tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post6623140862158497566..comments2023-10-30T14:46:42.973+10:00Comments on Jottings: My God vs Your God Part 2 - Thoughts on Ancient Jewish and Ancient Persian ReligionsMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15356422488538820280noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post-13886358939698938092012-09-02T07:48:07.796+10:002012-09-02T07:48:07.796+10:00I think this is wonderful. I have believed for age...I think this is wonderful. I have believed for ages that the form of Judaism that we now know (and so Christianity) is heavily indebted to Zoroastrianism. <br /><br />It strikes me that the three divine persons here might well be seen as an intimation of the Trinity. Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu being dually conceived in the womb (note the breakdown of gender division and the idea that all three divine persons are of an exactly similar nature - being clones, sexual reproduction not being involved) of the Father God Zurvan.<br />Of course this is *not* Trinitarianism, as the three persons are only of exactly similar natures: not of the very same nature.<br /><br />Interestingly, if this analogy is followed through, Christ (the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world) maps on to Angra Manyu! One can then reflect on the fact that Satan (who would, naively, seem to be a better match for Angra Manyu) lost his name "Lucifer" to Christ.Pharseahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12363621957050900009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post-52661017084326353812010-01-31T13:04:47.585+10:002010-01-31T13:04:47.585+10:00And I had been wondering about the sacrifice and e...And I had been wondering about the sacrifice and especially the womb. The question I had was 'whose womb?' I thought maybe Zurvan's, perhaps as a hermaphrodite, or even the male mother. But perhaps there's another's womb but she has been repressed in the story. Is this one way polytheism moves to monism/monotheism?Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356422488538820280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post-12736317947031154262010-01-31T12:25:07.123+10:002010-01-31T12:25:07.123+10:00Rollan, that part of the Zurvan myth is quite vagu...Rollan, that part of the Zurvan myth is quite vague, probably due to the fact that all our sources are outsider reports. I don't think we have any surviving Zurvanite texts at all.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356422488538820280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post-68847219630112924832010-01-31T08:42:36.556+10:002010-01-31T08:42:36.556+10:00I'm not getting from this who Zurvan is sacrif...I'm not getting from this who Zurvan is sacrificing to and in whose womb the offspring is. This seems like a dualism that is hiding its polytheism.Rollan McClearyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06938125139496292379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post-81149522882302449482010-01-31T01:20:16.953+10:002010-01-31T01:20:16.953+10:00Thanks, James. Mani's rather a fascinating cha...Thanks, James. Mani's rather a fascinating character. But sometimes I wish Augustine had remained a Manichee. I wonder what a non-Augustinian (Western) Christianity would have turned out likeMichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356422488538820280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667005464723133101.post-40162754134815735712010-01-29T23:56:41.170+10:002010-01-29T23:56:41.170+10:00Just a quick comment to say thanks for posting thi...Just a quick comment to say thanks for posting this, and mention that the view that Mani might have once been a Mandaean is now obsolete, since a source has been found that mentions his family's connection with the Elchasites.James F. McGrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02561146722461747647noreply@blogger.com