New book explores Iran's impact on the Bahá’í Faith

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Alex
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Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 3:40 am

New book explores Iran's impact on the Bahá’í Faith

Postby Alex » Mon Aug 02, 2004 3:50 am

Oneworld Publications are proud to publish Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World’s Religions by Richard C. Foltz, Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Florida.

The book has already been acclaimed as ‘The most balanced, absorbing, and informative survey of the vast landscape of Iranian religion and spirituality to date’ (Frederick M. Denny, University of Colorado at Boulder) and as ‘Engaging and straightforward, without dodging the controversies of scholarship or the realities of politics. Keep this on your bookshelf’ (John Perry, University of Chicago).

Following the paths of the Jews who migrated to Iran during the first millennium BCE, and the Iranian merchants who carried Buddhism along the Silk Road to China, this informed and informative account explores the impact of Persian culture on Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism and Islam. With a specific chapter devoted to the Bahá’í Faith, author Richard C. Foltz probes beneath the surface of world history to uncover a wealth of Iranian ideas and influences, from the sacred formulas of the ancient Aryan inhabitants to the spectacular architecture of Iran’s holiest cities. Spanning the full spectrum of Persian history from the earliest settlers right up to the present age, Foltz offers an invaluable insight into not only Iranian identity, but also the way religious traditions grow and change.

Further details can be found on our website: http://www.oneworld-publications.com/books/spirituality-in-the-land-of-the-noble.htm

CONTENTS

Preface x
Historical Timeline xv
Map xviii

1 THE ORIGINS OF IRANIAN RELIGION 1
Iran and Iranianness 3
Indo-Europeans and the search for origins 4
Features of old Iranian religion 11

2 ZOROASTRIANISM 17
In search of Zoroaster 21
Zoroaster’s reform 22
Zoroastrian practice 27
Religion under the Achaemenids 30
Mithraism in the Roman world 32
The Sasanian state religion 33
The Islamization of Iran and Zoroastrian response 36
Zoroastrianism in India 38
Zoroastrians in modern Iran 39
Zoroastrianism’s contributions to other religions 40

3 JUDAISM 43
The beginnings of diaspora 45
The influence of Iranian ideas 48
The influence of Hellenism 50
The rabbinic period 51
The coming of Islam 54
Radical Jewish resistance movements 55
Iranian Jews in the Mongol period 56
The Safavid period 58

4 BUDDHISM 61
Buddhism in eastern Iran 65
Iranian influences in Buddhism 70
The disappearance of Iranian Buddhism 73

5 CHRISTIANITY 77
The establishment of an Iranian church 80
Iranian Christian polemics against other religions 85
Iranian Christians under Muslim rule 89
Armenian Christians in Iran 92
European Christian missions 94

6 GNOSTIC TRADITIONS 97
Mandaeism 100
Manichaeism 101
Later esoteric movements 110

7 ISLAM 115
From “the religion of the Arabs” to universal faith system 120
The Iranian role in shaping Islamic civilization 123
Isma‘ili Shi‘ism in Iran 127
Sufism in Iran 129
Twelver Shi‘ism in Iran 132
Popular Shi‘ite religiosity 135
The Persian garden as metaphor for paradise 137

8 THE BABI MOVEMENT AND THE BAHA’I FAITH 141
The Babi movement 145
Babi beliefs 148
The emergence of the Baha’i faith 150
Baha’u’llah’s teachings 151
The Baha’i community in Iran and beyond 153

9 RELIGIONS IN IRAN TODAY 157
Religious thought in an Islamic state 163
Religious minorities under the Islamic Republic 165

CONCLUSION 173

Glossary 175
Notes 179
Bibliographic Essay 185
Index 196

To order your copy please email us at info@oneworld-publications.com



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