There is not a consensus on its’ influecen on Christianity/Judaism, in part because many biblical scholars hold to outdated notions about Zoroastrianism, such as emphasizing the late date of manuscripts of the Avesta which has little to do with the date of oral composition of these liturgical texts (with the Avestan language dying out prior…

Some claimed that there was a crucifxiion of a prophet in Zoroastrianism that got betrayed by a character, similar to the name of Judas.However, the early Avestan sources (all likely composed before 300 BCE) are silent on the topic of Zarathustra’s death. It is not until we come to Syrian sources in Late Antiquity (Pseudo-Clementine…

In its origin Zoroastrianism is not monotheistic. It is a widespread myth that Zoroastrianism is said to have shaped Judaism in monotheism. Zoroastrianism was not a static system of thought but developed over many hundreds of years. It originated as an anti-daēuua movement in the late second millennium BCE promoting the Yazatas over the traditional…

In “Persia and the Bible”, by Edwin Yamauchi from Baker House, Yamauchi seems to think Judaism was possibly influential on Zoroastrian religion in the direction of monotheism. But Zoroastrianism seems to have been more of a dualistic polytheism that gradually, perhaps over an extremely long time, if traditional views of Zoroaster living in the Bronze…

Dualism, or the doctrine that existence is under the domain of two antithetical principles, has frequently been proposed as present in the Zoroastrian religion.[i] Often this determination has been applied rigidly to the faith’s entire history, with forces designated as good and evil said to operate on both spiritual and corporeal levels. Little consideration has…

https://adyan.urd.ac.ir/article_130128.html?lang=enMarriage in many religions is a divine bond that is performed through rituals. Every religion has rules, permissions and prohibitions for marriage. One of the important issues in Zoroastrianism is incestuous marriage happening among the ancient Zoroastrians. This article analyzes this issue based on Islamic narrations. Here, the term “Maharem” refers to first-degree female relatives,…

The generally most clear-cut accounts of Zoroastrian traditional views of dogs come from Fargard 13 and 14 of the Videvdad, a collection of moral guidances, pseudo-legal judgments, etc. Fargard 13 begins with the two verses:[Thus spake Zarathustra:] “Which is the good creature among the creatures of the Spenta Mainyu that from midnight till the sun…

In its most constrained sense, a holy war (Latin bellum sacrum) exists in contrast to St. Augustine’s just war (Latin bellum iustum) within Crusade-era Christian jurisprudence. A just war was justifiable and not immoral, but a holy war was virtuous. It is relatively easy to find parallels to the concept of warfare as virtuous in…

Ahura Mazda and Varuna:Varuna (“Oath”) is frequently juxtaposed with another more familiar deity, Mitra (“Covenant, Agreement”) in a collective role as upholders of order. Mazda is similarly juxtaposed with Mithra in some Avestan material. Varuna, or Varuna-Mitra, it can be argued, must have been the supreme deity of pre-Zoroastrian religion (this is the “Zoroaster wasn’t…

The most prominent Deva/Daeva were highly martial beings, such as Indra and Agni of the Rgveda. Among the fundamentals of Zoroaster’s teaching appears to have been the idea that martial prowess could not be inherently virtuous. This is evident in e.g. the “Zoroastrian Creed”, Yasna 12, which is usually thought to date to the earliest…