Ahanu
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Mani, a Jewish Christian raised in the Elchasai community, is a name that is really a short form of the Jewish name Menahem, meaning Comforter.
The Journal of Jewish Studies cited a historical example from the Palestinian Talmud and Midrashim: a 4th-century rabbi from Tiberias named Menahem was "usually abbreviated to Rabbi Mana or Mani."
The Elchasaites were a faction of the Ebionites. The Elchasaites believed in a "cyclic incarnation of the True Apostle." This "True Prophet" doctrine is also a highlight of a major source for Ebionite belief, the Pseudo-Clementine Literature (Homilies and Recognitions).
Wherefore I advise that we should first seek His Justice so that when we shall travel thereon, as if on a highway, we shall be able to overtake the True Prophet, not by swiftness of feet, but by good deeds. . . . Be it known to you, therefore, the highway is good discipline and deeds and the travelers of the highway are those who do good things. But the gate is the Prophet and the city is the Kingdom, wherein the Father eternally sits before everyone and makes ready to be seen by those who have pure hearts. Therefore, it should not weary us to travel on the highway, for at the end of the highway there is rest. For even he, the True Prophet, from the beginning of the world hastens us to rest and runs with us to eternity. – The Travels of Peter: The Syriac Clementine Recognitions and Homilies: The First Complete Translation of the Text, by Joseph Glen Gebhardt (Grave Distractions Publications, 2014), pp. 107–108 (Syr. Rec. 2:22).
Here we have an example of an old Christian tradition connected to an old Jewish tradition. The Talmud asks: "What is his [the Messiah's] name?" Some say Shiloh, some say Yinnon, some say Ḥanina, but some say:
"Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya is his name, as it is stated: 'Because the comforter (Menaḥem) that should relieve my soul is far from me'" (Lamentations 1.16).
As Abdu'l-Baha's analysis shows, Baha'is are deeply connected to this tradition, and I would argue early Christianity, before it spread beyond its Jewish roots, is too. This fits perfectly with Abdu'l-Baha's argument that "He shall not come unless I go away," because the second Comforter could not be present on Earth at the same time as Jesus since he is another person. Since the Holy Spirit was always co-existing with Christ, the promised Comforter must be a different entity.
Κἀγὼ ἐρωτήσω τὸν Πατέρα καὶ ἄλλον Παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν... (Kagō erōtēsō ton Patera kai allon Paraklēton dōsei hymin...) (John 14.16)
Jesus promised to send "another Comforter." The Greek word here is allos, which means "another of the same kind." Since Jesus, the first Comforter, was a human person, the use of allos here implies the second Comforter will also be a human person of the same kind.
The Journal of Jewish Studies cited a historical example from the Palestinian Talmud and Midrashim: a 4th-century rabbi from Tiberias named Menahem was "usually abbreviated to Rabbi Mana or Mani."
The Elchasaites were a faction of the Ebionites. The Elchasaites believed in a "cyclic incarnation of the True Apostle." This "True Prophet" doctrine is also a highlight of a major source for Ebionite belief, the Pseudo-Clementine Literature (Homilies and Recognitions).
Wherefore I advise that we should first seek His Justice so that when we shall travel thereon, as if on a highway, we shall be able to overtake the True Prophet, not by swiftness of feet, but by good deeds. . . . Be it known to you, therefore, the highway is good discipline and deeds and the travelers of the highway are those who do good things. But the gate is the Prophet and the city is the Kingdom, wherein the Father eternally sits before everyone and makes ready to be seen by those who have pure hearts. Therefore, it should not weary us to travel on the highway, for at the end of the highway there is rest. For even he, the True Prophet, from the beginning of the world hastens us to rest and runs with us to eternity. – The Travels of Peter: The Syriac Clementine Recognitions and Homilies: The First Complete Translation of the Text, by Joseph Glen Gebhardt (Grave Distractions Publications, 2014), pp. 107–108 (Syr. Rec. 2:22).
Here we have an example of an old Christian tradition connected to an old Jewish tradition. The Talmud asks: "What is his [the Messiah's] name?" Some say Shiloh, some say Yinnon, some say Ḥanina, but some say:
"Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya is his name, as it is stated: 'Because the comforter (Menaḥem) that should relieve my soul is far from me'" (Lamentations 1.16).
As Abdu'l-Baha's analysis shows, Baha'is are deeply connected to this tradition, and I would argue early Christianity, before it spread beyond its Jewish roots, is too. This fits perfectly with Abdu'l-Baha's argument that "He shall not come unless I go away," because the second Comforter could not be present on Earth at the same time as Jesus since he is another person. Since the Holy Spirit was always co-existing with Christ, the promised Comforter must be a different entity.
Κἀγὼ ἐρωτήσω τὸν Πατέρα καὶ ἄλλον Παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν... (Kagō erōtēsō ton Patera kai allon Paraklēton dōsei hymin...) (John 14.16)
Jesus promised to send "another Comforter." The Greek word here is allos, which means "another of the same kind." Since Jesus, the first Comforter, was a human person, the use of allos here implies the second Comforter will also be a human person of the same kind.
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