RELIGIOUS RESEARCH (PAJOUHESHHA YE ADYANI)
Year:2016 | Volume:3 | Issue:6 |Papers Count:6

In several occasions in the sources of Islamic period, the mythological stories of ancient Iran have been combined and merged with Jewish and Sami stories. For this matter, many mythological and national characters of ancient Iran have been connected to or identified with their corresponding ones in the Torah and Koran. Zoroaster is the ancient Iranian prophet who has been associated or occasionally identified with some Jewish and Semitic prophets such as Ebrahim/Abraham, Armiyah/ Jeremiah and Ozayz/Ezra. The present study is thus aimed at investigating these narratives and the reasons behind their identification. Moreover, it has attempted to find those responsible for creation of such narratives.

Enki, later known as Ea in Babylonian-Akkadian mythology, is a Sumerian word for the god of fresh waters in Mesopotamian mythology. Given the effective and functional role of water in the livelihood of ancient people and its symbolization in mythology, Enki seems to have had particular importance and presence in Mesopotamian mythology. He is characterized with various functions as vivification, fertility, purgation, cure, sorcery, wisdom and intelligence. They are all particularly in line with the cosmic order. Apparently, the gods of ancient Mesopotamia can often be considered as "the gods of order" or at least "the gods affected by natural order". Compared to other gods, Enki plays an outstanding role in establishment and retention of this natural order of things, for which he exhibits a dual image and acts for and against the man. Moreover, Enki's immanence in various myths is justified by the significance of water in all aspects of human life such as agriculture. Enki's monologues and his disclosure of gods' commands and secrets to man can be considered as the early forms of Revelation. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the present study attempts to explain the philosophy of Enki's behavioral contradiction and his dual image in Mesopotamian mythology.

Over the half past century, some affairs as the change in the policy of Catholic Church in the second Vatican Council, formation of the World Council of Churches and Islamic Revolution of Iran have had a great impact on the development of dialogue between Islam and Christianity. Thus, a better perception of fundamental issues has been formed by the disciples of these two religions. More importantly, some praiseworthy solutions have been suggested for the existing conflicts. Nevertheless, there are still challenges and obstacles toward a desired dialogue. Since the Islamic Republic of Iran has the highest contribution level in the Islam-Christianity dialogue, the pathology of this field in the contemporary Iran is quite necessary and required. Therefore, by studying the most important dialogues of Islam and Christianity in the contemporary Iran, the present article attempts to discuss its reviews and shortcomings. This qualitative research is conducted based on a descriptive-analytical approach. The findings suggest that despite their partial achievements, the existing dialogues between Islam and Christianity encountered criticisms.

Sacrifice is amongst those ancient rituals and rites the primary origins of which should be explored in mythical and magical systems. Despite its popularity and prevalence in most nations and cultures, sacrifice has not been the same and has undergone many changes. One of the most important changes is the replacement of human as the subject of sacrifice by animals. A human sacrifice has not been common in all cultures. According to Torah and some historical sources, human sacrifice has been practiced by the Jewish and other branches of Semitism. Some scholars suggest that this tendency of Jewish people toward human sacrifice returns back to post-Egyptian era and after accommodating in Canaan (Palestine) under the influence of Canaanites. Although the primary religion of Moses was free from this inhuman action which is somehow considered as an innovation and distortion in the religion, it can be demonstrated that a human sacrifice was deeply rooted among the Sami people. Therefore, its origin should be explored to the time of Abraham who, by God's order, attempted to sacrifice his son Ismail. After gloriously passing the Divine test, Abraham stops the deed and sacrifices a ram instead by the God's command. According to Max Weber, the replacement of human sacrifice by an animal one can be considered as a milestone in the rationalization process in the history of Abrahamic religions.

Suffering and pain have always been present in human life. They have also faced the human mind with many questions and challenges. Thus, despite their all difficulties, if suffering and pain are proved to be useful, informative and functional, human beings will become released of this concern. Finding a solution for the man' s troubled mind as well as the reasons of these sufferings have long been the concern of many theologians in such divine religions as Judaism. The present study attempts to find the educational and moral functions of suffering in Judaism by studying the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish sources. Accordingly, it is attempted to prove that the human sufferings are useful and functional in human spiritual and moral perfection.

India, as a land of religious diversity, has always been witnessing the formation of new religious and sectarian splits. Along with the emergence of Islam in the country, this process was expanded. On the other hand, the maintenance of government for Muslim rulers in a land of diverse religions and sects became a serious challenge. Therefore, each Muslim ruler selected a particular approach to overcome the challenge. In 1581 (989 AH), Akbar the Indian Mughal emperor promulgated a new religion called Divine Religion (Persian: Deen-e Elahi:). By using a descriptive-analytical approach, the present article aims at studying the effective factors underlying the promulgation of Deen-e Elahi, a crude form of peaceful coexistence of religions. Thus, it demonstrates that the promulgation of Deen-e Elahi by Akbar can be due to his religious tolerance, the religious diversity of his territory and specific social and political features of his reign.