"The false prophet Zoroaster, purportedly at the age of 30, received a vision that he recorded in the
Avesta. He was drawing water from the Daiti River and supposedly saw a “Shining Being,” who called himself Vohu Manah. Most Zoroastrian scholars concur that this was an angel.
According to Zoroaster, Vohu Manah led him into the presence of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god. This supposedly was the first in a series of visions in which Zoroaster asked questions and received answers from Ahura Mazda. The answers he received became the foundational tenets for the Zoroastrian faith. From these visions given uniquely to him, Zoroaster became the sole human author of the Zoroastrian religious literature.
Of course, as Christians, we know that Satan describes himself as “an angel of light” and that he uses fallen angels to communicate false doctrine (2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 1 Timothy 4:1).
I find it interesting that Zoroaster’s method of enlightenment was very similar to Mohammed’s enlightenment in Islam. Mohammed also supposedly received a vision from an angel, and this “revelation” became Islam’s religious text, the Quran.
In both Zoroastrianism and Islam, the source of the religious revelation that is held to be authoritative is given to just one man, and in both instances it is given by an angel. By comparison, the revelation found and recorded in the Bible is so very different.
One of the amazing facts about the Bible is that although it was written by a wide diversity of authors (as many as 40), over a period of 1,600 years, from many different locations and under a wide variety of conditions, the Bible is uniquely one book, not merely a collection of 66 books.
The authors of the Bible lived in a variety of cultures, had different life experiences, and often were quite different in their personal make-up.
In addition, they represented a wide variety of backgrounds and professions.
For instance,
Moses was a political leader;
Joshua a military leader;
David a shepherd;
Nehemiah a cupbearer;
Solomon a king;
Amos a herdsman;
Daniel a prime minister;
Matthew a tax collector;
Luke a medical doctor;
Paul a rabbi; and
Peter a fisherman.
And what is so amazing is that while most of the human authors
never met each other and were unfamiliar with each other’s writings, the Bible is still a unified whole, ...There is a perfect unity that runs from Genesis to Revelation. The only explanation is that the Bible is the Word of God."
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According to Zoroaster, Vohu Manah led him into the presence of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god. This supposedly was the first in a series of visions in which Zoroaster asked questions and received answers from Ahura Mazda. The answers he received became the foundational tenets for the Zoroastrian faith. From these visions given uniquely to him, Zoroaster became the sole human author of the Zoroastrian religious literature.
Of course, as Christians, we know that Satan describes himself as “an angel of light” and that he uses fallen angels to communicate false doctrine (2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 1 Timothy 4:1).
I find it interesting that Zoroaster’s method of enlightenment was very similar to Mohammed’s enlightenment in Islam. Mohammed also supposedly received a vision from an angel, and this “revelation” became Islam’s religious text, the Quran.
In both Zoroastrianism and Islam, the source of the religious revelation that is held to be authoritative is given to just one man, and in both instances it is given by an angel. By comparison, the revelation found and recorded in the Bible is so very different.
One of the amazing facts about the Bible is that although it was written by a wide diversity of authors (as many as 40), over a period of 1,600 years, from many different locations and under a wide variety of conditions, the Bible is uniquely one book, not merely a collection of 66 books.
The authors of the Bible lived in a variety of cultures, had different life experiences, and often were quite different in their personal make-up.
They wrote their material from three continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe), in very diverse places — Moses in a desert,
Solomon in a palace,
Paul in a prison,
John in exile, etc.
— while employing three languages in their writings (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). In addition, they represented a wide variety of backgrounds and professions.
For instance,
Moses was a political leader;
Joshua a military leader;
David a shepherd;
Nehemiah a cupbearer;
Solomon a king;
Amos a herdsman;
Daniel a prime minister;
Matthew a tax collector;
Luke a medical doctor;
Paul a rabbi; and
Peter a fisherman.
And what is so amazing is that while most of the human authors
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