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Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith
This introduction to Zoroastrianism assumes no prior knowledge of the faith. It is presented as a living faith with a coherent theology and a persuasive ethic of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.
232 pages, Paperback
First published December 19, 1998
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About the author
Peter Clark
27 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Dr Peter Clark, OBE is a writer and translator with degrees from Keele and Leicester universities. He has written books on Istanbul, on various British writers and has translated nine books from Arabic.
Peter worked for over 30 years in seven Arab countries for the British Council, designed the International Prize for Arabic Literature and has been a Contributing Editor of Banipal, the Magazine of Arab Literature since 1998. He has translated fiction, history, drama and poetry from Arabic since 1980.
Peter is married, has three grown up sons and a step-daughter and lives in Somerset. His hobbies are opera and marathon walking.
Dr Peter Clark, OBE is a writer and translator with degrees from Keele and Leicester universities. He has written books on Istanbul, on various British writers and has translated nine books from Arabic.
Peter worked for over 30 years in seven Arab countries for the British Council, designed the International Prize for Arabic Literature and has been a Contributing Editor of Banipal, the Magazine of Arab Literature since 1998. He has translated fiction, history, drama and poetry from Arabic since 1980.
Peter is married, has three grown up sons and a step-daughter and lives in Somerset. His hobbies are opera and marathon walking.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 31, 2019
There's a phrase I like to use for many aspects of life, including reviews of some books that left me cold: Can't see the forest through the trees. Sometimes a work is too detail-focused to let you have a view of the bigger picture, and that certainly is the case here. It didn't really feel like I was learning about Zoroastrianism as much as I was learning a lot of details of the religion. Yes, adding all the details up gives you the big picture, but if you're a general reader without too much advance knowledge, it helps if the book begins by giving you a larger perspective. This just dives right in. I'm sure it's much more digestible if you know about the material in advance - but then again, if you know the material in advance, why read a book whose subtitle says, "An introduction"? This book just isn't very good.
Some info gleaned from it: Zarathrustra was a prophet and no one really knows when he lived. About 1400 BC is the best guess. The Gathos are a collection of sacred hymns - 6 collections, 5 from the original prophet. They weren't written down until the 6th century BC and are similar to the Rig Vedas, which brings into question connections between Zarathrustra's group and the Aryans that went into India. The religion worships Ahura Mazda, but doesn't deny the existence of other gods. There is an evil god, Angray Mainyu.
Fire is associated with truth and righteousness. Holy fires become key symbols of the religion. There is dualism: truth vs. the lie, light vs. dark, and an eternal fight of good vs. evil. There's a concern for justice. Temples came about around 400 BC. They had a priesthood, that was sometimes called the Magi in the Middle East. One diety they got from the Indo-Iranian tradition with Mitha, which may or may not be related to the Roman cult of Mithras.
There's a belief in resurrection. It doesn't come from the big prophet himself, but evolved into the religion over the centuries. At death, your soul goes to a bridge for judging. The result is either salvation or destruction. There's also a belief of a savoir born to a virgin who will come. The ethical element of personal responsibility matters.
There are material and immaterial planes of existence, a bit like in Plato's writings. They have sacred fires. The religion ends up in India.
Possible influences on Judeo-Christianity: How monothestic were the Hebrew when they came to Babylon? Pre-Jesus Judiaism focused more on having a Messiah, a possible influence from here. The afterlife was not a traditional Hebrew concern, but became more of one after Babylon. Satan as evil might come about due to the belief here in Angra Mainyu.
There is some good info in the book, but you have to take note of a bunch of trees to get the view of the forest that you want.
Some info gleaned from it: Zarathrustra was a prophet and no one really knows when he lived. About 1400 BC is the best guess. The Gathos are a collection of sacred hymns - 6 collections, 5 from the original prophet. They weren't written down until the 6th century BC and are similar to the Rig Vedas, which brings into question connections between Zarathrustra's group and the Aryans that went into India. The religion worships Ahura Mazda, but doesn't deny the existence of other gods. There is an evil god, Angray Mainyu.
Fire is associated with truth and righteousness. Holy fires become key symbols of the religion. There is dualism: truth vs. the lie, light vs. dark, and an eternal fight of good vs. evil. There's a concern for justice. Temples came about around 400 BC. They had a priesthood, that was sometimes called the Magi in the Middle East. One diety they got from the Indo-Iranian tradition with Mitha, which may or may not be related to the Roman cult of Mithras.
There's a belief in resurrection. It doesn't come from the big prophet himself, but evolved into the religion over the centuries. At death, your soul goes to a bridge for judging. The result is either salvation or destruction. There's also a belief of a savoir born to a virgin who will come. The ethical element of personal responsibility matters.
There are material and immaterial planes of existence, a bit like in Plato's writings. They have sacred fires. The religion ends up in India.
Possible influences on Judeo-Christianity: How monothestic were the Hebrew when they came to Babylon? Pre-Jesus Judiaism focused more on having a Messiah, a possible influence from here. The afterlife was not a traditional Hebrew concern, but became more of one after Babylon. Satan as evil might come about due to the belief here in Angra Mainyu.
There is some good info in the book, but you have to take note of a bunch of trees to get the view of the forest that you want.
February 4, 2023
Well researched and a great resource. A little dense. Probably could have slowed down and explained more thoroughly in a couple of places, but overall, the best English language book I've found on Zoroastrianism.
October 11, 2019
More brain based than heart based writing
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May 11, 2021does not allow me to read, No good
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews