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3/22/2016 6:31 pm  #1


Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

Would Zoroastrianism apply as a religion that adheres to divine simplicity? I've read that Zoroastrianism had tremendous influence on Abrahamic religions and even possibly Greek philosophy due to prevalence of dualism and immortality in both cultures. Gathas (their divine texts) has some fascinating theology about good, evil and the nature of free will. While their God, Ahura Mazda, is described as the creator of everything, he isn't considered omnipotent since he has an opponent that he consistently battles against. I don't know if it would be too out of line to consider it in the realm of divine simplicity since even early Jewish texts possibly showed other Gods or inferior deities such as Baal. 

 

3/22/2016 7:28 pm  #2


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

I think Zoroastrian dualism is more usually understood as cosmological rather than metaphysical. That is, Ahura Mazda is indeed omnipotent and perfect in Zoroastrian thought. He is the only God. Angra Mainyu is not another God. He is an evil spirit, like satan, in no sense equal to Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrianism simply emphasises the cosmological role of the duality between good and evil even beyond what is seen in the semitic monotheisms and other faiths; it is, though, a duality that is overcome and is not fundamental. This, at least, is my understanding of the general Zoroastrian view (contrary to some claims, one with deep roots in the faith). There certainly have been radical or metaphysical dualists amongst Zoroastrians, including the important theologican Mardan-Farrukh, but it has never been the dominant position, as it may have been for Manichaeism, some radical offshoots of Zoroastrianism, and certain strains of what is called today Gnosticism.

 

3/22/2016 8:01 pm  #3


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

I've understood that Ahura Mazda is *not* omnipotent and is superior in rank to his evil counterpart but is not absolutely superior.


Fighting to the death "the noonday demon" of Acedia.
My Books
It is precisely “values” that are the powerless and threadbare mask of the objectification of beings, an objectification that has become flat and devoid of background. No one dies for mere values.
~Martin Heidegger
 

3/23/2016 12:52 am  #4


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

No, he is much as the Christian God is, at least in the dominant traditional interpretation. In the Yasna ceremony, the principal Zoroastrian rite and its accompanying liturgical material, his names are recited, and these include Harvesp-tawan and Harvesp-Tavaan, or almighty and all-powerful. It is the bounteous spirit, of which in Yasna 47.1-6 (the Spentamainyush Gatha) Ahura Mazda is called the father, who is seen as in some sense the equal to the evil spirit. The problem is that not only is there a diversity of opinion in traditional Zoroastrianism, but that a lot of Western study ignores the tradition of Zoroastrianism and tries to force it into various procrustean beds depending upon the different scholars' perspectives. As the Zoroastrian texts can be somewhat obscure, this creates even greater problems than it does in historical research into Judaism and Christianity.

 

3/25/2016 2:01 am  #5


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

Hmm. Maybe I just thought that was correct because I assumed that a cosmological dualism between two deities is impossible if one is omnipotent (unless the secondary is somehow in a futile rebellion or is some kind of instrument of the prime deity).


Fighting to the death "the noonday demon" of Acedia.
My Books
It is precisely “values” that are the powerless and threadbare mask of the objectification of beings, an objectification that has become flat and devoid of background. No one dies for mere values.
~Martin Heidegger
 

3/27/2016 6:32 pm  #6


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

It is much like satan, or, indeed, human evil. God permits it. Angra Mainyu is, in a sense, a personification of all the downward tendencies, the tendencies of separation from God, in the cosmos.  

 

3/28/2016 10:53 am  #7


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

I'd like to know if there are Zoroastrian theologians something like Christian ones - like us here, too?

The Font of Webknowledge implies Zoroastrianism had no systematic philosophers or theologians as in Christian tradition, before its decline under Muslim rule. But here's a good ethical precept: "Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you also." Note the Kantianish beginning, but unlike Kant, the guarantee of good consequences.

Chris-Kirk

Last edited by Shade Tree Philosopher (3/28/2016 10:54 am)

 

3/28/2016 5:01 pm  #8


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

I'm unaware of pre-Muslim Zoroastrian theologians in anything like the Scholastic mode. There were certainly holy men and authorities. Iranian Islam and mysticism, like that of Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra, has a Zoroastrian influence.

 

3/28/2016 10:29 pm  #9


Re: Zoroastrianism and divine simplicity

Mr Heid, may I ask what prompted your question? Zoroastrianism as we've noted is hardly a philosophically rigorous religion (nor need it be).

And pardon, what's the significance of the numbers in your handle?

thanks,

Chris-kirk

 

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