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CHRESTOR - a person who is useful to the world Chrestor comes from a Greek word meaning to be useful. It is a translation of the word Saoshyant. Saoshyant is the Avestan language expression that literally means "one who brings benefit", and which is used in several different ways in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition. Originally it was a term that applied to any person who worked towards the Frashokereti - the 'making fresh' of the world. It is a battle against evil or 'Dreg' - a word that implies 'deviation' from what is right and true. Thus a Chrestor has the task of bringing back onto the right path everything that has deviated or gone off course. Later in Zoroastrian tradition the expression became restricted to mean a specific saviour figure who will come 'at the end of time' to bring about the final renovation of the world in which evil is finally destroyed. A similar change in meaning can be seen with the word 'Saint' in Christian tradition which originally applied to all good christians - " who have kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord" after their death, but has come to be restricted only to the most worthy of these. In Zoroastrianism the events of the final renovation are described in the Bundahishn: In the final battle with evil, the yazatas Airyaman and Atar will "melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and it will be upon the earth like a river" (and will burn away all impurities) but the 'ashavan' or righteous will not be harmed. Eventually, Ahura Mazda will triumph, and his agent Saoshyant will resurrect the dead, whose bodies will be restored to eternal perfection, and whose souls will be cleansed and reunited with God. Time will then end, and asha and immortality will thereafter be everlasting. |