Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions

I am currently taking a course "Religions of the Axial Age: An Approach to the World's Religions." This book was recommended by the instructor as part of his reading list. I wanted to know about the ancient religions prior to Christianity. I wanted to learn why some religions prospered while others merged and became something different. Can we still see evidence of these beliefs in the surviving religions or has modernity created something totally different? Then I compared and contrasted these different religions with Christianity, can we link our beliefs and rituals to these religions? The book answered many of my questions along with the course itself. It has proven to be a very good support tool. If your interested in religious history, pick it up you won't be sorry.

For those of us who have become familiar with the Iranian historical influences on the rest of the world, it is stunning how little is known about it. Richard Foltz' book covers the religious aspect of it. It is a good concise book on the influence of Iranian sources (both Mithraism & Zoroastrianism) on the world religions.

Spirituality in the Land of the Noble by Richard C. Foltz (Oneworld Publications, Oxford; 2004) surveys the ways in which religions have emerged and have been shaped during the course of history in the region we now call Iran. The author notes that "throughout the country's long history its peoples and cultures have played an unexcelled role in influencing, transforming, and propagating all the world's universal traditions." Chapters cover origins of Iranian religion, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, so-called Gnostic traditions including the syncretistic Manichean religion, Islam, the "Babi Movement and the Baha'i Faith," and the current state of affairs in the country. The chapter on Zoroastrianism, the review of the long history of Judaism in Iran, and the section on the successional conflicts following the death of Mohammed are particularly informative. The relatively short, stand alone chapter on the Baha'i Faith is respectful and provides a useful summary, albeit with few superlatives. Foltz attempts to capture the Babi drama with a largely historical review and casts it as millenarian and messianic. He highlights the universalistic nature of the Baha'i teachings, summarizes them with accurate sourcing to Baha'i writings, and remarks on gender equality in particular as a radical notion at the time. In his preface, the author notes: "Finally there is the Baha'i faith, a distinctly modern religious tradition whose universalizing approach exceeds, and indeed attempts to subsume, all of its predecessors. Nothing evokes the Iranian origins of this now global religion more vividly than a visit to the beautiful Persian gardens surrounding Baha'i shines of Acre and Haifa in Israel." With regard to persecution, Foltz observes that "The rabid hostility of the official view makes it essentially impossible within Iran today to obtain anything approaching an accurate understanding of the Baha'i religion." In this book, Dr. Foltz (on the faculty of religious studies at the University of Florida) extends material he developed in an earlier publication (St. Martin's Griffin, 2000), Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century. Dr. Foltz notes that with just the faintest of investigating it ought to become clear that Iran could just as easily be labeled a "cradle of religions" as the regions immediately to its west and east. Baha'is would very likely agree. This book is a good read, a good reference, and well worth the modest price.

I think it is a great book. I found it well-structured and fair. The arguments are well-documented. Richard Foltz describes the influence of Persian culture on a wide range of different world religions from Zoroasterism, Manichaeism and Mazdakism (which are pure Iranian religion) to Christianity, Jewism, Islam and even Buddhism. I have been interested on this subject for years but never found any thing so comprehensive. I was particularly impressed by the knowledge of author in Persian language. It probably has helped the author to investigate the Persian culture as it is, rather than as an outside viewer with a Greek-style bias. I strongly recommend this book for any one interested in religion, culture, history and even politics.

Iran is an ancient country with a fascinating history. When it first rose to prominence almost two and half millennia ago it was the world's first superpower. Its fortunes since then have indeed been varied (that's dry British understatement!) and now the popular image is of a country peopled by fanatics and led by a class of intolerant clerics. In fact through the centuries Iran has been notable for religious diversity and original spiritual thought. It has given birth to religions both ancient (Zoroastrian) and modern (Baha'i) and has influenced others to a remarkable degree. I suspect that most Christians, Muslims and Jews will be amazed at the extent to which Iranian thought shaped their faiths; even Buddhism - not a religion one associates with Iran - had a place here. Foltz's text is pitched at just the right level for the interested non-academic reader. It is highly informative and very well written. This is a book I recommend highly to - well to just about everyone who has a religious faith or an interest in religion or history.