The Bible of Bibles; Or, Twenty-Seven "Divine" Revelations. Kersey Graves

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II. PERSIAN BIBLE—THE SADDER.

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      The Sadder depicts "the war in heaven," in which the great dragon, or devil, Ahrimanes, is finally slain. This sacred book, as well as the Zenda Avesta, contains many beautiful precepts. The Persian sacred writings are all full of prayer and praise to God. One portion addresses him as Ormuzd, another as Ahura Mazda. None of their Holy Books countenance or show any favor either for idolatry or polytheism. The Persians have alway's opposed the making and worship of deific images; and they worship but one God, with the above names. One of their prayers, as a specimen, will show this: "O Ahura Mazda, thou true and happy being! aid us to think and speak of thee, and do only those things which promote the true welfare of body and soul. I believe in thee as the just and holy God, thou living Wise One! Thou art the author of creation, the true source of light and life. I will praise thee, thou Holy Spirit, thou glorious God Mazda! Thou givest with a liberal hand good things to the impious, as well as to the pious." In that portion of the Zenda Avesta called the "Yacna," constituting seven chapters, it is declared, "We worship Ahura Mazda, and pray for the spread of his religion. We praise Mazda's religion, and the pure brotherhood which it established. From the Holy Spirit Mazda proceeds all good, and he is the source of perfection and immortality." Here let it be noted that Cyrus of Persia was teaching the doctrine of immortality of the soul, while Moses seems never to have thought of such a thing: he is silent on the subject. Zenda Avesta means "The Living Word of God." It has also been called by its disciples "The Revealed Word;" and Ahura Mazda has been called the "God of gods," as the Jews called Jehovah. Who is to settle this counter-claim?

      Sin, repentance, and forgiveness are all recognized in the sacred books of the Persians. This is evinced by a devout disciple, when he says, in prayer, "I repent, O Lord, of my wicked deeds in thought and words. Forgive, O Lord: I repent of my sins." A writer says, "Upon the really fundamental duties of man, the Zenda Avesta upholds a high standard of morality and honesty, and seeks to inculcate the immense importance of leading an upright and virtuous life,—such a life alone as can be pleasing to God and useful to man." A text in this sacred book reads, "You can not be a worshiper of the one true God and of many gods at the same time;" which is a very explicit avowal of the belief in but one God. This Persian Bible declares, that one way to advance God's kingdom on earth is to confer benefit upon the poor. Its spirit of kindness and sympathetic regard for suffering extends even to the brute creation. It forbids cruelty to any class of beings, and enjoins kindness to all. Its psalms, hymns, and liturgies breathe forth a spirit of deep piety. A compliance with the divine law is urged as a means of saving the sinner from future punishment. The stern moral fortitude of the great teacher and moral exemplar Zoroaster, in resisting, like Christ, the temptations of the Evil One, evinces a high appreciation of true virtue. As a whole, the sacred books of the Persians, like those of other nations, contain a considerable amount of golden truth mixed with much rubbish and superstition.

ANALOGY OF THE PERSIAN AND JEWISH RELIGIONS.

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      Doctor Pocoke says, "Many things taught in the sacred books of the Persians are the same as those taught in the Pentateuch of Moses, and other parts of the Bible. They also contain many of the psalms erroneously called by the Jews and Christians the Psalms of David." Sir William Jones, in his "Asiatic Researches," says, "The primeval religion of Iran (Persia) is called by Newton the oldest, and it may justly be called the noblest, of all religions." It teaches "a firm belief that one supreme God made the world by his power, and governs it by his providence. It inculcates a pious fear, love, and adoration for God; also a due reverence for parents and aged persons, fraternal affection for the whole human species, and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute creation." Can as much as this be said of the Christian religion? Mr. Goodrich, after stating that the ancient Hebrews evidently had no idea of astronomy as a science, says, "The Chaldeans appear to have made observations on eclipses earlier than the commencement of written history" ("History of All Nations," p. 25).

      The Chaldeans and Persians have a story of creation essentially the same as that of the Jews. It represents Ormuzd as creating the world through the word in six kappas, or periods of time. Previous to that period, nothing but chaos, or darkness, and water had existed. Ormuzd created, first, the heavens and the earth; second, the firmament; third, the seas and waters; fourth, the sun, moon, and stars; fifth, birds, reptiles, quadrupeds, &c.; sixth, man. The Persians and Chaldeans have also a story of a deluge, in which Xisuthra, being warned in a dream, built an ark, in which he saved himself, his wife and daughter, and the pilot, and a pair of every species of animals, reptiles, and birds. After the rain had ceased, he sent out a pigeon, which, finding no resting place, came back to the ark. The second time, it came with mud in its bill, which was a better evidence that the waters had subsided than the leaf which Noah's dove returned with, as that might have been picked up while floating on the waters. They had a giant in strength (a Gaza) answering to that of Samson. They had a story of a lofty tower designed to reach to heaven, but the gods destroyed it, and confounded the language of the builders. The Persians had their priests, their prophets, their angels, their twelve patriarchs, their holy fires, holy water, and rites of purification, like the Jews; also their ordinance of water-baptism. Their holy mountains, holy rivers, and holy waters, their animal sacrifices, and their sacrament or ceremony of bread and wine, were all similar to those of the Jews. They had a Soleimon and a Soleimon's temple. Their religion was a theocracy, and was violently opposed to idolatry; but, unlike the Jewish religion, it taught the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and the lofty idea that the human mind is an emanation from the divine nature. We find the principal elements of the Christian system also mixed up with the doctrines and principles above set forth; such as two primary principles of good and evil (Ormuzd and Ahrimanes), termed by Christians God and the Devil,—two Gods with their two kingdoms, which were always at war with each other, to moderate which stands Mithra the Mediator, who was born, like Christ, of an immaculate virgin. For a further elucidation, see "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors."

ANTIQUITY OF THE PERSIAN RELIGION.

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      The historical facts to establish the existence of the Persian religion long prior to that of the Jews are numerous, cogent, and unanswerable. They have calculations in astronomy which, scientists admit, must have been made four hundred years anterior to the time of Moses. According to Berosus, fragments of their history have been found which extend it back fifteen thousand years; and he tells us it is computed with great care.

CHAPTER VIII.—CHINESE BIBLES.

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KINGS AND SHOO.

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      The Chinese have varions sacred books, the principal of which are the Five Kings. They have also four Holy Books, known as Shoo, and one called Tao-te, though the word King is a term applied to all their sacred books. Some of these Holy Bibles are attributed to Confucius, one of them (Ta-heo, the Great Learning) to his grandson, and others to his disciples. Some of the sects recognize thirteen Kings, or sacred books, others only seven, and the principal sect but five. Some of these Holy Books bear a resemblance to the Christian Gospels, others to the Epistles; and one of them bears a considerable resemblance СКАЧАТЬ