Why you should become a Bible-believing anarchist
who also believes the universe was created around 4004 B.C.
- The Persians absorbed the Medes and became the next great Near Eastern empire, heavily emphasized in Daniel and treated by Newton as one of the major “ancient kingdoms.”
Thinker / Culture Theology Theonomy vs. Autonomy Cosmogony Politics Persians (Achaemenid Empire, c. 550-330 BC) Primarily Zoroastrian — worshiped Ahura Mazda as supreme deity, but within a dualistic system (light vs. darkness, truth vs. the Lie). Not YHWH. Autonomy — law and wisdom were revered as divine but not tied to God’s revealed law. Magi held great influence; revelation through Israel’s prophets was ignored except when imposed by conquest (cf. Cyrus). Dualist cosmogony: eternal struggle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Creation is not ex nihilo; cosmos is shaped from preexisting chaos by divine conflict. Centralized monarchy; the “law of the Medes and Persians” was considered unalterable (Dan. 6:8). Kings called themselves “King of Kings,” ruling vast satrapies. The empire was sacral-political, law and state bound together as divine order.
✦ Notes
Theology: The Persians exalted Ahura Mazda as “wise lord,” but within a dualistic system that compromised divine sovereignty. They allowed subject peoples (like the Jews under Cyrus) to worship their own gods, but their state cult was Zoroastrian.
Theonomy vs. Autonomy: Their laws were treated as sacred in themselves (“which cannot be changed,” Dan. 6:15), reflecting human autonomy elevated to divine authority. God’s revealed law through the prophets had no normative place, though God used Cyrus as His instrument (Isa. 45:1).
Cosmogony: Zoroastrian texts (e.g. Avesta) describe the cosmos as the battleground of eternal principles. This undermines the Creator-creature distinction central to Genesis.
Politics: The Persian monarchs claimed divine mandate as “King of Kings.” Administration was efficient (satrapies, roads, postal system), but ultimate allegiance was demanded for the state and its laws, not for God’s covenant order.
✅ The Persians are important in your framework because they represent a “sophisticated” non-biblical system: ethical dualism, highly developed law, efficient empire — but still autonomy, polytheism (in effect), and statist idolatry.
The Persians were "evolutionary" because they were "naturalists" because they did not believe in a supernatural Creator who was not part of the creation (creation ex nihilo). The "gods" are part of the creation, an original chaos.