition by the prophet Mani in the Kephalaia, as one of the four great powers of the world alongside Rome, Persia,...
l'Occident barbare VIe-VIIIe siècles, 1962. 5 Antoine Guillaumont: Les 'kephalaia gnostica' d'Evagre le Pontique et l'histoire de l'origénisme chez les...
of Giants Fundamental Epistle Manichaean Psalter Shabuhragan Arzhang Kephalaia, found in Coptic translation. Orphic poems The Four Books and Five Classics:...
Methone (probably from Procopius of Gaza), is now claimed for Gregory. The Kephalaia peri pisteos dodeka or Twelve Chapters on Faith do not seem to be the...
Beatty Kephalaia". In Gardner, Iain; BeDuhn, Jason; Dilley, Paul (eds.). Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings: Studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex...
De Fide) Frank Williams ISBN 978-90-04-09898-5 37 1995 Manichaeism The Kephalaia of the Teacher: The Edited Coptic Manichaean Texts in Translation with...
Oxford University Press, 2010. Kawadas, Nestor. Isaak von Ninive und seine Kephalaia Gnostika: Die Pneumatologie und ihr Kontext. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae...
Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings: Studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex. BRILL. pp. 1–332. ISBN 9789004282629. Weber, Ursula (2016). "Narseh"...
common two-letter forms.: 43 A list of chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia) is preserved before the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. One may...
Mani at the court of the Persian kings : studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex. Leiden, Netherlands. p. 104. ISBN 9789004282629.{{cite book}}:...
Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings: Studies in the Cheaster Beatty Kephalaia Codex. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies. Vol. 87. Leiden, Netherlands:...
Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings Studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex 2015.pdf | Codex | Color". Scribd. Retrieved 2017-11-22. "Trismegistos"...
King of Darkness have parallels in chapters 6 and 27 of the Manichaean Kephalaia. 27 paragraphs in Gelbert (2011). The chapter begins with the opening...
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