Image of Zoroaster
Apparently Zoroaster lived several centuries before Christ. He founded a new monotheistic religion in the area of Persia (modern day Iran) in which he taught of the existence of one supreme Creator God named Ahura Mazda. This God is all good and represents order and truth. One site I read said that from this God came forth spirit twins, one of whom chose good, the other evil. Led by these spirits (or in some traditions, Ahura Mazda vs. the evil spirit), there is now a conflict between order and chaos in which humanity takes part. The outcome will eventually be decided in favor of order, after which time will end. At this point, creation will undergo some sort of renewal and the souls of the dead will be reunited with Ahura Mazda, returning to life. Quoting from Wikipedia, "At the end of time, a savior-like figure ... will bring about a final renovation of the world ... in which the dead will be revived."
Hmm ... very interesting. I further learned that Zoroastrianism was related to astrology, the Zodiac, etc. and that its adherents have sometimes been called "magi", which is somehow related to the ability to "read the stars". Is it possible that Zoroaster was inspired by God to teach certain truths and even prophesy the advent of a Savior whose birth would be attended by a new star? If Zoroaster's followers were star watchers, they may have been among the first to notice the advent of a new star (nowhere in the Bible am I aware of a place that claims that this star was unusually bright - it may have just been a new star). If so, they may have come to see this Savior whose birth the founder of their religion had prophesied.
The Bible does say the wise men came from the east (Matt 2:1). Persia is almost directly east of Jerusalem. Interesting, huh?
Update (1/18/11): Through this post, I made a connection with a Zoroastrian, who shares some insights about his religion in the comments section. If you're reading this post and you want the inside scoop on Zoroastrianism, you may want to check out his comments.
Zoroastrianism is the world's first monotheistic religion. But, unlike Abrahamic religions, it does NOT suggest that evil came from god. In Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Satan was one of god's angels who was thrown out of heaven and hence evil was created. In Zoroastrianism, evil exists independent of good and the followers' duty is to choose between the two. By choosing good over evil, the Zoroastrian help god in defeating evil. So a Zoroastrian is god's helper on earth, not his sinful creation who needs to pray to god for salvation, forgiveness, gratitude.
ReplyDeleteZoroastrian priests are sometime called magi (pleural for magus). The myth of the wise kings suggests that three magi came from the east. It is widely believed that the three wise men were three magi from Iran, the birth place of Zoroastrianism. There is a place in Iran famed for being the tomb of the three magi.
Some of what you have suggested above is incorrect, eg the birth of the twins from "Ahura Mazda". I suggest you read the wiki page and its links, or references to Zoroastrianism on the Encyclopedia Iranica site for a better understanding of the religion.
From a Zoroastrian
Thanks for your comment, Anonymous. It's great to have input from someone who has studied the religion on the inside. If you happen to see my reply, I'd love to hear more from you.
ReplyDeleteMy comment about twin spirits issuing from Ahura Mazda was based on an idea I read from Martin Haug's interpretation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angra_Mainyu) of the original teachings of Zoroaster. I don't know how Haug came to his conclusions, but I latched onto the idea because of its similarity to some of my beliefs. Perhaps I should have given precedence to the dualistic concept. I think there is a beautiful simplicity in it. What Zoroaster actually taught is probably better known to you than it will ever be to me, but perhaps some of it has been lost in antiquity.
I think it's presumptuous to say Zoroastrianism is the world's first monotheistic religion. It may arguably be the first of which we have record; however, I don't quite believe that either. Abraham likely lived around 2000-1900BC and Zoroaster's earliest dating puts him at 1700BC. The latest dates extend as far as 600BC. Would you care to elaborate on your claim?
It has been interesting to learn a little bit about Zoroastrianism. I have gained a healthy respect for the man Zoroaster and appreciate the opportunity to hear from one of his followers. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Feel free to share more if you have the time.
.... (Sorry about the break - my post is too big!)
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, thank you for your interest in our religion. A lot of rubbish is written about it, by non-Zoroastrians who know very little about it, or some Zoroastrians who have somehow lost the plot and have been carried into superstitious beliefs! If you are interested, I can recommend a book by Richard Foltz: "Spirituality in the land of the noble", which discusses the influence of Zoroastrianism on other religions, and books by Mary Boyce or S Nigosian which provide all round info on the subject. Unlike what you may have read with regards to the numbers of followers (due to the orthodoxy and warped "ethnic" views of Indian Parsis), the Catholic Encyclopedia has called Zoroastrianism the fastest growing religion - it has increased its numbers from about 200,000 to 2-2.5 million in the last 10-15 years, ie more than 10 times in less than two decades! That, together with the fact that Zoroastrian beliefs have impacted the lives of billions of people without their awareness makes it a worthy subject to study.
Kind regards
Omeed
(I apologise for the mess up - I tried to break up my message into smaller one and caused a bit of a mess!)
ReplyDeleteHi Brett
Some of Haug's views on Zoroastrianism have been disputed, one of them being his attempt at simplifying and christianising the relationship between Ahura Mazda and the "twin spirits". This is a matter of philosophical debate. What we as Zoroastrians believe is that Ahura Mazda is purely good. He is the source and the creator of all things good, such as light, warmth, happiness, etc. Hence the significance of fire in Zoroastrian temples as a symbol of Ahuric presence, rather like the crucifix as a symbol of Christianity. On the other hand, Ahriman is the source of all things evil such as death, disease, darkness, anger, etc. Spenta Mainyu (bounteous or "expanding" mind) and Angra Mainyu ("angry mind") are later additions to what Zoroaster preached.
The dualism in Zoroastrianism comes from the distinction between the sources of good and evil. As I said before, whereas in the Abrahamic tradition, evil was "created" by god by banishing him from heaven (ie before that event, there was no evil), in the Zoroastrian tradition evil has always existed in parallel to god. In the battle between the two, our duty is to choose between them and by doing good, we help in the destruction of evil. However, this dualism does not mean that we venerate two gods, or that some worship god and some worship evil! There is only one god worthy of worship. So the religion is monotheistic and dualistic, but not ditheistic.
As for the origins of monotheism, yes you are right in that many other such concepts have existed before. The oldest recorded one I believe is the ancient Egyptian cult of Aten, whereby the one and only sun god Ra was worshipped. Each city state of the ancient world had its own protecting god, eg Marduk was the god of Babylon. As for the Israelites, they were originally a polytheistic tribe with several gods such as Baal, Asherah and Yahweh being some of the more prominent ones. Abraham's teachings were based on allegiance to Yahweh only. All these gods have been tribal gods, ie only for the protection of that tribe, and worthy of worship and sacrifice by those people. In Zoroastrianism, the concept of a UNIVERSAL god was introduced, ie one that created all and belongs to all. So maybe I should have specified that Zoroastrianism is the first universally monotheistic religion. When Cyrus liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity, many returned with him back to Iran, where many Zoroastrian concepts were introduced to the Jews, such as the universality of god, the concept of the judgement day, heaven and hell, even some of the aspects of the daily Jewish prayers which still exist to this day.......
...... And finally a point on Zoroaster's time. Various sources ranging from ancient Greeks to early Islamic scholars have put him at anything between 600 BC to 6000 BC! However, the latest views suggest that he lived sometime around 1400 BC, based on linguistic evidence from the relationship between Avestan and Sanskrit languages, and what is known about the Indo-Europeans, and the separation of Indo-Iranians (or Aryans) from them, who went on to divide further into Indo-Aryan and Iranian people. Zoroaster belonged to the latter group.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, thank you for your interest in our religion. A lot of rubbish is written about it, by non-Zoroastrians who know very little about it, or some Zoroastrians who have somehow lost the plot and have been carried into superstitious beliefs! If you are interested, I can recommend a book by Richard Foltz: "Spirituality in the land of the noble", which discusses the influence of Zoroastrianism on other religions, and books by Mary Boyce or S Nigosian which provide all round info on the subject. Unlike what you may have read with regards to the numbers of followers (due to the orthodoxy and warped "ethnic" views of Indian Parsis), the Catholic Encyclopedia has called Zoroastrianism the fastest growing religion - it has increased its numbers from about 200,000 to 2-2.5 million in the last 10-15 years, ie more than 10 times in less than two decades! That, together with the fact that Zoroastrian beliefs have impacted the lives of billions of people without their awareness makes it a worthy subject to study.
Kind regards
Omeed
Thanks for taking the time to respond so thoroughly, Omeed. I really appreciate you sharing those insights with me!
ReplyDeleteI will keep those book references in mind and perhaps study more about your religion in the future. It seems to be a subject well worth some of my time.
And if I post about Zoroastrianism again, hopefully you'll come across it and act as referee. :)