Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 173
ZOROASTRIANISM 'N PERSIAN HISTORY, the most noteworthy contribution to religious philosophy is made by Zoroastrianism. . According to this philosophy, not only are truth and goodness eternal, but falsehood and evil also share eternity with them. Both have separate gods who have their own independent orders of management. There is a god of goodness, Ahura Mazda, also known as the god of light and there is a god of evil, Ahraman, also known as the god of darkness; each has his own well-defined role to play. All activity within the universe results from the collision and interaction of these two combatant gods, who are eternally locked in a grim battle of survival and supremacy. . The powers of the god of goodness are constantly endeavouring to dominate those of the god of evil. Like a see-saw, the outcome of this struggle is always changing sides sometimes in favour of goodness and sometimes in favour of evil. Thus Zoroastrian philosophy presents a simple explanation for the coexistence of evil and suffering, goodness and happiness, by attributing their origin to two different sources. All the ills in the world pain, grief, distress, ignorance and suffering are believed to ensue when the god of evil gains the upper hand. . It should be noted that what Zoroasters* (c. sixth century BC) really taught was that the force of good and evil * Zoroaster, a great Prophet of Persia, is understood by many. Zoroastrians to be a dualist. Many others insist he was a monotheist. . His name is spelt and pronounced differently. We have adopted. Zoroaster, the English version, with which most people are familiar. . Nietzsche, however, refers to him as ‘Zarathustra'. In this context we have used his term with his spelling but the person is the same. 171