Jesus in the Talmud

Jesus in the Talmud 117the empire. And the gods, “water,” “fire” and “domestic animals” attainedgreat satisfaction in the empire, but Ahriman 73 and the idolssuffered great blows and great damages. And the [false] doctrines ofAhriman and of the idols disappeared from the empire and lost credibility.And the Jews (yahūd), Buddhists (šaman), Hindus (brāman),Nazarenes (nāsrā), Christians (kristiyān), Baptists (makdag) andManichaeans (zandīk) were smashed in the empire, their idols destroyed,and the habitations of the idols annihilated and turned intoabodes and seats of the gods. 74This is a powerful declaration of the Zoroastrian faith—and a declarationof war against all the other major religions in the Persian Empire. Jewsand Christians 75 are, together with the other heresies, on an equal footingas far as the chief magian’s wrath is concerned, with no difference whatsoever(the Jews are even mentioned first). Yet this official attitude, or ratherthe desired ideal, of the Zoroastrian clergy does not convey the full picture.The reality was quite different.In reality the Christians were much worse off than the Jews, 76 and thisfor very concrete political reasons: when Christianity became an officiallyrecognized and patronized religion under Constantine and his successors,the major enemy of the Sasanian Empire suddenly turned out to bea Christian—and this did not leave the status of the Sasanians’ Christiansubjects unaffected. The Christians became suspected of being disloyal tothe state and favoring the enemy, of being Rome’s “fifth column” in themidst of the Sasanian Empire. 77 Large-scale persecutions of the Christiansbroke out, first under Shapur II (309–379), then under Yazdgard I(399–421), Bahram V (421–439), and Yazdgard II (439–457).When Constantine, shortly before his death in 337 C.E., intervened innewly Christianized Armenia, Shapur II was forced into a direct confrontationwith his Christian opponent. This threat just at the front doorof the Sasanian Empire (with its barely controllable border) clearly didnot remain unnoticed by the Sasanian Christians and may have arousedcertain expectations. We do know that still in 337, 78 Aphrahat, the SyrianChurch Father, triumphantly proclaimed in his Demonstration V the ultimatevictory of Constantine and the Christians: