عنوان

'Human Semen Eucharist' Among the Manichaeans?

شماره

LA129062

زبان متن نوشتاري يا گفتاري و مانند آن

انگلیسی

عنوان اصلي

'Human Semen Eucharist' Among the Manichaeans?

نام عام مواد

[Article]

نام نخستين پديدآور

Johannes van Oort

محل نشرو پخش و غیره

Leiden

نام ناشر، پخش کننده و غيره

Brill

متن يادداشت

Starting from his De haeresibus 46,9-10, the present article examines Augustine's contention that, among the Manichaeans, there was a certain ceremony in which human semen (i.e., sperma and menstrual fluid) was collected and consumed during a eucharistic rite. My contextual analysis of the pivotal passage, haer. 46,9-10, is followed by an overview of scholarly opinions on this text. From here I proceed to interpret the incriminated rite in light of the Seduction of the Archons myth and conclude that, according to Augustine, the Manichaeans consider the 'vital substance' (or 'light' or 'living soul') in the life of plants, animals and human beings, to be the very nature of God, which should be released whenever possible. I finish my research by interpreting the Manichaean practice within a wider 'gnostic' context, in particular Epiphanius' report on the 'Borborites'. My final conclusion is that we should try to understand both Manichaeans (like the 'Catharists') and Gnostics (like the 'Borborites') according to their own logic: both appear to have considered the life-substance of man, i.e., the semen, as divine, and indeed a part of God. Starting from his De haeresibus 46,9-10, the present article examines Augustine's contention that, among the Manichaeans, there was a certain ceremony in which human semen (i.e., sperma and menstrual fluid) was collected and consumed during a eucharistic rite. My contextual analysis of the pivotal passage, haer. 46,9-10, is followed by an overview of scholarly opinions on this text. From here I proceed to interpret the incriminated rite in light of the Seduction of the Archons myth and conclude that, according to Augustine, the Manichaeans consider the 'vital substance' (or 'light' or 'living soul') in the life of plants, animals and human beings, to be the very nature of God, which should be released whenever possible. I finish my research by interpreting the Manichaean practice within a wider 'gnostic' context, in particular Epiphanius' report on the 'Borborites'. My final conclusion is that we should try to understand both Manichaeans (like the 'Catharists') and Gnostics (like the 'Borborites') according to their own logic: both appear to have considered the life-substance of man, i.e., the semen, as divine, and indeed a part of God.

تاريخ نشر

2016

توصيف ظاهري

193-216

عنوان

Vigiliae Christianae

شماره جلد

70/2

شماره استاندارد بين المللي پياييندها

1570-0720

اصطلاح موضوعی

Augustine

اصطلاح موضوعی

Borborites

اصطلاح موضوعی

Catharists

اصطلاح موضوعی

Early Christian heresies

اصطلاح موضوعی

Epiphanius

اصطلاح موضوعی

Gnosticism

اصطلاح موضوعی

Manichaeism

اصطلاح موضوعی

Roman Africa

اصطلاح موضوعی

semen eucharist

مستند نام اشخاص تاييد نشده

Johannes van Oort

شماره بازیابی

10.1163/15700720-12301032

نام الکترونيکي

فرمت انتشار

p

نوع ماده

[Article]

کد کاربرگه

275578

سطح دسترسي

a

تكميل شده

Y