Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/362

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THE ACTIVE PROPAGANDA OF THE FAITH
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Persians.[1] The priests on both the sides became zealots, and occasionally fell into the slough of fanaticism. Great was the fury of religious rancour that prevailed on such occasions. The seceders from Zoroastrianism were persecuted; apostasy was made a capital crime by the Zoroastrian Church, and the renegades were put to death. Notwithstanding such harsh measures adopted by the Iranian clergy, numerous converts were made throughout the whole time of the Sasanian rule from Zoroastrianism to Christianity. Some of the greatest saints were won from the Zoroastrian community. A noted Zoroastrian preceptor embraced Christianity, and later became the Patriarch under the name Mar Aba the Great. The Zoroastrian priesthood clamoured for his death, and the law of the country supported them. It was the great admiration that King Noshirvan held for the Patriarch that saved his life.[2] Yazdagard I and Hormizd IV ascended the throne with proclivities for Christianity, and Noshirvan and Khusru Parviz had wedded Christian princesses. Nushzad, one of the sons of the great Sasanian king Noshirvan, was brought up a Christian.[3] Another ruler of the House of Sasan, Parviz, built a monastery to please his favourite Christian wife.[4] Such royal examples encouraged the Christian propaganda in Iran. Yazdagard I, who favoured the Christian cause, was hailed by the Christians as the blessed king, but was branded by his own co-religionists as the wicked sinner.[5]

  1. ↑ Ib., p. 151, 152.
  2. ↑ Wigram, op. cit., p. 184, 22–209.
  3. ↑ Tabari, tr. Noldeke, p. 467–474.
  4. ↑ Wigram, op. cit., p. 259.
  5. ↑ Shatroihā-i-Airān, 26; cf Wigram, op. cit., p. 85, 86.
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