Download Free The Teachings Of The Magi A Compendium Of Zoroastrian Beliefs By R C Zaehner Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online The Teachings Of The Magi A Compendium Of Zoroastrian Beliefs By R C Zaehner and write the review.

Originally published in 1956, this book provides a clear, scholarly, introduction to the main tenets of Zoroastrian dualism presented largely in the words of the Zoroastrian texts themselves. The book demonstrates the essential reasonableness of Zoroastrian dualism, which is the dualism of a good and an evil spirit, and to show what the means in everyday life and how it is philosophically justified. There are chapters on cosmology, the relation of man to God, the nature of religion, ethics, sacraments and sacrifice, the soul’s fate at death and eschatology.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Challenging some assessments of religion in the West, this study argues that, although much organized religion, particularly Christianity, is in numerical decline, in actual fact we are witnessing an alternative spiritual re-enchantment of society and culture.
An Environmental History of the World is a concise history, from Ancient to Modern times, of the interaction between human societies and the other forms of life that inhabit our planet. This original work follows a chronological path through the history of mankind, in relationship to ecosystems around the world. Each chapter concentrates on a general period in human history which has been characterised by large scale changes in the relationship of human societies to the biosphere, and gives three case-studies that illustrate the significant patterns occurring at that time. Little environmental or historical knowledge is assumed from the reader in this introduction to environmental history.
Examines Zoroastrian exegesis by investigating a late antique translation of an ancient Iranian textChallenges the view that considers the study of the Zand an auxiliary science to Avestan studiesViews the Zand of the YH as a text in its own right and investigates it within the wider Pahlavi leiteratureConsiders the so-called glosses in the Zand for the first time as an integral part of the textOffers a variorum edition of the Middle Persian text, refusing to establish an UrtextIn late antiquity, Zoroastrian exegetes set out to translate their ancient canonical texts into Middle Persian, the vernacular of their time. Although undated, these translations, commonly known as the Zand, are often associated with the Sasanian era (224-651 ce). Despite the many challenges the Zand offers to us today, it is indispensable for investigations of late antique exegesis of the Avesta, a collection of religious and ritual texts commonly regarded as the Zoroastrians' scripture.Arash Zeini also offers a fresh edition of the Middle Persian version of the Avestan Yasna HaptaA hA iti, a ritual text composed in the Old Iranian language of Avestan, commonly dated to the middle of the second millennium bce. Zeini challenges the view that considers the Zand's study an auxiliary science to Avestan studies, framing the text instead within the exegetical context from which it emerged.
Since ancient times Leviathan and other monsters from the biblical world symbolize the life-threatening powers in nature and history. They represent the dark aspects of human nature and political entities and reveal the supernatural dimensions of evil. Ancient texts and pictures regarding these monsters reflect an environment of polytheism and religious pluralism. Remarkably, however, the biblical writings and post-biblical traditions use these venerated symbols in portraying God as being sovereign over the entire universe, a theme that is also prominent in the reception of these texts in subsequent contexts. This volume explores this tension and elucidates the theological and cultural meaning of ‘Leviathan’ by studying its ancient Near Eastern background and its attestation in biblical texts, early and rabbinic Judaism, Christian theology, Early Modern art, and film.
A Hindu-Jewish Conversation: Root Traditions in Dialogue is a historical, theological, and phenomenological engagement of the Hindu and Jewish traditions, two “root” traditions that give rise to other—in some ways very different—types of religious traditions. Rachel Fell McDermott and Daniel F. Polish explore conceptions of the divine, which are frequently cited as the most serious obstacle to a serious theological engagement between the two traditions; differences in attitude towards heroes, saints, and holy people; the religious resources and challenges experienced by Hindu and Jewish women; what can be learned about Hindu and Jewish spiritual outpouring by comparing Hindu devotional poetry and the Book of Psalms; the ways in which the two traditions address the fraught question of theodicy, or why bad things happen to good people; the status of “the land” and nationalist claims on it; and the uncomfortable question of caste and its possible social parallels in the Jewish tradition. The authors weave considerations of these topics into an ongoing conversation that offers students of both traditions new ways of thinking both about their intersections and about the history of religion in general. A coda explores these same issues by recounting an actual series of discussions convened between Hindu and Jewish practitioners.