Zarathustra [Zoroaster] is a very ancient philosopher. His philosophy never found followers in India until relatively recently, but Zarathustra preached successfully in Iran long ago. It was by the influence of Zarathustra’s ideas that Satan, an equally powerful rival to God, first made his imaginary appearance in the religion of the Jewish people and then in the religion of followers of the Koran.
Many centuries after Zoroaster died, the Persian Empire conquered the Jewish people in what is now Israel. Thousands of Jewish people were deported as slaves to Babylon where the people became influenced by Zoroastrian ideas. Finally, after a long period of exile and enslavement, the Hebrew people were able to return to their homeland, but one thing those returning people brought back with them was the idea that there is an eternal evil being, a “Satan.”
In the King James Version of the Bible, we read this at the start of the Book of Job, in the Old Testament:
“1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. 3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: 14 and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: 19 and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”
Influenced by Zarathustra’s idea of two Gods, some men in the Middle East dreamed up the idea that an evil Satan and a good god called Yahweh are engaged in an endless struggle against one another, using human beings as pawns in an evil game they play. This fact is clearly stated in the Book of Job.
Consider the seriousness of this…. the Bible is saying to us that God and Satan use people as pawns in a ridiculous contest they are engaged in. This is not a misrepresentation of what the Bible says. This is exactly what the Bible says.
Bible scholars agree the Book of Job was written after the Babylonian exile. Another interesting fact is that “Job” was not a Jewish man. Traditional Jewish scholarship suggests that Job was Egyptian.
In the course of time, some men who were unsatisfied by this philosophy dreamed up the figure of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, who they claim was prophesied to be born to be a scapegoat for all the sins of humankind. This gave rise to the very strange idea that God Himself was born on Earth and then crucified, in order to atone for all the mistakes happening in the world.
But who is to be blamed as the ultimate cause of all the mistakes that happen in this imperfectd world? Can there be any doubt that big mistakes were made by the Creator. The Creator who designed a world where living beings live in constant fear and suffer unnecessarily, as in the case of slaves who are born into a life of misery and have no means of escaping endless torment.
The Vaishnava scholar Thakur Bhaktivinod commented that this doctrine of the Messiah scapegoat is quite incomprehensible to a reasonable person.
