The Messiah
The idea of the Messiah as the herald of the Apocalypse was adopted by the Hebrews from the Persians. The old Jewish idea of the Messiah had nothing to do with the end of the world at all but with that king who would reestablish Israel among the nations. Some of the rabbis in the Talmudic tradition period thought that Hezekiah was the Messiah, and that he had failed in his Messianic mission. Others called Cyrus the great, who was to reestablish Israel politically, the Messiah.The Persian ideal was a of a world that had fallen, and of the first man, Gayomart, whose desintegration was caused by the evil power; of a great teacher, Zarathustra or Zoroaster, who commenced the restoration of the world to goodness; and of a last war, Armaggedon, which would come in the year of the end of the world; a Messiah would then eliminate the evil power altogether, and estabish a new world. The idea was then joined by the Hebrews to the idea of the national Messiah, and was taught by the Essenes and by John the baptist.
The idea of the Messiah as the herald of the Apocalypse was adopted by the Hebrews from the Persians. The old Jewish idea of the Messiah had nothing to do with the end of the world at all but with that king who would reestablish Israel among the nations. Some of the rabbis in the Talmudic tradition period thought that Hezekiah was the Messiah, and that he had failed in his Messianic mission. Others called Cyrus the great, who was to reestablish Israel politically, the Messiah.The Persian ideal was a of a world that had fallen, and of the first man, Gayomart, whose desintegration was caused by the evil power; of a great teacher, Zarathustra or Zoroaster, who commenced the restoration of the world to goodness; and of a last war, Armaggedon, which would come in the year of the end of the world; a Messiah would then eliminate the evil power altogether, and estabish a new world. The idea was then joined by the Hebrews to the idea of the national Messiah, and was taught by the Essenes and by John the baptist.
-Joseph Campbell
Image: Gayomart and the demon Ahriman (evil principle)
Image: Gayomart and the demon Ahriman (evil principle)
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