The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-01-09
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN.
+ DAY SERMON.
Subject: ssPhe Fire Worshipers."

TKXT. ssThere came wise men from tnl
East to Jerusalem. Matthew H.. 1.
These wise men were the Parsees or th,
& so-called fire worshipers, aud I found thei
descendants in India last October. Thei
z. }heathenism IA more tolerable than any oftht
iother false RELIGIONS and has more allevla
ltions, and while In this round the world
lsefes have already shown you the worst
forms of heathenism to-day show you the
lleastoffensfve.
The prophet of the Parsees was Zoroaster.
of Persia. He was poet and philosopher and
lreformer az we'll as religlonist. His disciples
I Ithrived at first In Persia, but under Moham
smedan persecution they retreated to India
where met them, and In addition to what
saw OF them at their headquarters In Bonn
d bay, India, had two weeks OF association
u with one OF the most learned and genial OF
their people on shipboard from Bombay to
tBrindisi.
The Bible Of the Parsees, or fire Worship
& iers, as they are inaccurately called, is the
IZend-Ayesta, q collection Of the strangest
4 books that ever came into my hands. There
lwere originally twenty-one volumes, but
tAIexander the Great, In drunken fit, set
them, and they went into ashes aud forget
Ifulness But there are more OF their sacred
volumes left than most people would have
s patience to read. There are many things In
the religion OF the Parsee that suggest
|Christianity, and some OF its doctrines are
are in record with our own religion. 70
roaster. who lived about 1400 years
before Christ, was good man. suffered
y ipersecution for his faith and was asssssin-
ated while worshiping at an altar. he an
5 nounced the theory, 'He Is best who Is pure
Z of heart and that there are two great
spirits In the world, Ormuzd, the good spirit,
4 and Ahriman, the bad spirit. and tnat all
who do right are under the influence OF
Ormuzd, and all who do wrong are un-
Z der Ahriman; that the Parsee must be
: born on the ground floor OF the house
) and must be buried from the ground
floor that the dying man must have
4 PRAYERS said over him and a sacred juice
given him to drink; that the good at their
Hecease 20 into eternal light and the bad
K into etarnal darkness that, having passed
ont OF this lie, the soul fingers near the
,corpse three days In q paradisaic state,
enfoylng more than all the nations OF
earth put together could enjoy or in a
psndemoniac state, suffering more than all
3 the nations put together could possibly
suffer, but atthe end ofthree days departing
< Tor It's final destiny, and that thete will be
! resurrection OF the body. They are more
! careful than any other. people about their
Sabiutlons. and they wash and wash and
wash. They pay great attention to physical
health, and It Is q rare thing to see sick
Parsee. They DO not smoke tobacco, Tor
they consider that q misuse OF fire..
\: At the close OF mortal life the soul appears
hi the bridge Chinyst, where an angel pre-
\ sides and questions the soul about the
= thoughts ami words and deeds OF its earthly
gtate. Nothing, however, Is more intense In
4 khe Parseo faith than the theory that the
deady body Is impure. A devil Is supposed
< 10 take possession OF the dead body. All
who touch It are unclean,t and hence the
strange style Of obsequies. But here must
ktve three or four questions and answers
from one OF the Parsee catechisms
q Question Who IS the most fortunate man
: In fhe world2 4 $50
I Ansyer-He who Is the most innocent.
ss55 Q.-Who Is the most innocent man In the
!: world? FiaS
i A.-He who walks In the path OF God and
pAuns that OF the devil. as.5.
p.-Which is the path Of God and which
I thnt OF the devil?
h.-Yirtue Is the path Of God and Vice that
a 8 o.@What o. constitutes virtue and what
! Vice?
Good thoughts, good words and good
deeds constitute virtue, and evil thoughts,
evil words and evil deeds constitute Vice.
z. Q.-What constitute good thoughts, good
evil words and evil deeds?
y { A-Honesty, charity and truthfulness
constitute the former, and dishonesty, want
OF charity and fslseho3d constitute the latter.
And now the better to show you these Par
{ sses tell you Of two things I saw within
short time In Bombay, India. It was an
: afternoon Of contrast.
We started for Malebar hill on which the
wealthy classes have their embowered homes
i Az D. n MI or rcyo
dead. AS we rode along the waters edge
the sun was descending the sky, and dis
.cfple OF FORESTER, q Parsee, was In lowly
bosture and with reverential gaze looking
Into the sky. He would have been said to
have been worshiping the sun, as all Par
Z sees are said to worship the fire. But the
intelligent Parsee does not worship the
fire. He looks upon the sun as the en-
blena Of the warmth and light OF the
J. Creator. Looking at blaze OF Light.
s whether on hearth, on mountain height or
1 In the sky, he can more easily bring TO mind
khe glory OF God-ar least so the Parsees
kcli me. Indeed they are the pleasentesr
Ahaafhen I have met. They treat their wives
- EQUALS. while the Hindoos and Buddhists
4 treat them as cattle, although the cattle and
sheep and swine are better on than most OF
the women ofIndia.:
81 This Parsee on the roadside on our way to
Malabar hill was the only one OF that relig-
Hon had ever seen engaged In worship.
Who knows but that beyond the light OF the
sun on which he gazes he may catch q
glimpse OF the God who Is light and sin
whom there Is no darkness at ali?"
IS We passed on up through gates Into the
Z Garden that surrounds the place where the
Psrsees dispose OF their dead. This garden
was given by Jamshidji Jljibhai and is beau
hful with flowers Of all hue and foliage Of
8 an styles Of vein and notch and stature.
:, There ts on all sides great opulence Of fern
and cypress. The garden Is 100 feet above
y khe level OF the sea. Not far from the en-
: trance Is a building where the mourners OF
: The funeral procession 60 In to pray. 4
light Is here Kept burning year in and year
out.
q We ascend the garden by some eight stone
steps. The body Of deceased aged woman
was being carried In toward the chief "tower
lot silence" There are five Of these towers.
Several of them have not been used for q
: long while. Four persons, whose business
4 III Is to do this, carry the corpse. They are
3 followed by two men With long boards. The
Ettower OF silence to which they come cost
Io160, 900 and Is twenty-five feet high and 276
lfeet around and without roof.
5 EThe four carriers of the dead and
khe two bearded men come to the
door Of the tower, enter and leave the dead.
Tn6Se are tnree rows oI placeS ioI tne ueau-
khe outer row for the mon, the middle row
lfor the women, the inside row for the chill
dren. The nfeless bodies are left exposed
as far down as the waist. As soon as the
plempioyes retire from the tower of silence the
yuitures, now one, now two, now many,
swoop upon the httless form. These vul-
itures an the air with their discordsni
voices. We saw them In long rows or
1.-THE top Of the whiter dshed wall OF the
4 ttower 'ot silence. In q few minutes
lthey have taken the last particle Of flesh
from the bones. There had evidently been
y lofkar ornnrfnnifiaa for than that daY and