The Family Tree Of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, And Christianity

One of the many decisions that has to made in life is what, if any, religion they will practice. Christianity, the belief in God, and Jesus as his son, or Judaism, to follow the direction of the Torah are some of the major religions that a person may choose. This decision may be one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life, and each religion has similarities and differences, and pro’s and cons. Two of the major religions, Judaism and Christianity, are alike in their inspiration of sacred texts, but are different in their identity of Jesus, and practice of worship.

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have similar origins, development, beliefs, and sacred texts. Contrary to popular belief all three of these religions share more common ground than one would think. The differences are present of course, but the similarities help one understand where all three were derived from and why. All of the religions share the common ground as to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the belief of monotheism, and “ethical standards required social justice for individuals and for the community” (144). Judaism is the oldest religion out of the three, then falls Christianity, and lastly Islam.

Zoroastrianism is a religion that influenced the development of Christianity and Manichaeism. It believes in the role of individuals determining their own fate and emphasizes the duality of good and evil. Early Aryan influences on Persian religious traditions. Zarathustra (late 7th-early 6th centuries BCE) is the founder of Zoroastrianism. He believes that Ahura Mazda had chosen him to be a prophet. In the sixth century BCE, Zoroastrianism attracted Persian aristocrats and ruling elites. It also influenced Judaism, Christianity and later, Islam. When Alexander of Macedonia defeated Darius III in battle, Alexander conquered most of the Persian territories. This caused Zoroastrianism to receive a huge blow since many priests were killed and texts were destroyed. Most Zoroastrians in Persia during this time fled to India to escape prosecution.

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

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

The Jewish religion has many key components, which were derived from other religions such as Zoroastrianism. The prophet Zoroaster founded Zoroastrianism in Persia. The doctrines preached by Zoroaster are preserved in his metrical Gathas (psalms), which form part of the sacred scripture known as the Avesta. Zoroastrianism is one of the first monotheistic beliefs in the world. The beliefs are outlined in the Gathas. The basic tenets of the Gathas consist of a worship of Ahura Mazda and an ethical dualism opposing Truth and Lie, which permeate the entire universe.

Zoroastrianism on the other hand is a monotheistic religion, originating in Iran, and has evolved throughout the ages. With approximately 130,000 remaining followers. Zoroastrianism’s early stage, is presumed to have influenced Buddhism, and introduces beliefs of Gods and Devils that have been adopted by other religions such as Christianity, and Islam. The Zoroastrian gods represented elements, aspects of nature, and principles such as justice and obedience. These gods were called daevas meaning (“shining ones”), with higher ranking gods called Ahuras or (“Lords”) with the supreme god Ahura Mazda, being worshipped above all the other gods as the divine creator; through good thoughts, words, and deeds, like the Jainism ahimsa. Zoroastrians believed there was a cosmic battle between good and evil and to support good one must dedicate themselves as spiritual warriors for good.

It dominated the world from 559 BCE to 651 CE. Just by reading the basics, we have seen many similarities in all three of these religions. The most important one is of course the shared belief of an almighty God, Ahura Mazda, Yehowa. The holy father is the one and only God in all three of these regions. All three religions recognize the evil forces of the earth being led by one specific entity. Resurrection, final judgment, hell, haven, and immortal soul, all of those elements essentially come from Zoroastrian teachings and are very prevalent in Christianity and Judaism. The element of fire, if you read how the bible describes judgment day, it is very similar to the Zoroastrian vision of the final purification revelation, 20:11-15 speaking of the lake of fire. Christianity adopted several rituals from Zoroastrianism, consisting of baptism, known in Zoroastrianism as a haoma ceremony, worshiping on Sunday, and celibate priests that mediate between man and God http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Zarathushtrian/zoroastrianism_influence.htm. This religion has influenced more of human kind than any other religion, philosophy or political movement. It is the direct route to Abrameiac religion and Indian religion. http://altreligion.about.com/od/alternativereligionsaz/a/zoroastrianism.htm http://view.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launcheText

The Zoroastrianism people are wrongfully thought to be fire worshipers. They believe that fire represents God’s light and wisdom, and that all of the elements are pure.

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 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.

Over thousands of years, the religion of Judaism has evolved. With years of suffering, persecution, and dispersion the Jews’ religion stays constant. When researching the religion, the history is extremely strong, and the doctrine of the religion dates back thousands of years. With such a vast history, one might want to examine the change into modern society.

Those who went to India were met with different climatic conditions and hence had to change their lifestyle. This would include their religious beliefs but they kept some of the Vedic beliefs. For those in Iran most of the Vedic practices were lost and only few of them were left of which were in the Zoroastrian religion. Zoroastrianism was a monotheistic and messianic which most teachings revolved round prophet Zoroaster, this would lead to very few similarities between this religion and Hinduism. Vedic tradition which was a common factor was slowly eliminated in the Zoroastrian by use of the teachings and in the end severing any connections between the two.