RELIGIOUS RESEARCH (PAJOUHESHHA YE ADYANI)
Year:2015 | Volume:3 | Issue:5 |Papers Count:6

To save the Iranian identity, Hakim Abu Al-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi composed the epic of Shahnameh (book of kings). Due to the indisputable belief of people in mythology in his time, Ferdowsi transformed the myth to epic by combining the former with pre- and post-Islam Zoroastrian and non- Zoroastrian texts which led to the creation of Shahnameh. Accordingly, Shahnameh is not just an exclusive report of Iranian beliefs and rites before the advent of Islam. The present article seeks to compare and contrast Shahnameh, Avesta and Pahlavi texts in terms of their arguments about the characteristics of Ahriman and his relationship with Ohrmazd and the universe. To this end, Ferdowsi’s depiction of the nature and attributes of demons, their relation with Ohrmazd and His creations, how to struggle with them and the characteristics of three main demons (i.e. envy, greed, and wrath) are carefully compared and contrasted with ancient Zoroastrian texts. The similarities and differences of these texts are then clarified. This study suggests that, Ahriman and demons have lost their old status in Shahnameh, to the extent of extreme reduction of their influence and power in the world. They have thus approached their inferior status assumed in Islamic texts and culture.

In this article, the Manichaean trinity, one of the most important fundamental concepts in the Manichaean theology, is introduced. In the Turfan Manichaean texts, which in the trinity are mentioned, the Holy Ghost was to be confused sometimes with the Living Spirit, who is another prominent emanation of the Father of Greatness. In a textological study, the article tries to identify both the divinities and, while the text is ambiguous, to shed light on this question: who is addressed: the Living Spirit or the Holy Ghost? Here, the second meaning of Middle Persian/Parthian wʾd and Sogdian wʾt “wind” in the Manichaean texts is studied.

Meister Eckhart is one of the Christian mystics whose thoughts the Catholic Church condemned in Medieval Ages and regarded him as heretic. This article considers one of his important accusations, that is, carelessness about exterior acts and ecclesiastical rites and different definitions of concepts such as sin, infidelity, prayer, blessing of God, kindness to neighbor etc. This charge was the most important one in the Bull of Pope. The method of it is extraction of these charges from the Bull of Pope and reference to main works of Eckhart among them his Sermons, then considering his defense of them. The conclusion we have reached is that Eckhart is not subject to these charges, because his point of view is interior which puts emphasis on interior acts and their role in salvation of Human Beings.

Victor Turner (1920-83) is regarded as both the master of ethnography and one of the most creative minds in the field. He is almost single handedly responsible for transforming the anthropology of religion from an inflexible social science into a humanistic field that could bring religious practices to life. Living several years (December, 1950 to February, 1952 and May, 1953 to June, 1954) among some primitive Zambia tribes, he gathered many experiences based on which he could issue novel theories regarding religion and rituals. Turner offered a fruitful set of tools to discover the meanings of ritual performances. Turner's analysis of symbols and rituals and their role in changing social situations as well as his deep psychological investigations was an important advance in anthropological studies. Although, according to Turner, original rituals and religious practices are rarely encountered in industrialized societies, they are still regarded as a part of people's life in some regions including Iran. Thus, recognition of Turner's views not only opens a new window to scholars of the filed, but also promotes our perception of a heritage which has lost its value and profundity due to its routineness and availability.

Cognition of Existence and Being has long been the main and everlasting concern of man. Mythological Ontology is an example of man's endeavors in this field, which has had an immanent effect on the emergence and development of his thoughts and actions. By the virtue of some uncontestable principles in mythology, the spiritualization of universe and secularization of heaven are attempted in order to formulate an ontological system. The conformity and identity of universe and heaven, presence and expression of gods as the Holiness factors and the world's reality, liveliness of the world, human relation with other beings, lack of clear distinction between subjective (mind) and objective (universe), existence of inheretn relation between man and universe by partnership of them in the numinous, living according to gods behavioral patterns and recreation of gods actions by repeating them in rituals are amongst the fundamentals of mythological ontology and it's supposed behaviors. In that regard, man and universe have divine provenances and are places of presence and manifestation of the Holy (the numinous). In Mythology, they are sacred and thus have reality. Reality is the sacred and the profane is the non-existence.

Cognition of Existence and Being has long been the main and everlasting concern of man. Mythological Ontology is an example of man's endeavors in this field, which has had an immanent effect on the emergence and development of his thoughts and actions. By the virtue of some uncontestable principles in mythology, the spiritualization of universe and secularization of heaven are attempted in order to formulate an ontological system. The conformity and identity of universe and heaven, presence and expression of gods as the Holiness factors and the world's reality, liveliness of the world, human relation with other beings, lack of clear distinction between subjective (mind) and objective (universe), existence of inheretn relation between man and universe by partnership of them in the numinous, living according to gods behavioral patterns and recreation of gods actions by repeating them in rituals are amongst the fundamentals of mythological ontology and it's supposed behaviors. In that regard, man and universe have divine provenances and are places of presence and manifestation of the Holy (the numinous). In Mythology, they are sacred and thus have reality. Reality is the sacred and the profane is the non-existence.