Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

-----

Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write off the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Walking in the Footsteps of John the Baptist - Introduction to the Mandeans



Walking in the Footsteps of John the Baptist

James McGrath has recently traveled to Israel to walk in the footsteps of John the Baptist. I thought it might be of interest that we journey with James as well to discover the early days of Jesus' ministry through his cousin John. Enjoy.

R.E. Slater
August 25, 2022




John the Baptist and the Mandaeans

by James F. McGrath
June 22, 2022


For anyone interested in getting a glimpse of some of the exciting insights and groundbreaking new perspectives I’ve already come up with in the early stages of my research project focused on John the Baptist, I’m the keynote speaker at the Apostolic Johannite Church Conclave this weekend. My talk is titled “John the Baptist and the Mandaeans” and presents for a general audience some of what I consider the most interesting discoveries I’ve made thus far. Some are things implicit in our most familiar sources about John, yet which we’ve failed to see because we have not been as interested in John for his own sake as we ought to have been. Others involve connecting the dots between sources that are relatively unknown and neglected even by scholars. All of this will be presented in a form accessible to a general audience.

For those who may not already know, I’m writing a biography of John the Baptist for a general audience as well as an academic book with lots of detailed studies on specific matters related to John. I’m delighted to have this opportunity to share some of the answers I’ve come up with to questions like “Why did John, the son of priest, develop a baptism for the forgiveness of sins that competed with his father’s work in the temple?” and “What is the connection between John the Baptist and the origin of Gnosticism?” What better place to do so than the annual conference of a modern Gnostic church that emphasizes the spiritual legacy of John the Baptist?

Interested in attending? Visit the Apostolic Johannite Church’s website for details on how to register for this online event as well as details about the program, speakers, and more.

Many of you are already familiar with the Johannite Church through their TalkGnosis YouTube series which has interviewed scholars such as myself (many times) as well as just recently two leading scholars of “Gnosticism” (or whatever else one might prefer to call it), David Brakke and M. David Litwa. Take a look:


[Talk Gnosis] Found Christianities w/ Dr. M.David Litwa
Jun 12, 2022

From believing Jesus is a cosmic space dragon to the need to build a communal heaven on earth, there were a variety of different Christian beliefs and doctrines from a variety of lost Christianities in the 2nd Century. To find out more about these groups and their fascinating, and to modern people maybe trippy, teachings we welcome back to the show Dr. M. David Litwa to talk about his book "Found Christianities".

[Talk Gnosis] The Gospel of Judas w/ Dr. David Brakke
 Jun 20, 2022

For more than 2000 years, Judas Iscariot has been THE villain and betrayer. BUT in a lost-until-recently text, the ancient Gnostics had an actual Gospel of Judas where Judas is...
  • a hero?
  • a religious leader?
  • an ambiguous figure?
  • an evil demon?
  • the new god of this world?!
So you can guess interpreting this text isn't easy so that's why we're joined by Dr. David Brakke who has a new book "The Gospel of Judas: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary" and serves as our guide to this fascinating Gospel.

Buy Dr. Brakke's books and we highly rec taking one of his courses on the Great Courses, they're all awesome: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/profe...

For those who know that I’ve been traveling recently, spending a week and a half in Israel and Palestine focused on places connected (in history and/or legend) with John the Baptist, I will soon share photos from the trip together with commentary. For now, I’ve been focusing on recovering from jet lag and getting ready for Conclave! Also of related interest, the provisional program for the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in November is now online. I’m in there twice, including in a session of the Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity program unit in which I am presenting on a topic related to my keynote address this Saturday. Here is the abstract:

Late Antique Texts and Earlier History: The Case of John the Baptist and Mandaean Sources:
"There is a noticeable inconsistency when it comes to the use of sources from Late Antiquity as evidence for people and events in earlier times. In the case of Rabbinic sources, while there has been a shift away from the earlier tendency to assume they accurately depict the views of rabbis who lived centuries earlier, the consensus remains that there is material of historical value to be found in the Talmudim and related sources. In the case of Christian sources, on the other hand, most historians regard sources from our period (whether the Nag Hammadi texts or Syriac hagiography) as of little independent historical value in relation to the period of Christian origins. The main exception is the Gospel of Thomas. Precisely because it overlaps so extensively with the Synoptic Gospels in the New Testament, its connection with the historical Jesus (whether direct or indirect) is confirmed, and yet for the same reason its independent usefulness can be dismissed. If we lacked most of our earliest sources available to us, however, a source like Thomas might be simultaneously more precious to historians, and more difficult to confirm as historically valuable.

"This conundrum provides an illustration of the situation with respect to the Mandaeans and John the Baptist. Using the relationship between late antique Jewish and Christian sources and first century history as a guide, I will make the case Mandaean literature can be useful to historians when studied in an appropriately critical fashion. This comparative study of how historical scholars treat Jewish, Christian, and Mandaean texts and traditions will further provide a basis for elaborating methodological principles that may (and, I will argue, should) equally be applied to all of them."

* * * * * * *


photo link - Followers of the Sabian Mandean faith in Iran have been forced
into exile as their religion is not recognized in the Islamic republic. (Reuters)


Iran Mandaeans in exile following persecution

Ahmed al-Sheati, Al Arabiya
Virginia, UNITED STATES


More than 300 Iranian families were forced to leave their homeland in the western province of Khuzestan after facing a series of discriminatory acts for following the faith Sabian Mandaeism which is not officially acknowledged in the Islamic republic.

Sabian Mandaeans had been an integral part of the Iranian social and national fabric especially in Khuzestan where most of the community used to live, said Emad Fawzy, a 44-year-old Sabian Mandaean who immigrated to the United States a year ago.
“This is no longer the case, for after the fall of the Shah we are not even allowed to talk about our faith or our rituals,” he told Al Arabiya.
Enaam Hamed, 39, is not surprised that Iranians harbor all this hate against Mandeans and against Arabs in general, of whom they are considered part.
“I used to work as an Arabic language teacher in Khuzestan and I know how instilling this hatred starts from school curricula,” she told Al Arabiya. “Everything Arab is condemned; our community was part of the Arab community in Khuzestan and its capital Ahwaz.”
Hamed explained that she and other members of her community suffered dual persecution, for being Arab and for being Mandaean and were accordingly robbed of both national and religious rights to which minorities are entitled.
“Iranian authorities refused to list our faith as one of the officially recognized languages.”
According to Hani Salah, a refugee in the United States, the Iranian authorities committed several crimes against the Mandaeans but none of them was known to the world because of lack of media coverage inside Iran.
“Three years ago, the Iranian government desecrated Mandaean graves in Ahwaz city,” he told Al Arabiya. “If we can’t protect our dead, how can we protect our living?”
Talal Nasser, 55, spoke about the double standards of the Iranian regime which becomes apparent when they practice the opposite of what they preach.
“They keep persecuting Mandaeans while calling for inter-faith dialogues and eliminating sectarian and racial discrimination,” he told Al Arabiya.
A website administered by the Mandaean community in Denmark reported that Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Iran’s first post-revolution Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, received in August 2011 several members of the Zoroastrianist faith. This, Mandaeans argued, is indicative that Iranian leaders are treating Zoroastrians in a much better manner.


The report added that Zoroastrianists, who number 40,000, have a representative in the Iranian parliament and the same applies to Jews, whose number does not exceed 35,000.

According to the report, both groups are granted political and cultural rights and they have their own schools and their own newspapers.

Other groups represented in the parliament, the report added, include Armenians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians.

All those groups, said the report, have their places of worship too.

The report stated that this is not the case with Mandaeans, whose number is estimated at 60,000 and who have to hide in little villages in order to practice their rituals in improvised temples.

According to Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism are officially acknowledged religions and there is no mention of Sabian Mandaeism.

Sabian Mandaeans originally lived in Palestine where John the Baptist was born then they immigrated to several countries in the region like Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and few of them went to Jordan. Mandaeans in Iran mainly live in the province of Khuzestan, commonly known as Arabstan owing to its Arab population. They particularly live by rivers since water constitutes a basic part of their faith rituals.

Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Mandaeans were known for working as goldsmiths, a craft they had been passing from one generation to another for years.

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)


Mandaeans

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Mandaeans
ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ
الصابئة المندائيون
Mandaeans 03.jpg
Mandaeans in prayer
Total population
c. 60,000–100,000[1][2][3]
Regions with significant populations
 Sweden10,000–20,000[4][5]
 Australia8,000–10,000[6][7][8]
 United States5,000–7,000[9][10][11][12][13]
 Iraq3,000[a]–6,000[14][13]
 Netherlands4,000[3]
 Iran2,500 (2015)[15][13]
 United Kingdom2,500[3]
 Germany2,200–3,000[16][5]
 Jordan1,400–2,500[17][18]
 Syria1,000 (2015)[19][13]
 Canada1,000[20]
 New Zealand1,000[5]
 Denmark650–1,200[21][13]
 Finland100 families[22]
 France500[23]
Religions
Mandaeism
Scriptures
Ginza RabbaQolastaMandaean Book of JohnHaran Gawaita, etc. (see more)
Languages

Mandaeans (Classical Mandaicࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀlit.'Gnostics, Knowers, Enlightened Ones') (Arabicالمندائيون al-Mandāʾiyyūn), also known as Mandaean Sabians (الصابئة المندائيون al-Ṣābiʾa al-Mandāʾiyyūn) or simply as Sabians (الصابئة al-Ṣābiʾa),[b] are an ethnoreligious group, native to the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia, who are followers of Mandaeism. They may have been among the earliest religious groups to practice baptism, as well as among the earliest adherents of Gnosticism, a belief system of which they are the last surviving representatives today.[24][25]: 109  The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of Mandaic, an Eastern Aramaic language, before many switched to colloquial Iraqi Arabic and Modern Persian.

After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003, the Mandaean community of Iraq, which used to number 60,000–70,000 persons, collapsed; most of the community relocated to nearby IranSyria and Jordan, or formed diaspora communities beyond the Middle East.[26] The other community of Iranian Mandaeans has also been dwindling as a result of religious persecution over those two decades.[15][27][28] By 2007, the population of Mandaeans in Iraq had fallen to approximately 5,000.[29]

There are estimated to be 60,000–100,000 Mandaeans worldwide.[11] About 10,000 Mandaeans live in Australia and there are between 10,000–20,000 in Sweden, making them the countries with the most Mandaeans.[5][7] There are about 2,500 Mandaeans in Jordan, the largest Mandaean community in the Middle East outside of Iraq and Iran.[18]

Etymology

The name "Mandaean" comes from the Mandaic word manda, meaning "knowledge".[30]

In Muslim countries, Mandaeans are sometimes also called Sabians (Arabicالصابئة al-Ṣābiʾa), a Quranic epithet historically claimed by several religious groups (see also below).[31] The etymology of the Arabic word Ṣābiʾ is disputed. According to one interpretation, it is the active participle of the Arabic root -b-ʾ ('to turn to'), meaning 'converts'.[32] Another widely cited hypothesis is that it is derived from an Aramaic root meaning 'to baptize'.[33]

History

Origin

According to a theory first proposed by Ignatius of Jesus in the 17th century, the Mandaeans originated in the Palestine region and later migrated east to the Mesopotamian marshlands.[34] This theory was gradually abandoned, but was revived in the early 20th century through the first translation of Mandaean texts, which Biblical scholars like Rudolf Bultmann believed capable of shedding new light on the development of early Christianity.[34] However, most New Testament scholars rejected the Palestinian origin thesis, which by World War II was again largely deserted by scholars.[34] It was revived in the 1960s by Rudolf Macúch, and despite the opposition of scholars like Edwin M. Yamauchi and many scholars from other fields (for the most part still Biblical scholars), it is now accepted by Mandaean scholars such as Jorunn J. Buckley and Şinasi Gündüz.[34] According to Macúch, the eastward migration from Palestine to southern Iraq took place in the first century CE, while other scholars such as Kurt Rudolph think it probably took place in the third century.[35]

There are also other theories. Kevin van Bladel has argued that the Mandaeans originated in Sasanian Mesopotamia in the fifth century CE.[36] According to Carlos Gelbert, Mandaeans formed a vibrant community in Edessa during the Late Antique period.[37] Brikha Nasoraia, a Mandaean priest and scholar, accepts a two-origin theory in which he considers the contemporary Mandaeans to have descended from both a line of Mandaeans who had originated from the Jordan valley of Palestine, as well as another group of Mandaeans (or Gnostics) who were indigenous to southern Mesopotamia. Thus, the historical merging of the two groups gave rise to the Mandaeans of today.[38]: 55 

There are several indications of the ultimate origin of the Mandaeans. Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Yardena (Jordan) has been the name of every baptismal water in Mandaeism.[39] One of the names for the Mandaean God Hayyi RabbiMara d-Rabuta (Lord of Greatness) is found in the Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) II, 4.[40]: 552–553  They formally refer to themselves as Naṣuraiia (Classical Mandaicࡍࡀࡑࡅࡓࡀࡉࡉࡀlit.'Naṣoraeans') meaning guardians or possessors of secret rites and knowledge.[41][42] Another early self-appellation is bhiri zidqa meaning 'elect of righteousness' or 'the chosen righteous', a term found in the Book of Enoch and Genesis Apocryphon II, 4.[40]: 552–553 [41][43]: 18 [44] As Nasoraeans, Mandaeans believe that they constitute the true congregation of bnai nhura meaning 'Sons of Light', a term used by the Essenes.[45]: 50 [46] The beit manda (beth manda) is described as biniana rab ḏ-srara ("the Great building of Truth") and bit tuslima ("house of Perfection") in Mandaean texts such as the QolastaGinza Rabba, and the Mandaean Book of John. The only known literary parallels are in Essene texts from Qumran such as the Community Rule, which has similar phrases such as the "house of Perfection and Truth in Israel" (Community Rule 1QS VIII 9) and "house of Truth in Israel."[47]

The Mandaic language is a dialect of southeastern Aramaic with Jewish Palestinian AramaicSamaritan AramaicHebrewGreekLatin,[48][49] as well as Akkadian[50] and Parthian[51] influences and is closely related to Syriac and especially Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.[52] Mandaic is mainly preserved as a liturgical language.

A priest holds the title of Rabbi[53] and a place of worship is called a Mashkhanna.[54] According to Mandaean sources such as the Haran Gawaita, the Nasuraiia inhabited the areas around Jerusalem and the River Jordan in the 1st century CE.[25][42] There is archaeological evidence that attests to the Mandaean presence in pre-Islamic Iraq.[55][56] Scholars, including Kurt Rudolph, connect the early Mandaeans with the Jewish sect of the Nasoraeans. However, Mandaeans themselves believe that their religion predates Judaism.[56][25][57][58] According to Mandaean scripture, the Mandaeans descend directly from ShemNoah's son, in Mesopotamia[59]: 186  and also from John the Baptist's original Nasoraean Mandaean disciples in Jerusalem.[42]: vi, ix  According to the Mandaean Society in America, Mani (the founder of Manichaeism) was influenced by the Mandaeans, and a pre-Manichaean presence of the Mandaean religion is more than likely.[60]

Gerard Russell quotes Rishama Sattar Jabbar Hilo, "Ours is the oldest religion in the world. It dates back to Adam." Russell adds, "He [Rishama Sattar Jabbar Hilo] traced its history back to Babylon, though he said it might have some connection to the Jews of Jerusalem."[61] The Mandaean Synod of Australia lead by Rishama Salah Choheili states:

Mandaeans are followers of John the Baptist. Their ancestors fled from the Jordan Valley about 2000 years ago and ultimately settled along the lower reaches of the TigrisEuphrates and Karun Rivers in what is now Iraq and Iran. Baptism is the principal ceremony of the Mandaean religion and may only take place in a freshwater river.[62]

Parthian and Sasanian period

Kartir's inscription at Ka'ba-ye Zartosht claimed that he "struck down" the non-Zoroastrian minorities, such as the Mandaeans

A number of ancient Aramaic inscriptions dating back to the 2nd century CE were uncovered in Elymais. Although the letters appear quite similar to the Mandaean ones, it is impossible to know whether the inhabitants of Elymais were Mandaeans.[63]: 4  Rudolf Macúch believes Mandaean letters predate Elymaic ones.[63]: 4  Under Parthian and early Sasanian rule, foreign religions were tolerated and Mandaeans appear to have enjoyed royal protection.[63]: 4  The situation changed by the ascension of Bahram I in 273, who under the influence of the zealous Zoroastrian high priest Kartir persecuted all non-Zoroastrian religions. It is thought that this persecution encouraged the consolidation of Mandaean religious literature.[63]: 4  The persecutions instigated by Kartir seems to temporarily erase Mandaeans from recorded history. Their presence, however can still be found in Mandaean magical bowls and lead strips which were produced from the 3rd to the 7th centuries.[63]: 4 

Islamic period

The Mandaeans re-emerged at the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in c. 640, when their leader, Anush Bar-Danqa, is said to have appeared before the Muslim authorities, showing them a copy of the Ginza Rabba, the Mandaean holy book, and proclaiming the chief Mandaean prophet to be John the Baptist, who is also mentioned in the Quran by the name Yahya ibn Zakariya. Consequently, the Muslim caliph provided them acknowledgement as People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb, people who followed a legal minority religion).[63]: 5  However, this account is likely apocryphal: since it mentions that Anush Bar Danqa traveled to Baghdad, it must have occurred after the founding of Baghdad in 762, if it took place at all.[64]

Mandaeans appeared to have flourished during the early Islamic period, as attested by the voluminous expansion of Mandaic literature and canons. Tib near Wasit is particularly noted as an important scribal center.[63]: 5  Yaqut al-Hamawi describes Tib as a town inhabited by 'Nabatean' (i.e. Aramaic speaking) 'Sabians' (see below) who consider themselves to be descendants of Seth.[63]: 5 

The status of the Mandaeans was questioned by the Abbasid caliph al-Qahir Billah (899–950 CE), even though they had received recognition as People of the Book. To avoid further investigation by the authorities, the Mandaeans paid a bribe of 50,000 dinars and were left alone. It appeared that the Mandaeans were even exempt from paying the Jizya, otherwise imposed upon non-Muslims.[63]: 5 

It has been suggested by some scholars that Harranian intellectuals who worked at the Abbasid court such as Thābit ibn Qurra may have been Mandaeans,[65] though most scholars believe they were adherents of the pagan astral religion of Harran.[66]

Early modern period

Early contact with Europeans came about in the mid-16th century, when Portuguese missionaries encountered Mandaeans in Southern Iraq and controversially designated them "Christians of St. John". In the next centuries Europeans became more acquainted with the Mandaeans and their religion.[63]: 5 

The Mandaeans suffered persecution under the Qajar rule in the 1780s. The dwindling community was threatened with complete annihilation, when a cholera epidemic broke out in Shushtar and half of its inhabitants died. The entire Mandaean priesthood perished and Mandaeism was restored due to the efforts of few learned men such as Yahya Bihram.[63]: 6  Another danger threatened the community in 1870, when the local governor of Shushtar massacred the Mandaeans against the will of the Shah.[63]: 6 

Modern Iraq and Iran

Mandaean silversmith at work in Baghdad, Iraq, 1932

Following the First World War, the Mandaeans were still largely living in rural areas in the lower parts of British protected Iraq and Iran. Owing to the rise of Arab nationalism, Iraqi Mandaeans were Arabised at an accelerated rate, especially during the 1950s and '60s. The Mandaeans were also forced to abandon their stands on the cutting of hair and forced military service, which are strictly prohibited in Mandaeaism.[67]

The 2003 Iraq War brought more troubles to the Mandaeans, as the security situation deteriorated. Many members of the Mandaean community, who were known as goldsmiths, were targeted by criminal gangs for ransoms. The rise of Islamic extremism forced thousands to flee the country, after they were given the choice of conversion or death.[68] It is estimated that around 90% of Iraqi Mandaeans were either killed or have fled after the U.S. led invasion.[68]

The Mandaeans of Iran lived chiefly in AhvazIranian Khuzestan, but have moved as a result of the Iran–Iraq War to other cities such as TehranKaraj and Shiraz. The Mandaeans, who were traditionally considered as People of the Book (members of a protected religion under Islamic rule), lost this status after the Iranian Revolution. However, despite this, Iranian Mandaeans still maintain successful businesses and factories in areas such as Ahwaz. In April 1996, the cause of the Mandaeans' religious status in the Islamic Republic was raised. The parliament came to the conclusion that Mandaeans were included in the protected status of People of the Book alongside Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians and specified that, from a legal viewpoint, there is no prohibition against Muslims associating with Mandaeans, whom the parliament identified as being the Sabians mentioned explicitly in the Quran. That same year, Ayatollah Sajjadi of Al-Zahra University in Qom posed three questions regarding the Mandaeans' beliefs and seemed satisfied with the answers. These rulings, however did not lead to Mandaeans regaining their more officially recognized status as People of the Book.[69] In 2009, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwā recognizing the Mandaeans as the People of the Book (ahl-il-kitāb).[70]



MORE OF THE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE MAY BE FOUND HERE
as it is quite extensive re Iraq, Iran, etc



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THE MANDAEANS: THE LEGITIMATE
HEIRS OF THE CHALDEAN HERITAGE

In 2002, author and historian Fred Aprim published his research article titled The Mandaeans: True Descendants of Ancient Babylonians and Chaldeans. In his article, Aprim noted that the Mandaeans (also commonly known as Sabeans) had always flourished in southern Mesopotamia, near the tip of the Persian Gulf, that is the historic homeland of the ancient Chaldeans. Aprim observed that this community helda special interest in the study of astronomy and mathematics just like their forefathers”. Furthermore, the religion of the Mandaeans, according to Aprim, has also preserved significant elements of ancient Chaldean religion. In fact, one of the most sacred rituals practiced by this community was that of Mandaean new-borns being given an “astrological name” or “name of the sign of the Zodiac”. Furthermore, the language spoken by the Mandaeans, commonly known as Mandaic today, also features significant similarities to Babylonian Aramaic. Significantly, the name “Mandaean” itself is derived from the ancient Babylonian term mandētu meaning “the knowers” or “the knowledgeable”.

In his article, Aprim noted that the Italian explorer Gerolamo Vecchietti who travelled to southern Mesopotamia in 1604 observed that the Mandaeans originally referred to their mother language as the “Chaldean language”. Having spent a considerable amount of time studying this native community, Vecchietti concluded that the Mandaeans were in fact the true descendants of the ancient Chaldeans. However, about a century and a half before Vecchietti arrived in southern Mesopotamia, a small community of Christians adhering to the so-called “Nestorian Church” (more accurately; the Church of the East) in the island of Cyprus were also identified as “Chaldean”. According to Aprim, this particular community only began identifying with this historic name in 1445 following their conversion from the Church of the East tradition to Catholicism. It was at the instigation of Pope Eugene IV that this community came to be designated with the name “Chaldean” so as to distinguish them from those members of their mother church who were pejoratively known as “Nestorians”.

During the period in which Aprim’s article was published, the modern-day Chaldean Catholic community witnessed a rise in nationalism due to the adoption of this historic name. The notion of a Chaldean national identity gained great momentum, particularly among clerical circles. The desire to propagate this identity was further reinforced with the introduction of the Chaldean national flag, Chaldean calendar, and the introduction of the Chaldean Babylonian New Year. Various figures, particularly those in the United States spearheaded these efforts with the desire of having the name “Chaldean” recognised in the Iraqi constitution as a separate ethnic or national group. Despite all these efforts, there existed one problem— the alleged relationship between the ancient Chaldeans and the modern-day “Chaldeans” was weak and lacked any sound historical basis. In recent years, this so-called connection has come into question and so therefore Aprim’s article has been re-visited for consideration.

However, one question begs, does Aprim’s research hold any historical basis?

The proposed relationship between the Mandaeans and the ancient Chaldeans is not a modern observation, and neither was Vecchietti the first to draw this connection. In fact, this observation was widely documented as early as the eighth-century CE and is attested in various Arabic and Syriac literary evidence. For instance, Qatāda ibn Diʾāma (Basra, ca. 736 CE), an early Islamic commentator, just like Vecchietti, also drew the connection between the Mandaeans and the ancient Chaldeans. Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (ca. 780-850 CE) noted that the Chaldeans of his time were “worshippers of idols” and that this community was also “called Sabeans”, another name for the Mandaeans. According to the Arab historian al-Nadīm (Baghdad, ca. 990 CE), the Chaldeans were not considered to be members of the three principle Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and so this ancient community was forced to renounce their Chaldean identity during the caliphate of el-Maʾmūn (ca. 786-833 CE) and came to adopt the nomenclature “Sabean” as a self-designation. In his Nukhbat al-dahr, al-Dimashqī (ca. 1200-1300) noted that the Chaldeans were known as “Kāldan, Kasdān, Janbān, Jarāmiqa, Kūthārūn, and Kanʿānūn; these were Nabataeans; who constructed buildings, founded cities, dug canals, planted trees... They were all Sabeans who worshipped stars and idols.” It must be stressed that, early Islamic writers (see. al-Masʿūdī) geographically positioned this Chaldean community in southern Mesopotamia, precisely in Wāsiṭ and Basra where the Mandaeans form a significant community today. It is for this reason that, Prof. Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila of the University of Edinburgh asserted that “one might tentatively identify these [Chaldeans] as the ancestors of modern Mandaeans”.

It is worth noting that, Syriac literary evidence is in complete agreeance with the Arabic. According to the Syriac-Christian tradition, the name Chaldean held too strong pagan connotations. In fact, the name was highly repudiated by early church fathers. For instance, according to the Doctrine of Mār Addai the Apostle (ca. 300-400 CE), Christians were encouraged to avoid associating with the “deluded Chaldeans” as they practiced astrolatry, that is the worship of the stars. Any form of association with the Chaldeans was viewed as a threat to the authority of the early church. These implications are echoed in Aphrahat's Demonstrations (ca. 270-350 CE) and the Teaching of the Apostles (ca. 900-1000). According to the latter:
“Whosoever resorts to magicians and soothsayers and Chaldeans, and puts confidence in fates and nativities, which they hold fast who know not God,— let him also, as a man that knows not God, be dismissed from the ministry, and not minister again”.
In his Book of Scholia, Theodore bar Kōnī, a ninth-century Nestorian monk and scholar from central Mesopotamia composed anti-heretical commentary against the Chaldeans and associated them with the Mandaeans. Similarly, in his Catalogue, Mār ʿAbdishōʿ Bar Berīkā (ca. 1250-1318) informs us that “Daniel of Resh ʿAïnā wrote poems against Marcionites, Manichees, heretics, and Chaldeans,” and “Bar Dkōsin wrote two volumes against the Chaldeans, and another against Porphyry the heretic”. According to Prof. Sebastian P. Brock of the University of Oxford, a leading scholar in Syriac Studies, noted that “indeed one can observe an active dissociation in that the term 'Chaldean' normally designates a pagan astrologer.” For George Percy Badger (1852: 178-179): Whenever the term “Chaldean” occurs in the Nestorian rituals, “it is not used to designate a Christian community, but the ancient sect, who have been called also Sabeans”.

Why were converts from the Church of the East called “Chaldeans”?

Traditionally, the spiritual leader of the Church of the East held his office in Seleucia-Ctesiphon (central Mesopotamia) and held the title “Catholicos-Patriarch of the East” or “of Seleucia-Ctesiphon”. However, this geographical location was referred to as “Babylon” by early Latin authors. Given that the biblical city of Babylon is strongly associated with the biblical Chaldeans (see. Ezekiel 12:13)— the expression “Chaldean” was wrongfully applied to the entire eastern Christian population throughout Mesopotamia. Furthermore, the liturgical language (Classical Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic) used by this Christian community was erroneously referred to as “Chaldaic” and its speakers linguistically as “Chaldean”. It is worth noting that, although the name Chaldean was exclusively used only by Latin authors since the time of Jerome— references to the Chaldeans do not appear in any of the earlier synodical canons of the Church of the East, nor do they appear in any of the ecclesiastical correspondences extant. There exists no reference to a Catholicos-Patriarch or Metropolitan Bishop “of the Chaldeans” nor a diocese called “Chaldea” in Syriac sources. This suggests that the name held little to no significance among the Christian community, particularly among those in Assyria and northern Mesopotamia.

What other historical evidence supports the Mandaean-Chaldean connection?

In addition to the Arabic and Syriac historical sources presented in this article, there also exists Hebrew and Baháʼí literary evidence that corroborates the relationship between the Mandaeans and the ancient Chaldeans. Hebrew references can be drawn from the works of Maimonides (ca. 1138-1204), a leading medieval Jewish philosopher and codifier of Jewish law. His views and writings hold a prominent place in Jewish intellectual history and thought. In his book titled Guide of the Perplexed, the terms Chaldean and Sabean (Mandaean) “are only different names successively given to the same people. In the time of the Bible, they were called Kasdim; in the age of the Talmud they were the Chaldeans, and later they received the name of the Sabeans”. In chapter 29, Maimonides goes on to explain that “it is well known that the Patriarch Abraham was brought up in the religion and the opinion of the Sabeans, that there is no divine being except the stars”. This connection was also supported by Shoghí Rabbání, the spiritual head of the Baháʼí Faith between 1921-1957. In a letter dated to 1939, Rabbání noted that “As to the religion of the Sabeans, very little is known about the origins of this religion, though we Baháʼís are certain of one thing that the founder of it has been a Divinely-sent Messenger. The country where Sabeanism became widespread and flourished was Chaldea, and Abraham is considered as having been a follower of that Faith.”

The modern-day Chaldean Catholic Church:

Today, the Chaldean Catholic Church is considered to be the largest Christian church in the Republic of Iraq and maintains full communion with the Holy See. The spiritual leader of this Eastern Catholic particular church is the “Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans” who holds his office in the city of Baghdad. The origin of this church dates the sixteenth-century schism within the Church of the East where several bishops in Assyria found themselves in conflict with their Catholicos-Patriarch. Although efforts at union with Rome are attested as early as 1445 in the island of Cyprus where a small portion of this community was for the first time referred to as “Chaldeans”, it wasn’t until 1553 that this union was formalised. Up until the nineteenth-century, this schism was highly conflictual as some parishioners of the Church of the East preferred communion with Rome. It should be noted that, the first patriarchs of this Catholic off-shoot of the Church of the East sealed the union with Rome as Patriarchs “of the Assyrians”, a title that was later changed to that “of Babylon” and “of the Chaldeans” to be in parallel with the title given to the community in Cyprus.

Although this community eventually came to adopt the nomenclature “Chaldean” as a self-designation, the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907: 559) maintains that “the name of Chaldeans is no longer correct”. In fact, according to the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation of Oriental Churches, the name Chaldean in the modern sense of the word is of “western-origin” and the community styling itself as “Chaldean Catholics” are in fact descendants of the ancient Assyrians. It was for this reason that, the famed linguist Justin Perkins in 1841 noted that “The title, Chaldeans, was given to these Papists by the Pope, on their embracing the Catholic system”. It is also worth noting that, by the early twentieth-century, this community had identified strictly as Assyrians or Assyrian-Chaldeans. According to a document dated 1917, the Chaldeans were considered to be “a Christian race who claim to be descended from the old Assyrian stock”.

The Church of the East survives today in various branches, namely the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, and the Chaldean Catholic Church. Regrettably, the latter has only in recent years opted to propagate the name “Chaldean” as an ethnic or national identity among its parishioners. This recent movement has perpetuated a great deal of confusion among its community and has threatened their rich Assyrian heritage. As demonstrated, the alleged ethnic identity with the ancient Chaldeans is in fact a recent creation and lacks any sound historical basis. In his conclusionary remarks, Aprim suggested that the appropriation of the name Chaldean consequently “denied the small community of the Mandaeans their legitimate descent”. Aprim also rightly pointed out; “the two most unfortunate victims” were the Assyrians and the Mandaeans.


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