Similarities Of Zoroastrianism: Such A Popular Religion

Certain features of Zoroastrianism are found in more commonly known religions and cultures today. It has essential features like dualism that makes it a base for other philosophies today. Zoroastrian doctrines have many similarities to Christian, Jewish, and Islamic beliefs. The history of Zoroastrianism tells a lot about how and why it used to be such a popular religion, but is no longer heard about. While many of its beliefs are found in other modern religions, its influence has been felt not only by adherents of this ancient religion but also by scholars and theologians of monotheistic faiths, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The prophet Zoroaster made Zoroastrianism a successful religion by not giving up his beliefs and persevering.
The followers of Zoroastrianism used to call the religion Mazdayasnian. The followers accept and respect the four elements in nature, fire, earth, wind, and water (Canepa para 3). The core belief is dualism which states that good will eventually win over evil (Melton para 4). This resulted in a culture that was very optimistic about the future. Ahura Mazda was the symbol of good and Angra Mainyu was the force or symbol of evil. Zoroastrianism was the first religion to teach the idea of an apocalypse. Zoroastrianism also came up with the idea of rebirth. Once the end of the current world came, there would be a new heaven as well as a new earth. Each of these beginnings and ends were thought to be about 12,000 years. They believe that overall, humanity gets more and more mature over time, and the people that are spending life after death in hell are eventually saved. After earth is “renovated”, the new heaven and earth that Ahura Mazda creates is named “Khshathra Vairya", which means “desired kingdom” (Taylor para 5). The forces of evil or, ‘The Lie’, had an affect on people in that if they were influenced by it, there would be a decline in morals in humanity. As a result, the person would have to spend life after death in hell (Taylor para
They are written in Avestan, which was a very ancient and difficult language. This language was only spoken for a short amount of time in a small area. This is a huge clue as to when Zoroaster lived. While Zoroaster lived over 3,000 years ago, nobody knows what he looked like. In the eighteenth century, an artist said that Zoroaster came to him in a dream and so he painted what Zoroaster looked like in his dream. He painted a man looking upwards with one hand in the air, and this is how Zoroaster has been viewed since (Hartz 26). The Avesta says that the earth began with only light. The world was becoming too overpopulated, so Ahura Mazda told the king Yima, the fourth king of the Pishdadian Dynasty, that a flood was going to come. The king went on a mountain and then the flood came. The whole world was destroyed but him. Zoroastrian myths stated that Angra Mainyu's evil could be defeated through creation. They teach to create through farming and making children. This is beneficial because it fulfills their religious beliefs while also contributing to the society’s success. Ahura Mazda is also called Ohrmazd and Angra Mainyu is often called Ahriman (Leeming 296). After Ahriman started working against creation, he had to be put into hell. Zoroaster’s mother’s and father’s names were also mentioned in the Avesta (Hartz