In the Old Avestan "Worship in Seven Chapters" (
Yasna Haptanghaiti), Ahura Mazdā is praised for creating "all that is good" (Y 37.1), and in the Gathic hymn
Yasna 44 he is presented as the author of two manifestations of perfect life. One is spiritual and includes truth and good mind, while the other is physical, entailing such phenomena as the sun, stars, moon, earth, water, wind, clouds, plants, and the daily rhythm of light and darkness, sleep and activity, dawn, midday and night. Both spiritual and physical creations were originally made perfect, without any fault or defect, and especially free from decay and death. This positive view of a good and perfect material world is unique and of fundamental importance for Zoroastrian eschatology, for at the end of time, the physical creation will be reinstated in perfection. Both spiritual and physical life were created by Ahura Mazdā for the purpose of overcoming evil, Angra Mainyu. Apart from the distinction between spiritual and physical creation, the most salient feature of Zoroastrian doctrine is its dualistic solution to the problem of evil: the latter does not come from God but has a separate origin and is antagonistic to him and his work.
This is a free page. This page contains 184 words. This
article contains 1,786 words (approx. 6 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Ahura Mazdā and Angra Mainyu Access Pass.
