Spirituality in the land of the noble : how Iran shaped the world's religions / Richard C. Foltz.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-195) and index.

The origins of Iranian religion. Iran and Iranianness ; Indo-Europeans and the search for origins ; Features of old Iranian religion -- Zoroastrianism. In search of Zoroaster ; Zoroaster's reform ; Zoroastrian practice ; Religion under the Achaemenids ; Mithraism in the Roman world ; The Sasanian state religion ; The Islamization of Iran and Zoroastrian response ; Zoroastrianism in India ; Zoroastrians in modern Iran ; Zoroastrianism's contributions to other religions -- Judaism. The beginnings of diaspora ; The influence of Iranian ideas ; The influence of Hellenism ; The rabbinic period ; The coming of Islam ; Radical Jewish resistance movements ; Iranian Jews in the Mongol period ; The Safavid period -- Buddhism. Buddhism in eastern Iran ; Iranian influences in Buddhism ; The disappearance of Iranian Buddhism -- Christianity. The establishment of an Iranian church ; Iranian Christian polemics against other religions ; Armenian Christians in Iran ; European Christian missions -- Gnostic traditions. Mandaeism ; Manichaeism ; Later esoteric movements -- Islam. From "the religion of the Arabs" to universal faith system ; The Iranian role in shaping Islamic civilization ; Isma'ili Shi'ism in Iran ; Sufism in Iran ; Twelver Shi'ism in Iran ; Popular Shi'ite religiosity ; The Persian garden as metaphor for paradise -- Babi movement and the Baha'i faith. The Babi movement ; Babi beliefs ; The emergence of the Baha'i faith ; Bahaʼuʼllah's teachings ; The Baha'i community in Iran and beyond -- Religions in Iran today. Religious thought in an Islamic state ; Religious minorities under the Islamic Republic -- Glossary.