Manichaean Eschatology: Gnostic-Christian Thinking about the Last Things

Abstract

The past decades have seen the publication of new Manichaean texts such as the Greek Mani-Codex and new editions of pivotal eschatological texts such as the Coptic Sermon on the Great War and Mani ’ s Šā buhrag ā n. When combined with previously discovered Manichaean texts and, for instance, polemics from the Church Fathers, these texts throw a new light on Manichaean eschatology. The present chapter aims at presenting some of these new insights, while stressing that Manichaean eschatology, both according to Western and Eastern sources, awards the central position in eschatological events to Jesus.