DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ZOROASTRIANISM
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# 47) Q: Z. appears to have come to the western ancient world 3 main ways...the Babylonian captivity...the returning Valens Roman soldiers...and merchants along the Silk Road. What are the main ways that Z. influenced Judaism ? After all J. was a pretty old religion itself. Are there any new concepts introduced by Z   into J. nb I am neither, but I am sick of fundamentalism.   Rob

A: If you want to understand the influence of Persian religion, that is of the Latter Avesta Religion,  primarily, and of the Gathas, indirectly, on Judaism you have to go to the Bible. You must compare the religion of Moses to latter Judaism. You must decide whether the fifth Book of the Pentateuch, ( The book which was 'found' hundreds of years later, namely Deuteronomy, or Other Numbers) is to be included in  Moses' religion.

There is no question , to an impartial observer, that Latter Judaism includes a series of doctrines and concepts, not present in the Pentateuch , especially in the first 4 books.

Moreover, if one but reads the very last book of the OT and then wades right into the NT , what one gets, is a totally different picture of every day religious life between the OT and the NT. You will find Rabbis not a Jewish Institution or name for priest in the OT, you will find Jews speaking Aramaic and not Hebrew, you will find demonic possession , unclean spirits, miracle working, itinerant preachers, definite and opposing Sects within Judaism itself and such other things as the Institution of the Synagogue, which have no parallel in the OT. It's truly like a different world.

This intertestamentary period, is also a period which includes the Exile in Babylon and the return, under the auspices , first of Cyrus and then of Dariush and Xerxes, all Persian Zoroastrian Emperors. Indeed if you study those things that were added to Judaism after the Pentateuch and compared them to the Persian religion at the time, you will find all the changes to Judaism already taught as doctrine in Persia.

If you study the prophets , especially Isaiah and Danie, this influence is pervasive. Isaiah even  makes Cyrus the chosen of Yahweh, calls him Messiah and  equates him to David, by calling him the Shepherd of Israel. ( Please visit my site www.zoroastrianism.cc and the Influences page, where you will see my discussion of this subject , not in full depth, but more so than it is possible here.

Outside of the Bible itself , you have a number of Jewish sects, that can contribute in helping us form the picture.  By far chief among these,  are the Qumramites, who are usually thought to have been the Essenes. In reality it has been found, that several different sects occupied the Qumram complex at different times. Be that as it may, the documents of the main one of these sects; talk about the two spirits in men, name their leader Teacher of Righteousness ( One of the meanings of the Zoroastrian term Ratu) and picture an apocalyptic age long battle between Good and Evil ( Paralleling Asha and Druj) and the Sons of Light vs. the Sons of Darkness ( Paralleling the Ashavans and the Dregvants of the Gathas and the latter Avesta). Indeed, in many ways the Qumramites were a heretical Zoroastrian sect!!

There are even linguistical connections to these influences. For example, what is the reason the Hebrew speaking Jews, abandoned Hebrew for Aramaic? Chiefly, because Aramaic was adopted by the Persians as the UNIVERSAL language of their Empire, especially, applying it as the lingua franca, when they addressed the conquered peoples in all their dealings. It was thus the official language of the Persian Empire.

Indeed, the names of several Jewish concepts are the same as their Persians names, or can be said , in the case of the Pharisees, to be actual alliterations of Persian names. Pharisees is nothing more than an appellation of Persians; they were from Pars and were called Parsees. That this is so, is clearly seen when one realizes that the doctrines of the Pharisees, namely resurrection , belief in angels, belief in Messiah, Heaven and Hell, etc., were exactly the beliefs of the Persians and that the Pre-Exilic Jews either did not belief in these, or had a totally different conception of them.

For example, Messiah means anointed. The Pre-Exilic Jews anointed their Kings, priest and prophets with oil, as a symbol of the approval of the Ruach Kodesh, Yahweh's Holy Spirit. But messiah did not ever become a savior, especially not a world savior, until after the Exile.

Another Persian concept that creeps into Judaism and, indeed into Christianity, is good old Beelzebub, the devil. While the linguistics of the word are not exactly Persian, the term means, according to several dictionaries of Biblical terms, Lord of the Flies. This was one of the main appellations of Ahriman in the Persian religion. Ahriman being the Uncreated Devil of the Latter Avesta, the religious book of the Persians at this time.

Well enough, for now.

# 48) Q: Do the Parsis really think and believe that they are a superior community? Is it true that they staunchly believe in racial purity? and therefore restrict their co-religionists to marry only their kind? Are they still practising this archaic notion? If they are, then I am not surprised that they are reducing in numbers and are considered as a dying community. If they do not modify their thinking, is it possible that the ones who are more broadminded and reformists, might one day separate from the originals and call themselves NeoZoroastrians? How can a lofty philosophy like Zarathushtra's be allowed to come to grief by a few dinosaurs such as the Parsis of India and Pakistan?

It is with great pride that I consider myself  a believer in Asho Zarathushtra's noble philosophy, and I pray daily to Ahura Mazda to instill some sense and compassion to the hard-hearted Parsi Zoroastrians of the world, to change their selfish way of thinking. It is up to the well meaning Zoroastrians to march ahead and spread the good work of Asho Spitaman Zarathushtra, and prove to the world that it is a Universal faith and not for the few self-proclaimed traditionalists. They are truly practising a religious apartheid in its truest form. In my opinion, they should be the first ones to be excommunicated.

Please, please, please, you Parsis of today will one day pass on, and leave behind nothing, but a dying and decimated community. I do not think Ahura Mazda, or Asho Zarathushtra will give you any credit for that. Therefore, wake up and think again and ponder on what I have said. Follow the path of Asha and use your mind with MANASHNI, GAVASHNI AND KUNASHNI.

Bless you all who pause and think.

A:  Ushta.  Great Handle by the way!!
Not all Parsis are, but some. What can I say; all religions have their retrogrades. Actually, there is no reason to separate. First, outside of India,  Close Religion types are the minority. Second, they are dying out by themselves and are already well on their way to becoming a minute minority, even in India.

# 49) Q: Is truth subjective or objective? Is there obsolute Truth ? Who did JESUS claimed He was and WHY ?  Did He claimed to be The Way The TRuth And Life. If  He claimed He is GOD , then either He is a lunatic, a liar, or He is God. You can't call him a good teacher, or a Prophet, or a Master.  He Didn't leave you that option. Please check the veracity of The BIBLE, its historic accuracy. I would challenge anyone to check all the evidance and then write me a reply.

A: Truth is both subjective  and Objective, situational and Universal. That is, there are some things that happen to be true at times, or under certain circumstances and are false in others. Asha for example is the Objective and Universal standard for righteousness, Goodness and Beneficence. However , there is also a subjective aspect to Asha,  in which it's the best course to choose in any given situation, even when all alternatives may individually fall short of being right, just, or beneficent.

First we DON'T know who Jesus claimed to be, we only know what others say he claimed to be. Why? That is up to him, or those that claim that he did, to answer, not for me. What John, whoever he truly was, said that Jesus said , might or might not be what Jesus did say, but as to the Way, to a
Zoroastrian,  it is Asha, as to the Truth, to a Zoroastrian, it is the Manthra and as to the Life, to a zoroastrian is Ameretat and these are so to a Zoroastrian over 1000 years before Jesus lived on this earth.

As to the claim to be God, we only have the words of others saying  he said that, but if he did claim to be God , he was one of many, including all the Egyptian Pharos, all the Pagan Roman emperors, Alexander and Krishna. Claiming to be something does not make it true. Bahaullah claimed that he is
God in the flesh and so does Meher Baba, are these claims also true?

I don't have to call Jesus anything , I do not believe in him, I do not believe in what he is said to have taught and I don't believe he is God or his son, neither do I believe any one innocent has to die for any guilty ones. Neither do I believe he came from God. Personally I  believe that the historical evidence, such as it is, indicates he was a Jewish Rabbi from Galilee, Since I am no Jew I do not have an opinion of how good a teacher or prophet of Judaism he might have been.  He did not give any options, nor do I care what, if anything he left me. Its absolutely immaterial to me.. He is no different to me than Moses, Aknaton, Mani, Mohammed, or Bahullah.

As to the Bible's historical accuracy,  do not make me laugh, please!  If you want to know its accuracy, check out the fact that there is no evidence for the Exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from Egypt and their sojourn for 40 years in the Sinai. This  amount of people would have left tons of evidence, at the very least mounds of garbage , but there is no evidence of any such mass migration and that happens to be the dispute right now in Jewish archeological circles. Read the book: "The View from Mount Nebo". I'ts on Amazon.

While you are at it, read the Avesta, which hundreds of years before the Pharisees ( name coming from Phars , meaning Persia) already taught resurrection, final judgment, heaven, hell, a devil and saviors.  All these things you can easily learn by sticking your head out of the Bible, and the sand, for a few weeks. I am deeply sorry if you have bought into the bill of goods you have been sold, but that my friend, is your Mazda given choice.

"Listen with your ears to the best of things, ponder upon them with a clear mind , then let each man and woman by he or her self choose ... "  Zarathushtra Gathas S3.2 ( Roughly 3700 years ago!!)

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