ZoroastrianismONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS

Founder - Zarathustra

Zarathustra –Persian Prophet

Unclear dating on his birth – Some Zoroastrians claim 6000 BCE! Others think 600 BCE; modern historians date it to between 1500-1000 BCE

Belief that his birth was predicted and evil forces tried to kill him as a child

His message eventually won over the Persian king and it became the official religion of the Persian Empire until the 7th century CE (Islam replaced it)

Zarathustra - Zoroaster

In the west, he is known as Zoroaster

In the east – Zarathustra or Zaroshte

Ptolemy & Zoroaster

Ptolemy and Zoroaster in Raphael’s School of

Athens – A collection of the greatest minds of

all times painted for a Christian pope’s library

Persian Empire at its peak

Modern-day Iran was once called Persia

Faravahar – Zoroastrian Symbol

Ahura Mazda?

God is supposed to not have form; transcendent

Fravashi – The good part of the human soul given by Ahura Mazda at birth.

Faravahar – Zoroastrian Symbol

One hand upwards – striving for constant spiritual improvement

Ring in hand – loyalty and faithfulness

Circle – immortality of the soul; repercussions of our actions

Three rows of wing feathers – good thoughts, words, and deeds

Three sections tail feathers – the opposite

Two streamers – Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu – spirits of good and evil –Figure faces one and turns from the other

Holy Scriptures

Avesta – Holy Book; includes the original words

of their founder Zarathushtra, preserved in a

series of five hymns, called the Gathas.

The Gathas are the basic source of the religion.

The Gathas are abstract sacred poetry,

directed towards:

1. worship of the One God,

2. understanding of righteousness and cosmic order,

3. promotion of social justice

4. and individual choice between good and evil.

Ahura Mazda – The Only God

A single god Ahura Mazda who is supreme.

Communication between Himself and humans is by a number of Attributes, called Amesha Spentas or Bounteous Immortals.

Within the Gathas, the original Zoroastrian sacred text, these Immortals are sometimes described as concepts, and are sometimes personified.

Cosmic Dualism

All powerful God Ahura Mazda who is the only deity worthy of being worshipped, and

An evil spirit of violence and death, Angra Mainyu, who opposes Ahura Mazda.

The resulting cosmic conflict involves the entire universe, including humanity who is required to choose which to follow.

Evil, and the Spirit of Evil, will be completely destroyed at the end of time. Dualism will come to an end and Goodness will be all in all. Another school of thought perceives the battle between Good and Evil as an ethical dualism, set within the human consciousness.

After death, a person's urvan (soul) is allowed three days to meditate on his/her past life.

The soul is then judged by a troika Mithra, Sraosha and Rashnu.

If the good thoughts, words and deeds outweigh the bad, then the soul is taken into

Heaven. Otherwise, the soul is led to Hell.

The universe will go through a total of three eras:

1. Creation

2. The present world where good and evil are mixed. People's good works are

seen as gradually transforming the world towards its heavenly ideal

3. A final state after this renovation when good and evil will be separated.

Eventually, everything will be purified. Even the occupants of hell will be released.

Zoroastrian Savior

A Saoshyant (savior) will be born of a virgin,

but of the lineage of the Prophet Zoroaster

who will raise the dead and judge everyone

in a final judgment.

Sound familiar?

Modern Zoroastrianism

Less than 200,000

Do not attempt to evangelize/convert others

but do try to keep their religion alive

Parsis in India – Zoroastrians whose ancestors fled

Persia (Iran) when Islam became official religion

Modern Zoroastrians believe that all religions

converge on the same god and as long as they

are good and loyal to their god, they will go to

heaven

Connections with Other

Monotheistic Religions

Judaism

Christianity

Islam

All with one god, good vs. evil, light vs. dark,

messiah of virgin birth, final judgment in which

good triumphs