Monotheistic Religion And Zoroastrianism

The Greek and Persian Achaemenid Empires coexisted during 553-336 B.C.E. These two empires had been rivals for centuries, which eventually led to the Persian Wars, happening from 490-480 B.C.E. The Persian Empire was made up of a variety of religions, however the one practiced by the native Persians was focused on a main god, Ahura mazda. The Persian religion was “...centered on an elaborate cult of kingship…” and these kings were believed to have a connection to Ahura mazda. In contrast, the Greek people had the same gods and religion throughout their empire, which were present not only in myth and stories, but also in daily life. Although the Persians didn’t have many personal ties to their gods, the Greeks believed their gods possessed human-like attributes, which gave the Greeks a more direct connection to their deities.

Zoroastrianism is a type of religion that Darius I and his successors most likely followed. It originated in ancient Iran, and the single god of goodness named Ahuramazda was believed to be in a constant struggle against evil.

Zoroastrianism is the belief in one god being Ahura Mazda, the creator of all that is good and who alone is worthy of worship. Zoroastrianism became the official religion

Believed in “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds” because it was a proper way to live out your life.

Representatives of all the peoples of the empire—recognizable by their distinctive hair, beards, dress, hats, and footwear— are depicted bringing gifts to the king. In this exercise in what today we would call public relations or propaganda. Zoroastrianism- religion originating in ancient Iran that became the official religion of the Achaemenids. It centered on a single benevolent deity, Ahuramazda, who engaged in a struggle with demonic forces before prevailing and restoring a pristine world.

Greece and Persia’s religion is one factor that makes both of these empires so diverse from each other. During the Achaemenid Period, the main religion of Persia at the time was Zoroastrianism, which the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster founded in the 6th century B.C.E. At the time the royal family brought in Zoroastrianism to Persia, and since the royal family believed in it, most of the people of the Persian Empire choose to believe in it too. Greece on the other hand, did not have a religion until 146 B.C.E when Christianity entered the empire. Before Christianity had entered Greece, they believed in their mythological stories. Each myth or story had a lesson to be learned by the reader.

The Zoroastrian concept of God incorporates both monotheism and dualism. In his visions, Zarathustra was taken up to heaven, where Ahura Mazda revealed that he had an opponent, Aura Mainyu, the spirit and promoter of evil. Ahura Mazda charged Zarathustra with the task of inviting all human beings to choose between him (good) and Aura Mainyu (evil). Zoroaster taught that man must enlist in this cosmic struggle because of his capacity of free choice. Zoroastrianism is a highly ethical religion in which the choice of good over evil has cosmic importance. Zarathustra taught that humans are free to choose between right and wrong, truth and lie, and light and dark, and that their choices would affect their eternal destiny. The Zoroastrian afterlife is determined by the balance of the good and evil deeds, words, and thoughts of the whole life. For those whose good deeds outweigh the bad, heaven awaits. Those who did more evil than good go to hell. There is an intermediate stage for those whose deeds weigh out equally. Many of Zoroaster's ideas, including ethical monotheism, heaven, hell, angels, demons, the resurrection of the body, and the messiah figure, have notable parallels in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Some of the differences between Zoroastrianism and buddism and Hinduism is that the Iranians worshipped ahura who was a God and the Indians worshipped devas which were gods. Similarities between them were the exchange of ideas. Merchants and scholars would travel from

I believe there are some beliefs from Zoroastrianism that overtime made their way into early Rabbincal Judaism and therefore into modern Judaism. These connections are possibly due to the similar time frame between the creation of both religions, as well as both Zoroastrianism and Judaism being based out of the Middle East. Some similarities these religions share include: both have Pagan influence by connecting with location and nature; neither acknowledge/mention Jesus; both are monotheistic in belief; claim their God is all knowing and the creator; believe in/use angels in teachings; view women and men as equals; are convinced there will be no second coming; and lastly, practice prayer and doing good deeds. There are also some main differences

Zoroastrianism one of the most ancient religions of the world found sometime before 650 B.C in Persia by the prophet known as Zoroaster. The religion of Zoroastrianism is based mainly on two aspect of life. The people who tell the truth are on the side of Asha, and are known as the people of righteousness. The others, who are known as the people of the lie, or druj, followed the dreary way of evil. Zoroastrianism is a polytheistic religion which shows people ways of life but lets the person make a choice of truth or lie. But, it is also believed in Zoroastrianism that a judgment day will occur when good will defeat evil. In this great battle, Ahura Mazda, the lord wisdom would fight Angra Mainya, the fiendish spirit for control over the world. During this war between good and evil, Ahura Mazda and his assistant would defeat the evil Angra Mainya. Furthermore, all evil would be eliminated on earth in an ordeal in which fire and molten metal would burn away all evil and only leave behind good.

Zoroastrianism is not considered one of the major religions of the world, but it is one of the most important religions in the history. Zoroastrianism flourished during the great Persian empires. The Achaemenian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great who showed great respect for the nations he conquered. He allowed the citizens to govern themselves and to pursue their religions. For example, when Cyrus the Great invaded Babylon, he allowed the Jewish captives to return to their country to rebuild their Jerusalem temple. The Achaemenians had consistent conflict with the Greeks in the West of their empire, and in 334 B.C., the Achaemenian empire was seized with the rise of Alexander the Great.

Zoroastrianism is a religion founded by a priest named Zarathustra Spitma or Zoroaster far back in the 1200BCE, with the principle belief of an almighty God or “the One” Ahura Mazda and the context of a cosmic battle between the good and evil forces.

It is known that Christianity formed and branched out from Judaism. The Religion of Zoroastrianism is older than Judaism yet their seem teaching are very similar It could be said that Judaism therefore Christianity was influenced by the teachings of Zoroastrianism. Judaism teaches that people are born pure and sinless and throughout their can fall in to sin similar to Zoroastrianism. Christianity changes this with the belief in the original sin with make everyone born in sin and have have to walk the path of righteousness to be free of sin.

What were the communal aspects of Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism and how did they differ from each other? Lapidus (2002) explains that Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism have a lot in common. First, all were transcendental. They say that beyond the world of this life there is a higher world, the realm of the divine, to be attained either through ethical action or through faith in God. The religions explains that the God produced the whole world and continue to rule it.

Zoroastrianism has greatly influenced Judaism, specifically through the prophet Daniel's close association with the Achaeamenid kings. Almost all Zoroastrian events are Iran's major holidays. It has remained part of the cultural heritage of the Iranian language-speaking world. Zoroastrianism also thought to have influenced eastern Dharmic religions (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) This is expressed through the Vedic texts and it is not surprising to find fundamental concepts similar to dharma and rta in the [earlier] Gathas as

The differences between the Vedic and the Zoroastrian religion are more of a coincidence and less of an intent. The former Vedic religion that existed disappeared widely on the introduction