h a certain degree of spirituality.
There is little doubt, at the present time, that the attempt to
spiritualize the religion of the Jews was due to the influence of the
Persians. However, the length of time required to effect any appreciable
improvement in an established form of worship is shown by the fact that,
two hundred years later, little change for the better was observed in
the temples, in which licentiousness had become a recognized religious
rite. Even at the present time, it is reported that in many places of
worship in the East there still reside "holy women--god's women," who,
like those in Babylon, described by various writers, are devoted to the
"god of fire."

In a comparison made between the religion of Persia and the doctrines
said to have been taught by Moses, Inman remarks:

"The religion of Persia as reformed by Zoroaster so closely resembles
the Mosaic, that it would be almost impossible to decide which has the
precedence of the other, unless we knew how ancient was the teaching of
Zoroaster, and how very recent was that said to be from Moses. Be this
as it may, we find the ancient Persians resemble the Jews in sacrificing
upon high places, in paying divine honor to fire, in keeping up a sacred
flame, in certain ceremonial cleansings, in possessing an hereditary
priesthood who alone were allowed to offer sacrifices, and in making
their summum bonum the possession of a numerous offspring."(108)

108) Ancient Faiths, vol. ii., p. 64.

It is quite plain that by both these nations the wisdom of an earlier
race was nearly forgotten. Seven hundred years B.C. the Persians
had doubtless already adopted the worship of "One God" who was the
Regenerator or Destroyer, a Deity which, as we have seen, originally
comprehended the powers of Nature--namely the sun's heat and the cold
of winter. That at this time, however, they had lost the higher truths
involved in the conception of this Deity, is evident. They had become
worshippers of fire, or of that subtle igneous fluid residing in fire
which they believed to be creative force. Although the Persiaus like all
the other nations of the globe had lost or forgotten the higher truths
enunciated by an older race, there is no evidence going to show that
they ever became gross phallic worshippers like the Jews; that they were
not such is shown in the fact that down to the time of Alexander the
women of Persia still held a high and honorable position, and th