The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-07


quest of Alexander. From the age Of
Alexander. when Greek influence be-
came predominant in Asia Minor, until
the SasSanian dynasty came to the
throne, in the third century after
Christ, there is a complete blank in
Persian records. With the SasSanian
kings the old Magian priests regained
their influence, and the ZOroastrian re-
ligion became all powerful in the state.
The sacred books in the ancient Ave
stan language became the Bible of the
land. But in the meanwhile the Ian
guage of the country had suffered
great changes, and the religious COM
mentaries, corresponding to the PATHS
tic literature of the Christians, were
now composed in the Pahlavi, a tongue
which is related TO old Persian much as
Italian is related to Latin. This body
OF PahlaYi commentaries forms the
middle period. But Persian was doomed
to undergo another and more far
reaching revolution. In the seventh
century the country was subdued by
the Arabs, and henceforth MOhamme-
danism became the religion of the land
4 number Of the Persians ESCAPED as
colonists and settled in India. where
their descendants. the Parsis. still live
LOTUdSLEld0
faith. Among them are preserved the
sacred Avesta and the later Pahlavi
books, although their spoken language
has altered considerably since the days
Of the Sassanids.
Meanwhile, with the Arab conquest.
Persia itself entered upon a new era
The language developed. into modern
Persian and was modified by a large in
fusion of Arabic words. The modern
Persian literature may be said to have
begun about the year 1000 A D.. with
the Shah Nameh. the great epic of Fir
, dust. Intrinsically and considered as
pure literature, modern Persian. in
Guiding such names as Firdusi. Saadi.
Omar Knayyam. EIafz and others.
ranks easily first among oriental liter
atures. The Persian inscriptions and
the Pahiavi books we must. for lack
OF space, pass over unnoticed. Today
let us turn for a moment to the Avesta,
which contains the ancient religion OF
Zoroaster.
OF the two kindred people united IN
der Cyrus into one great empire the
Modes are the oldest civilization. and
it was among them that the strange
and little understood religion of the
Ma gians developed. The Magians them
selves We're apparently a tribe of
/ the Levites among the Jews. They
were the learned men of the east. IA
miliar to US from the Bible. and if for
time, under the sway of Persian and
Greek rules. their authority was some
what diminished they at last came to
their own under the Sassanian dynasty.
Tt is not easy to determine what was
the original form of the Magian relig-
ion. because in the form in which it
has come down to US was profoundly
modified by the influence of one domi-
nant reformer. In general however,
II must have been largely akin 10 the
polytheistic faith Of the Hindu Vedas.
for, in fact the Hindu and Iranian re-
ligions were sisters derived from a COM
mon mother.
But m the seventh century B. c..
there arose In Media q man of profound
religious instinct. a great prophet. who
wrought a revolution in the popular
faith. From that day to this the relig-
ion of the Magians is called Zor0as-
trianism, after his name. A few years
ago il was common to speak of Zorro
aster as a mere myth; just as Buddha
and Christ were MYTHS to a certain
school of skeptics. But reflection and
Investigation have modified this view,
and today ZOroaster is recognized as A
distinct historic personality. We even
know something Of his life We know
how. like other refOrmers ne became
dissatisfied with the grossness of the
national faith and for years lived apart
in search Of the truth. We know that
he began his mission of preaching at
the age of 80, and we know the name
of the prince iVishtaspa) who finally
accepted his doctrine and became for
. Iran what Constantine was Tor Chris
4 "a
prophet was twice married (strange as
this may seem) and that he left chill
dren.
1 The doctrine Of Zoroaster is contain
ed in the so-called Avesta. the only
relic of the Avestan language. which.
/ as we have seen. was closely akin to
( ancient Persian. The Avesta is a coIIec-
ton of religious laws. myths Iitanies
and hymns now easily accessible in
translation, and. notwithstanding an
occasional note Of true spirituality.
must be regarded on the whole as one
of the dreariest and least interesting OF
the worlds Bibles. It requires an ex-
traordinary effort Of imagination TO IN
derstand how so much childish folly
and true religious spirit could be
combined. Essentially the faith Of 70
rooster is q pronounced dualism. On
( the one side stood 0rTnazd and the an
gels Of light: on the other side are
ranged Ahriman and the princes Of
| darkness Into this ceaseless struggle
! man is thrown and must bear his part
in the conflict. His duty is to preserve
his purity intact: uncleanliness is the
great sin So IL was that death was
looked upon as uncleanliness, and the
most characteristic rite was then. az q
still among the Pdrsis. the custom of
EXPOSING dead bodies TO be devoured
by the fowls Of the air. so that neither
earth nor water nor fire. should be
made impure by decay. To Us the most
interesting fact in connection with 70
roastrianism is its infiltration into
Christianity through Manichaeism and
its influence in this way on so many OF
the European heresies Of the middle
ages.