52 REV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL^ M.A., D.D., ON THE INFLUENCE 



Pauli/' which is a legend founded upon ii Corinthians xii, 2-4. 

 This, however, it would be hard to prove with absolute 

 certainty. 



The " Zaratusht Namah," a Persian poem of the thirteenth 

 century,* though it shows traces of Christian influence, need 

 not detain us long. Near the beginning we read : " Know thou 

 the truth that God is One ; He hath none like Him, no Kival. 

 Since thou wishest to hold the True Pteligion, first believe in the 

 Being of the Creator." Again later we have it said of God : 

 " He is the King, and we are slaves." These are but two 

 instances to show how much Islam has affected the book. 

 Though Christian influence is very slight in comparison (for we 

 can hardly hold that the Dariln ceremony, being the Avestic 

 draond, is taken from the Lord's Supper, in spite of some resem- 

 blance between them), yet we find the Golden Rule in a nega- 

 tive form given by Zoroaster : — 



Lp'ij^' ^5^'^^ ^•t'^j^ [ci-^i^ ft^S] 



" Whatever thou wishest not for thyself, wish not that it 

 befall anyone."f 



But there is one " prophecy " in the book which is distinctly 

 due, in form at least, to Christian influence. It is the prophecy 

 of the Parsi Messianic King, Bahram Hamavand. He will spring 

 from the royal Kayanian family. At the time of his birth 

 " stars shall rain down from Heaven " (c/. Matthew xxiv, 29). 

 At the age of twenty-one years he will gather a numerous army 

 from all parts of the world, and " will take from his enemies the 

 desire of his heart."^ 



There are only a few thousand Zoroastrians or Mazdayasna- 

 yans (Mazda- worshippers) now left in Persia ; the great mass of 

 them, amounting to about 100,000, are in Bombay. These have 

 little knowledge of their own religion, but very many of them 

 have been educated in Christian schools and colleges. As a 

 consequence, they know the Bible fairly well. They have nearly 

 all ceased to worship the sun, and they profess to be Mono- 

 theists. Through Christian influence they have become noted 

 for philanthropy, and they have learned to value education for 



* v.D. 1278. 



t Verse 1256. 



X Verses 1480 sqq. 



