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

Richard C. Foltz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2004

This is the first book to tell the story of Iran's shaping and transmitting of the world's religions, starting with the Iranian merchants and missionaries who brought, not only Islam, but also Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism to China.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since ancient times, Iranian religion has deeply influenced a number of the world's faith traditions, especially Christianity and late Judaism. In this helpful survey, historian of religion Foltz traces the history of religion in Iran and observes the ways that many faiths have incorporated many of its beliefs and practices. Ancient Iranian religion attributes the creation of the universe to cosmic forces. As Iranian religion evolved, Zoroastrianism—which developed as the major religion of Iran sometime between 1200 and 600 BCE—introduced the notion of a creator deity, Ahura Mazda, and its prophet, Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), who wrote down Ahura Mazda's words in the Avesta, or scriptures. As Foltz points out, Zoroastrianism developed a dualistic system of cosmic good and evil, a belief in personal resurrection, angelology and demonology, and eschatological notions about cosmic battles between the forces of light (good) and darkness (evil). Foltz devotes a chapter to the major world religions that have passed through, and in some cases still exist, in Iran. Although Iranian religion has famously influenced Christianity—particularly in the development of cosmic dualism—Foltz demonstrates that it has also shaped Islam, Buddhism, Manichaean Gnosticism, Judaism and the Baha'i faith. Although Foltz uncovers no new information, his straightforward history provides useful insights into the foundations of many of the world's religions.
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About the Author

Author Richard C. Foltz is Associate Professor of Religion at Concordia University, Montreal. He is the author of several books, including Religions of the Silk Road (Macmillan, 2000), in addition to many papers, encyclopedia articles and book chapters.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Oneworld (February 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185168333X
• ISBN-13: 978-1851683338
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,957,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Foltz (b.1961) is a cultural historian specializing in the Iranian world. He has also worked as a musician, film critic, and travel writer. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has taught at Brown, Columbia, and the University of Florida. He is currently a professor in the Department of Religion at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. His work has appeared in over a dozen languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One country  a huge influence., April 9, 2004

By 

Iain S. Palin (Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions (Paperback)

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.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book, October 17, 2005

By 

Niloofar Gheissari (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions (Paperback)

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.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Persia: a cradle of religions, February 2, 2007

By 

Edward D. Walker (East Lansing, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions (Paperback)

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.