Have any of you studdied the similaries between Zoraster and Christianity?

dawg

I've always found it interesting that Satan isn't mentioned by name in the Bible until Job. I found the similarity's between the emergence of Jesus' teachings, and the similarities of the Zoroaster faith interesting.

I hope you guys will take the time to copy, paste, and read this article. I'd love to hear your comments.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/religion/zoro.html

stillajwexelder

Yes I have purchased 2 books recently on Zoroastrianism

dawg

Isn't some of this interesting stilla? I mean, I've always wondered where the concept of Satan, heaven, hell and the like came from. Even Armageddon!

Since I was a child, I used to wonder what made the OT God so different than the NT god?

Leolaia

Yes, I have done quite a bit of reading on this and there has been some fascinating research over the past 20 years by Zoroastrian scholars on the impact of Zoroastrianism on neighboring religions (including Judaism). I was thinking of maybe doing a thread on this later this fall if there is enough interest. What is particularly interesting is that specific developments in Zoroastrian apocalypticism show up later on in Judaism and early Christianity (especially with the book of Revelation and the concept of a millennium, which is not surprising since Revelation shows a literary relationship with the Oracles of Hystaspes, a semi-Zoroastrian semi-Jewish book that circulated in Christian circles as late as the second and third centuries AD).

sweetstuff

It is interesting Dawg, I've also done a bit of research on the amount of Kabbalistic symbolism in the bible, extremely interesting stuff.

http://www.prs.org/gallery-kabblh.htm

Octarine Prince

Read extensively on it, but thank you for linking.

Awakened at Gilead

I'm reading a book by Karen Armstrong that describes the development of Zoroastrianism. I was amazed to read of the similarities between it and Biblical God-Satan concepts.

Another reason not to believe thta the Bible is anything more than just a collection of ancient uninspired writings.

cruzanheart

I once studied with a woman from Pakistan who was a Zoroastrian -- it was fascinating! She was convinced that all religions originated with hers, and of course being a good little Witness I tried to prove her wrong. However, she had a good sense of humor about the whole thing, and I actually learned a lot from her. She introduced me to new foods, new concepts, and taught me a little Urdu. And I learned that in that culture the sons are never disciplined, at least not by the lowly female mother, so her toddler was a hellion. He hated me because I took his mother's attention away from him for a couple of hours each week, and the feeling was more than mutual.

Ah, pioneering memories!

Nina

hamilcarr

I'm reading a book by Karen Armstrong that describes the development of Zoroastrianism.

Do you mean The Great Transformation? I think she demonstrates how similar reforms in Judea, Persia and China led to a new moral conscience in which social provisions (eg. taking care of the poor) were very important.

Rapunzel

In my mind, there is no doubt whatsoever that Zoroastrianism had an extremely profound influence upon Judaism, and as a result, upon Christianity and Islam. It's a pity that the relgion is rather unknown and obscure nowadays. Only a very few people even know its name or that it was once a very influential religion. I have read that, presently, Zoroastrianism is practiced by only a very few people living in sections of the world that are known as Iran, India, and Pakistan. But, as that Pakastani woman said, Zoroastrianism could definitely be called the "mother" of many other world religions - especially Judaism, Christanity, and Islam. It is certainly a very ancient religion, pre-dating Judaism by many hundreds of years.

I believe that one of the most profound influences of Zoroastrianism was its radically dualistic conception of the world and the cosmos. It proclaimed a sort of essential Manicheism that viewed the cosmos as a perpetual "battleground" between Good and Evil.

I'm depending upon my very faulty memory here, but as I remember, the names of these forces were something like "Ahura Mazda" and "Angra Mainu" - something like that. In the

Zoroastrian view, these two cosmic forces were more or less equal in strength. I believe that it is fessentially from Zoroastrian thought that the idea of "Satan" [as Satan is coceived in Christianity and Islam especially] is derived.

It is my belief that Jewish thought, specfically in regard to the devil, or Satan, underwent a fundamental evolution subsequent to their liberation from Babylonian captivity by Cyrus the Mede. It was at that point in history that the Jews would have felt the "full blunt" of Zoroastrian thought and philosophy.

It's interesting to trace how the Jewish conception of Satan evolved throughout history. For example, in the book of Job, Satan is "allowed" to enter heaven and make a little "gentlemen's bet" in regard to poor Job. In fact, in reading the book of Job, one gets the impression that God and Satan are more like a pair of rivals than mortal enemies.

Then of course, there is the Genesis account. Mine may well be the minority view, however I feel that whoever wrote the Genesis account [actually, it's a question of "accounts," in the plural], they did think of the snake character in the same way that later people thought of Satan. In other words, I feel that the snake should not be identified with the personage now known as "Satan." Instead, I view the snake as representing some Promethean-like principle. Prometheus was the "hero" who stole fire from the gods, and gave it as a "gift" to humans.

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Ju

Have any of you studdied the similaries between Zoraster and Christianity?

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