دار بيبليون
Zara 4: Zoroaster the most ancient prophetic model and its impact on Christianity and Islam
Conference by Lwiis Saliba on Zoom Wednesday 16/2/2022
The Ascension among the Persians after Zoroaster
The experience of ascension in Zoroastrianism was not limited to Zoroaster, on the contrary, the ascension to heaven was the most important ideological and dogmatic confirmation to sustain the presence of Zoroastrianism and its strong consolidation in Iranian society, at the time of every external challenge that came from another religion, the guardians of Zoroaster’s religion, or rather their leader would respond with a mi’raj. Such was the case in the fierce struggle between Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism. Mani (216-276 AD) and his religion were among the most serious challenges Zoroastrianism faced. In support of his claim, Mani claimed that he knew many ma’arij. Ibn al-Nadim (380 AH/987 AD) narrates in al-Fihrist: “Umm (mother of) Mani used to see in his awakening as if someone took him and made him go up in the air, and then made him go back, and he might stay for a day or two, and then he would come back” ().
By claiming direct contact with God and his ascension to heaven, Mani was addressing the Zoroastrian religious community in its most important and sacred beliefs, which triggered in this community a kind of anxious review of the extent of the evidence of the belief of this religion and its conformity with the contemporary reality of the time ().
The answer to Mani came from his sworn enemy, Carter, the head of the Zoroastrian clergy in the palace of Bahram II (276-293). Carter recounted in a number of surviving inscriptions the news of his ascension. He began by drinking the sacred drink Haoma, which takes its drinker on a journey to the other world, riding an animal, moving through the heavens, layer by layer, meeting the angels entrusted to him, then his vision of heaven and fire, and man’s dwelling in them, and finally his meeting with Ahura Mazda, who seemed optimistic and pleased with him [i.e., Carter] ( )
When the Christian challenge appeared, as a fierce competitor to Zoroastrianism, because of Christianity’s vast abilities to evangelize and win supporters, especially after being adopted as the official religion in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Constantine and the Byzantine emperors’ support for it, Cleric Ardabar Mehrspendan convened the Zoroastrian religious council in A House of Fire in Varnabeg, where Arda Viraz was chosen as the representative of the entire Zoroastrian clergy, in order to go to the next world. In the narration of Mi’raj Arda Viraz, the scenes mentioned in Carter’s Mi’raj are presented, but with more expansion and detail, especially since Viraz ascended for a whole week, and Ahura Mazda made him carry a message to the material world, asking the Zoroastrians to persevere in their religion, to continue to apply the law, and the need to fight heresy. We will pause at length on the Ascension of Arda Viraz in the chapter on Zoroastrianism and Islam.
The Mi’raj in Zoroastrianism is a very broad subject, which is the basis of its faith and belief, as mentioned above, and it has had a decisive impact on the Mi’raj narratives in Islam, and perhaps in Christianity as well. What has been outlined is only an orientation to further research.
Zarathustra was the first to emphasise inner development
An essential characteristic of the teaching of the prophet of Iran remains his closeness to the religions of India. In the words of the French orientalist and scholar Paul Masson-Oursel (1882 – 1956): “[Zoroaster] was the first to transfer religious endeavour from the realm of rites to the realm of inner transformation and spiritual development. Sacrifice was considered the most important aspect of worship, and so it lost its importance and remained a mere symbol.
This transformation in itself is a major revolution, for it has taken man from the age of religion to the age of spirituality, internal search and personal development, or rather from religion to Sufism. Oursel sees that the reasons for this transformation are many and varied, but most of them remain ambiguous to this day. Some return, and even the most prominent ones, to the exorbitant expenses that were demanded for sacrifices, which only the rich could afford, making religion and its rituals limited to the aristocracy and the rich. The French Indianist says: “However, rituals that were difficult to understand required exorbitant expenses that were not within the reach of every human being. For example, the nomads who did not get rich from the work of their hands and had no other resources than their work, were nevertheless no less eager than others to make offerings to obtain the corresponding good in the afterlife, like the poor of the people of Israel at the time of the offerings”().
Oursel relies on another Indianist, Meillet, to confirm that Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and other dissident religions of India, such as Hinduism and Vedism, were expanding widely in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Zoroastrianism and the Indian sects in the 6th and 5th centuries BC arose from the opportunities they offered to achieve salvation at little financial cost. The poor, born of mixed peoples, could not belong to the aristocratic orthodoxy organised according to traditional priestly rites and ritualistic religious theories. Thus, under the flag of misery, in a strong spirit, the monks and ascetics of India, the good hermits, and the Syrian beggars came together.
And Oursel adds: “Whether asceticism exists or not, the search for natural purity has opened its door to all, and salvation is within the reach of the poorest.
Various studies of Zoroaster and his religious reform agree: “He urged his followers to abandon traditional methods of worship which he considered incompatible with the teachings and beliefs of the new religion. Among the rituals that Zarathustra abolished and erased were all forms of animal sacrifice as offerings. While the prophet of Iran had cancelled the rituals that had preceded him, he retained the most prominent of them, the celebration of fire. As we have already pointed out, anyone who believes and propagates that Zoroastrians worship fire is gravely mistaken: “Contrary to what many outsiders have interpreted, Zoroastrians do not worship fire. The fire that is still used to this day in Zoroastrian rituals and temples is a “symbol” that represents the characteristics of Ahura Mazda and his qualities such as strength, light and serenity” ().
And if we repeat, citing another reference, that the followers of Zoroaster do not worship fire, it is to confirm once again that it is necessary to erase what has remained in the minds of people, especially the general public, as a result of anti-Zoroastrian propaganda throughout the ages.
Zarathustra is the oldest prophetic model
We have previously, and in several of our books, stated that Zoroaster is the oldest prophetic model in the history of religions and we will not repeat here what we have already said. On the other hand, we cannot neglect to mention this very important issue, because it has had a decisive impact on the following religions, especially the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The American thinker Harold Bloom says regarding Zoroaster’s impact on religious thought that is still decisive to this day: “It seems that Zoroaster invented our religious concept of prophecy and prophetic vision and the messianic millennium on earth, ideas that were not known before him.” ( ).
Prophecy and messianic expectation are two basic principles of the three Abrahamic religions, and they seem to owe this to Zoroaster. Bloom goes on to explain his idea and supports it with examples from Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism, and Imamite Shi’ism, saying: “Surprisingly, Zoroaster’s original ideas are reflected to appear in late Jewish apocalyptic predictions, in Gnosticism, and in early Christianity. They also float and appear in the Shiite sect that dominates Iran today” ()
The orientalist Richard Foltz, in his turn, states that prophecy and messianism are doctrines that all three religions have taken from Zoroastrianism. Faith is not only in one God, but in a certain prophet and a Zoroastrian creed. Similarly, the true or righteous religion, Veh-Din, which is superior to all other religions and calls for orthodox faith, are all Zoroastrian beliefs. Foltz says: “The supremacy of one religion over other religions, the assertion of true faith and not only of conduct, and the professed belief not only in a God, but also in a particular prophet, are ideas of Zoroastrian origin.
The messianic tendency, or expectation of the Saviour, to which we shall return, and which is connected with the doctrine of prophecy, is also of Zoroastrian origin. Thus Shiite Iran today reincarnates a Mahdism whose roots go back to its ancient prophet, and here Foltz agrees with the American thinker Bloom in what he said: “the expectation of the appearance of a saviour, and a catastrophic final battle in which good will eventually triumph, in addition to a universe populated by angels and demons, are all ideas that other religions have acquired directly or indirectly from Zoroastrianism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we did not want in this chapter to paint a picture of the Prophet of the ancient Iranians with full strokes that show the smallest details. This would require a separate book. Rather, we have been content to mention a general set of characteristics that distinguished Zarathustra and his teachings, and which had a decisive impact on the religions that succeeded him. The Iranian prophet will have clear imprints in the Abrahamic prophetic religions on the one hand, and in the mystical religions of India on the other. As for his impact on each religion separately, or his interaction with them, this will be the subject of our research in the following chapters.