MANICHAEAN LITERATURE^583
being to those prepared to be chosen by him from the sects. Then, by his grace,
he pulled me from the council of the many who do not recognize the truth
and revealed to me his secrets and those of his undefiled father and of all the
cosmos.^4 He disclosed to me how I was before the foundation of the world,
and how the groundwork of all the works, both good and evil, was laid, and
how everything of this aggregation was engendered according to its present
boundaries and times."
I, MAN I, HAVE SEEN THE TRUTH
He wrote thus again and said in the gospel of his most holy hope,^5
"I, Mani, a messenger of Jesus Christ through the will of god, the father of
truth, from whom I also was born, who lives and abides forever, existing before
all and also abiding after all. All things that are and will be subsist through his
power. For from this very one I was conceived, and I am from his will. From him
all that is true was revealed to me, and I am from his truth. The truth of ages that
he revealed I have seen, and that truth I have disclosed to my fellow travelers;
peace I have announced to the children of peace, hope I have proclaimed to the
immortal race. The elect^6 1 have chosen, and a path to the height I have shown
to those who ascend according to this truth. Hope I have proclaimed, and this
revelation I have revealed. This immortal gospel I have written, including in it
these eminent mysteries, and disclosing in it the greatest works, the greatest and
most august forms of the most eminently powerful works. These things that he
revealed I have shown to those who live from the truest vision, which I have
seen, and from the most glorious revelation revealed to me."
Again he said,
"All the secrets that my father has given to me, while I have hidden and
covered them from the sects and the pagans, and still more from the world, to
you I have revealed according to the pleasure of my most blessed father. And if
again he would be pleased, once more I shall reveal them to you. For indeed,
the gift that was given to me from the father is very great and rich. For if the
whole world and all people obey it, I would be able from this very possession
and advantage, which my father has given to me, to enrich them and establish
wisdom as sufficient for the entire world."^7- This claim to revelation recalls Paul's claim in Galatians 1:11-17.
- This most likely refers to Mani's Living Gospel.
- The elect, or the perfect, are the leaders in the Manichaean church.
7 Manichaeism is intended to be a universal religion.