p. 279 | THE FIRE-WORSHIPERS by G. H. Bell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 29, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 18

THE FIRE-WORSHIPERS.

By G. H. Bell

BY G. H. BELL.

THERE is probably no little misunderstanding in relation to the so-called fire-worshipers. Many suppose that they really regard fire as their god; but this is a mistake, respecting some of them at least. There is a colony of them in Bombay, India. They are called Parsees, and are descendants of the ancient Persians, who were taught by their great apostle Zoroaster.

This noted teacher is supposed to have flourished during the reign of Darius Hystaspes. He claimed to be a reformer, and a restorer of the ancient religion of the Persians, which had been to a great degree supplanted by the worship of images. In his youth he lived for twenty years in retirement among the Elboorz Mountains. His followers say that during this time he was taken up to Heaven, where he was instructed in the things of God. Zoroaster taught that there was one eternal God, but that there were two principles, or angels, in the universe, one of good and the other of evil. The emblem of the good, Ormuzd, was light; that of the bad, Ahriman, was darkness. Between these opposite principles there was, and would be, a contest to the end of the world, but the power of good would ultimately prevail. At the day of Judgment the followers of both would be judged, and separated forever,—the one rewarded and the other punished.

“Ormuzd was always worshiped in presence of a fire, as the cause of light, and especially before the sun, as the most perfect fire and the most perfect light in the universe. Darkness was held in detestation, as the element of the evil principle, whose name, it is said, was written backward and upside down, thus, Ahriman. Many things in the doctrines of Zoroaster have evidently been derived from the Jewish Scriptures,—such as the unity of God, the doctrine of an evil spirit, the doctrine of the last Judgment and the resurrection, and the use of fire or light (as in the Shechinah) as the emblem of Deity.

“The doctrines of Zoroaster were set forth in the Zendavesta, the sacred book of the Persians. Everywhere, when their influence prevailed, fire-temples were erected, and image-temples leveled to the ground.”—Dr. Blaikie, in Bible History.

Darius Hystaspes was himself a follower of Zoroaster, and after the death of this great apostle of magianism, took his place as high-priest. Under the influence of this powerful monarch the doctrines of Zoroaster were very widely disseminated; and although probably somewhat corrupted, are still believed by many of the Persians.