Zoroaster scholars, philosophers, and theologians to test his knowledge on religion and jurisprudence. Among the summoned scholars was a Zoroastrian High Priest. Al-Ridha questioned the priest on his beliefs saying,“Tell me about Zoroaster, whom you claim is a prophet; what is your evidence for his Prophethood?” to which the response was “We did not see him, but the tales of our ancestors informed us that he had legalized for us what no other person before had made legal.” Imam Al-Ridha responded “This is the case with all other nations. Tales had come to them about what the prophets had accomplished, what
Zoroaster the magi, Zoroaster's disciples and successors," for their opinion. While the division along the lines of Zoroaster/astrology and Ostanes/magic is an "oversimplification, the descriptions do at least indicate what the works are "not""; they were not expressions of Zoroastrian doctrine, they were not even expressions of what the Greeks and Romans ""imagined" the doctrines of Zoroastrianism to have been" [emphases in the original]. The assembled fragments do not even show noticeable commonality of outlook and teaching among the several authors who wrote under each name. Almost all Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha is now lost, and of the attested texts—with only one exception—only