Zoroastrian Apocalypticism

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• published: 26 Jan 2015
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Apocalyptic views in Zoroastrianism discussed by prof. Philip Harland. Read more about Zoroastrianism here: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Zoroastrianism/ * Even though I think the original teachings have (partially) been altered in certain ways over time, the “Gnostic” dualistic nature of it can still easily be found in the Zoroastrian texts that are available. The battle between good and evil – the Good Mind (Ahura Mazda) versus the Evil Mind (Angra Mainyu) and the struggles this creates… And an End of Times (limited time) when all evil will be annihilated… To me, the similarities between Zoroastrianism and what has come to be known as Gnosticism are quite obvious and clear. Interesting also how these Zoroastrian texts describe the signs of the End. I will also have to mention in this regard the modern day proliferation of so-called new thought, New Age concepts of explaining reality. A common concept within this New Age thought is that good and evil are merely balancing forces, two sides of the same coin, and that good cannot exist without evil, health cannot exist without sickness, the Light cannot exist without darkness etcetera. That it is all part of an ingenious process of “learning and evolving”. Or the notion that we are “all one” and supposedly entering an age of awakening and change, and that we are going to have some kind of a paradise on Earth… I think all that contradicts the teachings of the Prophets, Seers and the Sages, and I think history and everyday reality and experience clearly shows quite a different thing… That New Age mumbo-jumbo is really loose with logic as well. This wide-ranging Truth/New Age stuff also (deliberately) fails to recognise the deeper causes and purposes of religion and mythology (authentic and distortion/counterfeit), and of this world and its machinations in general. In my view, it keeps you busy with superficialities at best. What also happens is that an ancient thought or religion is hijacked, modified and moulded into the New Age agenda. So, I think it is quite clear that all that New Age garbage that has spread like a virus in recent decades is coming from Angra Mainyu, the Evil Mind.