fore does not cultivate the arts of peace.

4. It excludes woman from the benefits of education.

ZOROASTER[11]

Zoroaster, the founder of the Persian religion, was a great teacher. The
exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is generally placed at about
B.C. 600. The testimony of ancient classic literature confirms
the belief that he was an historical person. A tablet unearthed in
Greece contains an account of his life and his doctrines. Pliny says
that he laughed on the day of his birth and that for thirty years he
lived in the wilderness on cheese. He was the founder of the Magi
priesthood, but did not teach the worship of fire.

His philosophy is _dualistic_. There are two spirits or principles that
rule the universe. These are Ormuzd, the principle of light, and
Ahriman, the principle of darkness. These two opposing principles are in
constant conflict, each striving for the mastery. Man is the center of
the conflict, but Ormuzd as his creator has the greater power over him.
All influences are summoned to bring about the success of the good, and
in the end it will surely prevail. No remission of sin is taught, but
judgment is represented as a bridge over which those whose good deeds
outweigh their evil deeds are allowed to pass to paradise: in case the
evil deeds outweigh the good, the person is cast off forever; in case of
a balance of good and evil deeds, there is another period of probation.

This dualism shows itself in nature as well as in the spiritual world.
Order is opposed to lawlessness, truth to falsehood, life to death, good
to evil. It is a religion in which the ideas of guilt and merit are
carried out to the extreme. Zoroaster believed that he was the prophet
chosen to promulgate these doctrines, and his influence as a teacher
upon the Persian nation was unquestionably great. Persia is now a
Mohammedan country.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] North American Review, Vol. 172, p. 132.

CHAPTER V

THE JEWS

=Literature.=--_Hosmer_, Story of the Jews; _Clarke_, Ten Great
Religions; _Durrell_, New Life in Education; _Myers_, Ancient History;
Stoddard's Lectures; _Lord_, Beacon Lights of History; _Josephus_,
Antiquities of the Jews; _Morrison_, The Jews under Roman Rule;
_Larned_, History for Ready Reference; _Hegel_, Philosophy of History;
Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1895; _Peters_,
Justice to the Jew.

=Geography and History.=--The Jews were the ancient people of God