Jason Reza Jorjani, PhD, is a philosopher and author of Prometheus and Atlas, World State of Emergency, Lovers of Sophia, Novel Folklore: The Blind Owl of Sadegh Hedayat, and Iranian Leviathan: A Monumental History of Mithra’s Abode.
Here he maintains that the Persian emperors of the Achaemenid dynasty organized and paid for the building of the second temple in Jerusalem. He envisions this as part of a long-term project of the ancient Iranians to use religion as a tool in their quest for a global empire. He notes that the codification of the Jewish scriptures took place under the auspices of Ezra with support from the Iranian regime. He also observes that changes in the Jewish religion under Ezra differed in various ways from ancient Israelite religion. He also points to the Book of Esther as exemplifying a close relationship between the Jews and Persians of the Achaemenid era.
New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is a past vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology; and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that Association for his contributions to the field of human consciousness exploration.
(Recorded on July 4, 2019)
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