Opposite to Ormuzd is Ahriman, the bad, the dark, the
deformer of all. Between these two great deities comes Mithra, the
Mediator, who is the Reconciler of all things to God, who is one with
Ormuzd, although distinct from him. Mithra, as we have seen, is the Sun
in the sign of the Bull, exactly parallel to Jesus, the Sun in the sign
of the Lamb, both the one and the other being symbolised by that sign of
the zodiac in which the sun was at the spring equinox of his supposed
date. "Mithras is spiritual light contending with spiritual darkness,
and through his labours the kingdom of darkness shall be lit with
heaven's own light; the Eternal will receive all things back into his
favour, the world will be redeemed to God. The impure are to be
purified, and the evil made good, through the mediation of Mithras, the
reconciler of Ormuzd and Ahriman. Mithras is the Good, his name is Love.
In relation to the Eternal he is the source of grace, in relation to man
he is the life-giver and mediator. He brings the 'Word,' as Brahma
brings the Vedas, from the mouth of the Eternal. (See Plutarch 'De Isid.
et Osirid.;' also Dr. Hyde's 'De Religione Vet. Pers.,' ch. 22; see also
'Essay on Pantheism,' by Rev. J. Hunt.) It was just prior to the return
of the Jews from living among the people who were dominated by these
ideas, that the splendid chapter of Isaiah (xl.), or indeed the series
of chapters which form the closing portion of the book, were written:
'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Prepare ye the way of
the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.' And
then follows a magnificent description of the greatness and supremacy of
God, and this is followed by chapters which tell of a Messiah, or
conquering prince, who will redeem the nation from its enemies, and
restore them to the light of the divine favour, and which predict a
millennium, a golden age of purified and glorified humanity. It is thus
manifest that the inspiration of these writings came to the Jewish
people from their contact with the religious thought of the Persians,
and not from any supernatural source. From this time the Jews began to
hold worthier ideas concerning God, and to cherish expectations of a
golden age, a kingdom of heaven, which the Messiah, who was to be the
sent messenger of God, sh