Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 174
ZOROASTRIANISM coexist to enable man to exercise his free will. Thus, man would ultimately be judged in accordance with his good or bad intentions and deeds. Zoroaster as also taught that the universe was created by the god of light and that the forces of good will ultimately prevail. . One can safely deduce from an in-depth study of. Zoroastrianism that what was later referred to as an independent God of darkness, was only identical to the concept of a devil found in traditional religions like. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It seems that at some stage the followers of Zoroasteras began to misunderstand his philosophy of good and evil, and took them to be the manifestation of two independent, conscious supreme beings who coexisted eternally. This is the essence of the. Zoroastrian concept of dualism. A second glance at. Zoroastrian philosophy can lead a careful observer to the conclusion that it is only a matter of different terminology which creates a false parallax between them. . The role ascribed to Satan in other religions is ascribed to Ahraman in Zoroastrianism. Most likely the adherents of Zoroastrians of later ages got the concept of. Satan mixed up with the idea of an independent god of evil, believed to be the supreme master of the forces of darkness. . This one blunder on their part led to yet another blunder. . Ahraman, the 'God of Evil', is portrayed as sharing eternity with the One and Only Supreme Creator. . It is hard to identify the age when this erroneous belief crept into Zoroastrian doctrines but one thing is certain that Cyrus (c. 590-529 BC), an exemplary pupil of. Zoroasters, was far from being a dualist. The lofty position he held in Zoroastrianism was even higher than that held by. Ashoka in Buddhism. . To judge Zoroastrianism through the mirror of Cyrus, therefore, would be no less reliable than judging Buddhism 172