The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31

doctrines OF the Hoo-ZoroaBtnhnihm Wnloh In
herited its doemas and gave them . new form.
Alexanders invasion brought In it, wake
political and moral anarchy. Zoroastrihntsm
did not perish; Its doRmas. its ritual. and part
Of Ito mythology survived, but. apparently, for
want Of q sacred or authoritative book. there
was no Zoroastrian orthodoxy. AT the same
time the barriers between East and West being
broken. all religions and systems were brought
face to face. The religious question became
the order OF the day. Buddhism and Brahmin-
ism pushed from the East; Judaism from the
West; Hellenism. however, ruled all over Iran.
In the systems that from all four points OF tho
compass spread into Iran. eithor with q
conscious p~ropagandist spirit or through
the slow influence OF daily contact, Zoroas-
trianism found both what repealed and what
attracted IL. Its practical md moral ideal ro-
volted against the inert Ascetism Of Buddhism.
against the ethical indifference OF Brahminism.
and against the superstltious. low worship Of
immoral Devas. Greece and Palestine. on the
contrary. brought TO II novel. fascinating. and
odifyinG thoughts. How far and how deeply
Hellenism made its influence felt 10 symbol
ically Indicated on the coins OF the Philhellenist
ArsacidD. Mr.. Darmesteter, indeed. would not
assert that Zeus impressed in any active way
the worshippers Of Ahura Mazda, though He
rodotus and Aristotle had recognized their
hululbS, uS viz DhhhAhlhIlb ulu lAIoE Ol Az o
Greek philosophy that especially reacted on the
Zoroastrinn school. Platonism was there. as it
was throughout eastern Asia. the bond between
he East and Greece. What struck the MAJ
dean sages In It was what at the Same
time impressed the Hellenisdo Jews 80
much. the idea Of the LoRos. that divine
intelligence abstracted from God and inter-
posed between Him and the world. also the
concept Of an ideal world. the heavenly, unseen
prototype Of tho material one. After the Iran
Ian LoGos. to which was given the name Of
Vohu Mano. rose the Amshaspunds to share
with him the government Of the soul and the
world then came q host OF divine distractions
to impersonate all the spiritual and material
forces OF Nature. In spite Of the dryness and
scholastic riGor with which learned men In
vested MRzdaism. one cannot, help admiring
the practical good sense and idea Of proportion
which presided over the choice Of these divine
distractions, and represented their impulses.
Especially when one contrasts them with the
Eons Of the Gnostics and tho 6ephiroth of the
Cabalists. which. starting from the same point,
the First Intelligence. fell enGulfed in mystical
nihillSm. can one understand why and how
MazdaiSm was, next to Christianity. the only
one among the religious systems inspired with
Plato's spirit that lived and deserved to live.
judaism inspired Zoroastrianism In Q differ
OASt eAASbBh nv AOoo bS"OAAAAt WSgs
certain questions Of which Mazdalsm had not
thought. It's sacred books supplied the MAJ
dean doctors with answers to those questions.
It gave them even an historical and chronolog-
zeal framework. TIL creation. the deluge, the
Genealogies, the patriArohs. the division Of
races. and the Revelation were all made by
the Jews the subject Of narration in what was
felt by the Persiane to be o zoroaetrian spirit
Mr.. Darmesteter deems 1t possible that the
worry idea Of an Avesta was suggested by the
Bible. It Is certain that the divisions Of the
Hebrew Scriptures were adopted in the
Avesta: the classification Of the documents
is initiated from the classification Of the
Biblical text into documents relating to
the law. to the prophets. and to other matters.
Our author thinks that when Islam assimil.
ated Zoroastrianism to the peoples OF the
book" II evinced rare historical insight and
solved the problem Of the origin Of tho vesta.
Thus In the centuries Just before the Christian
era there was elaborated In Iran o new'religion
not differing essentially from the old one Of the
Ach@menian epoch; which. INTACT. was nothing
moro than that old religion adapted to the new
necessities Of Its spiritual and political sur
roundings, better armed against rivals. and
made %strongerb by borrowing from tie competi-
tors. All these novelties ZoroastrianiSm could
adopt and assimilate without losing It's own
physioRnomy. There are few instances OF for
eign elements and concepts so freely borrowed
by a religion and so tremendously blended in
the original mould. N. W.. II.