Johann Gutenberg

The Gutenberg Galaxy and Project Gutenberg commemorate Gutenberg's name. Some scholars and anti-Roman Catholic polemicists argue that its influence subtly continues in Christian thought, through Augustine of Hippo, who converted to Christianity from Manichaeism, and whose writings continue to be enormously influential among Catholic theologians. There are many statues of Gutenberg in Germany, one of the more famous being a work by Thorvaldsen, in Mainz, which is also home to the Gutenberg Museum. It appears that the popularity of Manichaeism slowly declined after 10th century in Central Asia. The term incunabulum refers to a western printed book produced between the first work of Gutenberg and the end of the year 1500. The envoy of Song Dynasty by the name of Wang visited Manichaean temples in Gaochang. Gutenberg's inventions are sometimes considered the turning point from the Mediaeval Era to the Early Modern Period. Chinese documents record that the Uighur Manichaean clerics came to China to pay tribute to the imperial court in 934.

Literacy also increased as a result. The Arabian historian An-Nadim informs us that the Uighur Khan did his best to project Manichaeism in the Central Asian kingdom (of Saman). It fed the growing Renaissance, and since it greatly facilitated scientific publishing, was a major factor in originating the scientific revolution. However, there was no denying the historical fact that the Uighurs were worshippers of Mani. Although Gutenberg was financially unsuccessful in his lifetime, his invention spread quickly, and news and books began to travel across Europe far faster than before. During the early 10th century Uighur emerged a very powerful empire under the influence of Buddhism with some Manichaean shrines converted into Buddhist temples. The Bible was not Gutenberg's first printed work, for he produced approximately two dozen editions of Ars Minor, a portion of Aelius Donatus's schoolbook on Latin grammar, the first edition of which is believed to have been printed between 1451 and 1452. These documents prove that Sogdia was a very important centre of Manichaeism during the early mediaeval period and it was perhaps the Sogdian merchants who brought the religion to Central Asia and China.

As of 2003, the Gutenberg Bible census includes 11 complete copies on vellum, 1 copy of the New Testament only on vellum, 48 substantially complete integral copies on paper, with another divided copy on paper, and an illiminated page (the Bagford fragment). Middle Persian, Parthian and Sogdian script. The Gutenberg Bibles surviving today are sometimes called the oldest surviving books printed with movable type, although the oldest surviving book was published in Korea in 1377. The Manichaean manuscripts found in Turfan were written in three different Iranian scripts, viz. Gutenberg was also known to spend what little money he had on alcohol, so the Archbishop arranged for him to be paid in food and lodging, instead of coin. A Manichaean tp)tmn of the 8th century from Turfan written in Middle Persian mentions that most of the Khan's kinsmen were devoted to Manichaean faith. Gutenberg was subsidized by the Archbishop of Mainz until his death. Some fragments of a Manichaean book written in Turkish mention that in 803 the Khan of Uighur Kingdom went to Turfan and sent three Manichaean Magistrates to pay respects to a senior Manichaean cleric in Mobei.

So, while Gutenberg ran a print shop until just before his death in Mainz in 1468, Fust became the first printer to publish a book with his name on it. And as Mani claimed to be the successor to prophets like Jesus and other prophets whose teachings he said were locally corrupted (or corrupted by his followers), so too did Muhammad later claim to be the successor to prophets whose teachings he said were locally corrupted. Fust sued, and the court's ruling not only effectively bankrupted Gutenberg, it awarded control of the type used in his Bible, plus much of the printing equipment, to Fust. Muhammad said that his prophethood was revealed to him by an angel as Mani had claimed about himself. The money Gutenberg earned at the fair was not enough to pay Fust back for his investments. The title was later applied to Muhammad, founder of the Islamic religion who may have extracted this knowledge about himself from the New Testament and claimed, falsely for non Muslims, to be the last of prophets. The one copy of the Biblia Sacra dated 1455 went to Paris and was dated by the binder. Mani declared himself, and was also referred to, as the Paraclete: a Biblical title, meaning "helper", which the Orthodox tradition understood as referring to God in the person of the Holy Spirit.

This was the equivalent of approximately three years' wages for an average clerk, but it was significantly cheaper than a handwritten Bible, which could take a single monk 20 years to transcribe. Mani was eager to describe himself as a "disciple of Jesus Christ", but the orthodox church rejected him as a heretic. In 1455 Gutenberg demonstrated the power of the printing press by selling copies of a two-volume Bible (Biblia Sacra) for 300 florins each. As a result they preserved many apocryphal Christian works, such as the Acts of Thomas, that would have been lost otherwise. His first efforts enabled him to mass-produce indulgences, printed slips of paper sold by the Catholic Church to remit the temporal punishments in Purgatory for sins committed in this life. It is theorized that the Manichees made every effort to include all known religious traditions. Knowing that wood-block type involved a great deal of time and expense to reproduce because it had to be hand carved, Gutenberg concluded that metal type could be reproduced much more quickly once a single mould had been fashioned. After failing to win the favor of the next generation, and being disapproved of by the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani is reported to have died in prison awaiting execution by the Persian Emperor Bahram I, while alternate accounts have it that he was either flayed to death or beheaded.

Gutenberg began experimenting with metal typography after he had moved from his native town of Mainz to Strassburg (then in Germany, now Strasbourg, France) around 1430. The transmigration of souls became a Manichaean belief, and the quadripartite structure of the Manichaean community, divided between male and female monks (the "elect") and lay follower (the "hearers") who supported them, appears to be based on that of the Buddhist sangha" (Richard Foltz, "Religions of the Silk Road"). Gutenberg was a poor businessman, and made little money from his printing system. On that occasion various Buddhist influences seem to have permeated Manichaeism: "Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. Gutenberg certainly introduced efficient methods into book production, leading to a boom in the production of texts in Europe, in large part due to the popularity of the Gutenberg Bibles, the first mass-produced work, starting on February 23, 1455. He is related to have sailed to the Indus valley area of India in 240 or 241 AD, and to have converted a Buddhist King, the Turan Shah of India. Some also claim Dutchman Laurens Coster as the first European to invent movable type. Mani's first excursion was to the Kushan Empire in northwestern India (several religious painting in Bamiyan are attributed to him), where he is believed to have lived and taught for some time.

It is not clear whether Gutenberg knew of these existing techniques or invented them independently. Although less in adherents than Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism won the support of high ranking political figures and with the aid of the Persian Empire, Mani would initiate missionary excursions. The Koreans and Chinese knew about movable metal types at the time, but due to the complex nature of the Chinese writing system, printed material was not as abundant as that of Renaissance Europe. Mani also followed the holy books Puran and Kural. Block printing, whereby individual sheets of paper were pressed into wooden blocks with the text and illustrations carved in, was in use in Europe and East Asia long before Gutenberg. During this period, the large existing religious groups, most notably Christianity and Zoroastrianism, were competing for stronger political and social power. . According to biographical accounts preserved in the 10th-century encyclopedia, the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, and by al-Biruni, during his youth, Mani received a revelation from a spirit whom he would later call the Twin, who taught him the divine truths of the religion.

Gutenberg was born in the German city of Mainz, as the son of a merchant named Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden, who adopted the surname "zum Gutenberg" after the name of the neighborhood into which the family had moved. Mani, being influenced by Mandaeanism, began preaching at a young age. By combining these elements into a production system, he allowed for the rapid printing of written materials and an information explosion in Renaissance Europe. After forty years of travel he returned with his retinue to Persia and converted Peroz, King Shapur's brother to his teaching. Tradition credits him with inventing movable type in Europe, an improvement on the block printing already in use there. with many disciples to carry out evangelism. Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (circa 1398 – February 3, 1468), a German metal-worker and inventor, achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during the 1440s, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mould for casting type accurately, and a new kind of printing press based on presses used in wine-making. He travelled far and wide including Turkistan , India, Iran etc.

World Almanac's Ten Most Influential People of the Second Millennium. It is said that communications of a supernatural character came to him. William Caxton. Mani was an exceptionally gifted child and he inherited his father's mystic temperament. Francysk Skaryna. In the 4th- century Manichaean Coptic papyri, Mani was identified with the Paraclete-Holy Ghost and he was regarded as the new Jesus. Incunabulum. During his lifetime, Mani’s first missionaries were active in Persia, Palestine, Syria and Egypt.

Typography. Mani presented himself as a saviour, the apostle of Jesus Christ’. Printing. It combines a hagiographic account of Mani's career and spiritual development with information about Mani’s religious teachings and contains fragments of his Living (or Great) Gospel and his Letter to Edessa. Then in 1969 in Upper Egypt a Greek parchment codex of ca AD 400, was discovered, which is now designated Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis (because it is conserved at the University of Cologne). Until the later 20th century, the life and philosophy of Mani was pieced together largely from remarks by his detractors and from late productions.

Neo-Manichaeism is a modern revivalist movement not considered directly connected to the ancient faith but is sympathetic to the teachings of Mani. During his lifetime, Mani’s earliest missionaries were active in Persia, Palestine and Syria and in Egypt. He later claimed to be the Paraclete promised in the New Testament, The Last Prophet and Seal of the Prophets, finalizing a succession of men guided by God, which included figures such as Seth, Noah, Abraham, Shem, Nikotheos, Enoch, Zoroaster, Hermes, Plato, Buddha, and Jesus. After receiving a revelation in his mid-twenties that came from his Syzygos— the accompanying heavenly Twin— he came to a belief that salvation is possible through education, self-denial, vegetarianism, fasting, and chastity.

Mani first encountered religion in his early youth while living with a Jewish ascetic group known as the Elkasites. Mani's father, Pattig, was from Hamadan and his mother, Maryam, was of the family of the Kamsaragan, who claimed kinship with the Parthian royal house, the Arsacids. Mani was of Persian (Iranian) parentage. Although the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, significant portions remain preserved in Coptic manuscripts from Egypt and in later writings of fully-developed Manichaeism in China.

Mani (in Persian مانی), born in western Persia (approximately 210-276 A.D.), was a religious preacher and the founder of Manichaeism, an ancient gnostic religion that was once prolific but now considered extinct.