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Zarathustra: Difference between revisions
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It is believed that Zarathustra was born in what is now east central Iran, but that is not certain. Zarathustra’s date of birth is even more difficult to establish. Scholars place it sometime between 1700 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. and 600 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. The consensus is that he lived around 1000 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. or earlier. | It is believed that Zarathustra was born in what is now east central Iran, but that is not certain. Zarathustra’s date of birth is even more difficult to establish. Scholars place it sometime between 1700 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. and 600 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. The consensus is that he lived around 1000 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. or earlier. | ||
The Gathas are the key to determining | The Gathas are the key to determining Zarathustra’s approximate year of birth. They are linguistically similar to the Rigveda, one of the sacred texts of the Hindus. According to Boyce: | ||
<blockquote>The language of the Gathas is archaic, and close to that of the Rigveda (whose composition has been assigned to about 1700 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. onwards); and the picture of the world to be gained from [the Gathas] is correspondingly ancient, that of a Stone Age society.... It is only possible therefore to hazard a reasoned conjecture that [Zarathustra] lived some time between 1700 and 1500 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>.<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 18.</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>The language of the Gathas is archaic, and close to that of the Rigveda (whose composition has been assigned to about 1700 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. onwards); and the picture of the world to be gained from [the Gathas] is correspondingly ancient, that of a Stone Age society.... It is only possible therefore to hazard a reasoned conjecture that [Zarathustra] lived some time between 1700 and 1500 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>.<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 18.</ref></blockquote> | ||
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Some scholars assert that Zarathustra was not a strict monotheist but a henotheist, that is, one who worships one God but does not deny the existence of others. This is a technical distinction. As David Bradley, author of ''A Guide to the World’s Religions'', notes, “[Zarathustra] was a practicing monotheist in the same way that Moses was.”<ref>David G. Bradley, ''A Guide to the World’s Religions'' (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963), p. 40.</ref> Bradley thinks that Moses knew of the existence of lesser gods but insisted on the necessity of siding with the true God against all other gods.<ref>Ibid.</ref> | Some scholars assert that Zarathustra was not a strict monotheist but a henotheist, that is, one who worships one God but does not deny the existence of others. This is a technical distinction. As David Bradley, author of ''A Guide to the World’s Religions'', notes, “[Zarathustra] was a practicing monotheist in the same way that Moses was.”<ref>David G. Bradley, ''A Guide to the World’s Religions'' (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963), p. 40.</ref> Bradley thinks that Moses knew of the existence of lesser gods but insisted on the necessity of siding with the true God against all other gods.<ref>Ibid.</ref> | ||
Shortly after his first vision, Zarathustra became a spokesman for Ahura Mazda and began to proclaim his message. | Shortly after his first vision, Zarathustra became a spokesman for Ahura Mazda and began to proclaim his message. | ||
According to Simmons, Zarathustra instituted a religious reform that was more far-reaching and more radical than Martin Luther’s challenge of the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>Telephone interview with H. Michael Simmons, Center for Zoroastrian Research, 28 June 1992.</ref> | |||
Zarathustra’s reform had a number of facets. His main objective was to stamp out Evil. He began to condemn the religious doctrines of his countrymen. | |||
The old religion, as best we can tell, had two classes of deities—the ''ahuras'', or “lords,” and the ''daevas'', or “demons.” According to Zaehner: | |||
<blockquote>It is ... the ''daevas'' specifically whom Zoroaster attacks, not the ''ahuras'' whom he prefers to ignore.... In all probability he considered them to be God’s creatures and as fighters on his side. In any case he concentrated the full weight of his attack on the ''daevas'' and their worshippers who practised a gory sacrificial ritual and were the enemies of the settled pastoral community to which the Prophet himself belonged.<ref>Zaehner, “Zoroastrianism,” p. 210.</ref></blockquote> | |||
== Spreading his message == | |||
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At first Zarathustra had little success in spreading his message. He was persecuted by the priests and followers of the daevas | At first Zarathustra had little success in spreading his message. Zaehner observes, “It is obvious from the ''Gathas'' that Zoroaster met with very stiff opposition from the civil and ecclesiastical authorities when once he had proclaimed his mission.”<ref>R. C. Zaehner, ''The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism'' (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1961), p. 35.</ref> He was persecuted by the priests and followers of the ''daevas''. According to tradition, they tried to kill him a number of times. | ||
It took ten years for Zarathustra to make his first convert, his cousin. He was then divinely led to the court of King Vishtaspa and Queen Hutaosa. | |||
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Vishtaspa was an honest, simple monarch but was surrounded by the Karpans, a group of self-seeking, manipulative priests. They convened a council to challenge the revelations of the new prophet and successfully conspired to have him thrown in jail. As the story goes, Zarathustra won his freedom by miraculously curing the king’s favorite black horse. Vishtaspa granted him permission to teach the new faith to his consort, Queen Hutaosa. The beautiful Hutaosa became one of Zarathustra’s greatest supporters and assisted him in converting Vishtaspa. | Vishtaspa was an honest, simple monarch but was surrounded by the ''Karpans'', a group of self-seeking, manipulative priests. They convened a council to challenge the revelations of the new prophet and successfully conspired to have him thrown in jail. As the story goes, Zarathustra won his freedom by miraculously curing the king’s favorite black horse. Vishtaspa granted him permission to teach the new faith to his consort, Queen Hutaosa. The beautiful Hutaosa became one of Zarathustra’s greatest supporters and assisted him in converting Vishtaspa. | ||
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<blockquote>Realize the necessary ingredients for the propagation of the faith throughout the earth. The archangels send their messenger with a gift of prophecy that is the Word of Sanat Kumara to every culture and in every age. Thus, the prophet comes forth with the vision, with the anointing and with the sacred fire. But unless the prophet find the fertile field of hearts aflame and receptive, the authority of the Word does not pass unto the people.<ref>Zarathustra, “A Moment in Cosmic History—The Empowerment of Bearers of the Sacred Fire,” {{POWref|24|13|, March 28, 1981}}</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>Realize the necessary ingredients for the propagation of the faith throughout the earth. The archangels send their messenger with a gift of prophecy that is the Word of Sanat Kumara to every culture and in every age. Thus, the prophet comes forth with the vision, with the anointing and with the sacred fire. But unless the prophet find the fertile field of hearts aflame and receptive, the authority of the Word does not pass unto the people.<ref>Zarathustra, “A Moment in Cosmic History—The Empowerment of Bearers of the Sacred Fire,” {{POWref|24|13|, March 28, 1981}}</ref></blockquote> | ||
== Ahura Mazda == | |||
Zarathustra recognized Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, as the creator of all, but he did not see him as a solitary figure. In Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the father of Spenta Mainyu, the Holy Spirit. ''Spenta'' means “holy” or “bountiful.” ''Mainyu'' means “spirit” or “mentality.” The Holy Spirit is one with, yet distinct from, Ahura Mazda. Ahura Mazda expresses his will through Spenta Mainyu. | |||
Boyce explains: | |||
<blockquote>For Zarathushtra God was Ahura Mazda, who ... had created the world and all that is good in it through his Holy Spirit, Spenta Mainyu, who is both his active agent and yet one with him, indivisible and yet distinct.<ref>Mary Boyce, ed. and trans., ''Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism'' (1984; reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), p. 12.</ref></blockquote> | |||
Simply put, the Spirit is always the Spirit of the Lord. When we speak of the Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit of God. | |||
Ahura Mazda is also the father of the Amesha Spentas, or six “Holy” or “Bountiful Immortals.” Boyce says that the term ''spenta'' is one of the most important in Zarathustra’s theology. To him, it meant “possessing power.” When used in connection with the beneficent deities, it meant “possessing power to aid” and hence “furthering, supporting, benefiting.”<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 22.</ref> | |||
Zarathustra taught that Ahura Mazda created the world in seven stages. He did so with the help of the six great Holy Immortals and his Holy Spirit. The term ''Amesha Spenta'' can refer to any one of the divinities created by Ahura Mazda but refers especially to the six who helped create the world. According to Boyce: | |||
<blockquote>These divinities formed a heptad with Ahura Mazda himself.... Ahura Mazda is said either to be their “father”, or to have “mingled” himself with them, and in one ... text his creation of them is compared with the lighting of torches from a torch.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>The six great Beings then in their turn, Zoroaster taught, evoked other beneficent divinities, who are in fact the beneficent gods of the pagan Iranian pantheon.... All these divine beings, who are...either directly or indirectly the emanations of Ahura Mazda, strive under him, according to their various appointed tasks, to further good and to defeat evil.<ref>Ibid., p. 21.</ref></blockquote> | |||
The six Holy or Bountiful Immortals also represent attributes of Ahura Mazda. The Holy Immortals are as follows: | |||
'''Vohu Manah''', whose name means “Good Mind,” “Good Thought” or “Good Purpose.” According to Boyce, “For every individual, as for the prophet himself,” Vohu Manah is “the Immortal who leads the way to all the rest.” '''Asha Vahishta''', whose name means “Best Righteousness,” “Truth” or “Order,” is the closest confederate of Vohu Manah.<ref>Ibid., p. 22; Boyce, ''Textual Sources'', p. 13.</ref> | |||
'''Spenta Armaiti''', “Right-mindedness” or “Holy Devotion,” Boyce says, embodies the dedication to what is good and just. '''Khshathra Vairya''', “Desirable Dominion,” represents the power that each person should exert for righteousness as well as the power and the kingdom of God.<ref>Boyce, ''Zoroastrians'', p. 22.</ref> | |||
The final two are a pair. They are '''Haurvatat''', whose name means “Wholeness” or “Health,” and '''Ameretat''', whose name means “Long Life” or “Immortality.” Boyce says these two enhance earthly existence and confer eternal well-being and life, which may be obtained by the righteous in the presence of Ahura Mazda.<ref>Ibid.</ref> She says: | |||
<blockquote>The doctrine of the Heptad is at the heart of Zoroastrian theology. Together with [the concept of Good and Evil] it provides the basis for Zoroastrian spirituality and ethics, and shapes the characteristic Zoroastrian attitude of responsible stewardship for this world.<ref>Boyce, ''Textual Sources'', p. 14.</ref></blockquote> | |||
In later tradition, the six Holy Immortals were considered to be [[Archangel]]s. | |||
== The nature of good and evil == | |||
== Legacy == <!--T:18--> | == Legacy == <!--T:18--> | ||