Customer Reviews

The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics (Italian Texts and Studies on Religion and Society)

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The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics by Edmondo Lupieri (Professor of Christian History, University of Udine, Italy) is a comprehensive and informative introduction to Mandaeanism, a branch of Gnosticism that has survived the last sixteen centuries Christian and Islamic suppression in Iran and Iraq down to the present day. From their history traceable back to the Italian monk Ricoldo da Montecroce, to their legends, customs, ideals, and texts, The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics is a solid and scholarly core reference and offers a wealth of invaluable lore about a unique faith and a special way of life. The Mandaeans is thorough, meticulously presented and fascinating study.

Edmondo Lupieri tackles a very big topic in a very compact book when he crams 273 pages with an introduction to the Mandaeans. Introducing a much neglected area of study in English, Lupieri helps bring the Mandaeans to a wider audience.

The book itself covers a large range of topics, and can sometimes get a little disorganised within each chapter. However, Lupieri does write with style and once he is through the drier section on Mandaean ritual, Lupieri really comes into his own. It is when he starts to discuss the beliefs and history of the Mandaeans that Lupieri's enjoyment and love of the subject shine.

Perhaps the most endearing aspect of the book is that Lupieri assumes no previous knowledge of either the Mandaeans or the wider religion of Gnosticism. In this sense, the book really makes the perfect introduction to Mandaean religion. The reader is not weighted down with heavy, theological concepts and the discussion keeps moving at a healthy pace.

Lupieri is also very clear about the variety of Mandaean ideas, and even the way they contrast with each other. As he writes, sometimes Mandaean thought just doesn't fit our sense of "logic". This makes it all the more interesting.

With a good section that gives you more ideas for further reading, "The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics" is a fantastic starting point. For me, this could be start of a beautiful journey in reading....and extensive damage to my financial state.

The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics by Edmondo Lupieri, 1993/2002

This is a fascinating book on the history of the last Gnostics - the Mandaeans, a group who worships John the Baptist, instead of Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, etc., who are all considered false prophets.

The book covers the history and suppression of these people since the 3rd century, C.E. It also details their beliefs and ideas of astrotheology/Archaeoastronomy and the zodiac, their sacred fruit or Mana, their sexual taboos and freedoms, their religion and worship and provides an interesting insight into a religious / ethnic group who is both staunchly anti-Semite, and ant-Muslim, both of which have suppressed the Mandaeans century after century, causing their near extinction on several occasions.

The Mandaeans have also used and manipulated their similarities to Christianity in order to gain protection from the Catholic Church and other sources throughout history. It wasn't until the 1600's that the Mandaeans in fact began to be recognized as not Christian at all.

Furthermore, the Mandaeans also firmly believe that Jesus is a false messiah - even on the lines of a celestial persona. For how could Jesus be the true Messiah if he was baptized by John the Baptist? Wouldn't John, who baptized him, be the true messiah? From the book Right Ginza, we find a chapter on Jesus called Jesus, the "False Messiah," which, of course, is never mentioned or quoted by Christians as proof of Jesus's historical existence as their Savior (pg. 240-1):

139. After that I explain to you, my faithful. When Nbu (Mercury) comes from the midst of the angels of deficiency, Ruha d-Gudsa, his mother, calls him. On the crown of heaven and earth, on Mount Tabdana, the angels of deficiency meet. They anoint Nbu with the horn of oil and they clothe him in fire. [...]

142. Then he prepares a stepladder, he places it between the surface of the earth and the sky, he goes up and down, he dangles between earth and sky and says to you: "See that I come from on High; I am your Lord!" But do not believe him. For the ladder of Msiha [Jesus] is made of illusion, sorcery and trickery. Where Msiha is, he blinds your eyes, he covers up the splendor of the sun and speaks to the sun: "Cover up your splendor!" But the sun does not cover up his splendor. So [Misiha] brings darkness to the place where he is [an eclipse], by sorcery, and says to you: "See, I have spoken to the sun and have covered up his splendor, for I am God, the savior." ...

144. In these guises he comes, makes prisoners in the world, leads astray the children of men and brings them his wisdom. They call themselves "God-fearers" and "righteous." He calls them "Christians." He transforms them into "God-fearers," both men and women. He calls them "God-fearers," "saints," and "righteous," both men and women.

However, Lupieri explains away the sun anthropomorphism aspects of Jesus with the following in a footnote on pg. 240: "2. This first paragraph is the celestial antecedent of the earthly history of Jesus and explains to the Mandaean faithful the true nature of the Messiah of the Christians"...

But somewhat contradicts himself here in regard to Jesus's 12 apostles on pg. 243:

"These are the disciples [12 deceivers], who "roam" like the planets; the coincidence with the numbers of the twelve signs of the zodiac facilitates the identification of the Christian Twelve with astral entities."

Further discussion of Jesus, the false prophet is continued. Only this time, the words are from Jesus himself (pg. 249):

"Jesus replies that he is one who has never named any of the entities recorded above. Then the souls ask to be sent back for three days into the world: "We wish to sell all our goods, go up the Jordan, and have ourselves baptized in the name of the man who passed beyond you." And Christ says:

"O deceived ones, you who have been deceived! Did you ever see, when you were in your bodies, that a child, once it left its mother's body, was then put back again inside its mother? ... Do you not know, O you deceived, that you have been deceived? I am a good for nothing messiah (msiha), flayed for my torment, wise for evil, he who modifies the doors of sleep, utterly distorts the works of the spirit, leads pious men astray and throws them down into the powerful clouds of darkness. When I showed you bolts and keys [to enter into heaven], I beguiled you and created longing in you. I gave you gold and silver so that you would keep me company in the darkness, in is place in which we now find ourselves."..."

I find it rather interesting (and funny) that Christians never quote the above ancient text from the words of Jesus.

Another thing I found very interesting regarding this book is that the Mandaeans are probably the only religion to come out of the Middle East that is staunchly ANTI-circumcision, for both men and women. But interestingly, they maintain their sexual taboos! Research on Wilhelm Reich's theories that were furthered by Dr. James DeMeo in Saharasia may fruit interesting results with this religion, either in favor or against Reich and DeMeo's theories.

There is so much in this book to write a review about that I really don't know what else to say. I'll finish by saying that if you're into studying religions you definitely should read this book.

5 STARS