Although the teachings of prophet Zarathushtra were primarily spiritual,
and substantially devoid of mythological and ritualistic beliefs,
Zoroastrianism, the religion that was based on his teachings incorporated
many aspects of pre-Zarathushtra traditions as well as novel and
creative approaches to ritualism.
When Zoroastrian conquerors and kings, primarily Cyrus the Great
and his descendants expanded the Persian Empire to include much
of the known world at that time, inevitably Zoroastrians encountered
people of other faiths. While Cyrus true to Zarathushtra's teachings,
was very respectful of other beliefs and allowed them to flourish
of their own accord, and even supported them; it was inevitable
that Zoroastrianism as the dominant faith would influence the conquered
peoples, perhaps more so than be influenced by them.
The priestly cast, namely the Magi, also did their utmost to influence
other people and guide them to the path of righteousness and Asha.
After all, this was a moral duty, (see Ahuna
Vairya prayer), to teach others about the path of Asha, and
to show them the light of Ahura Mazda, the Universal Divine.
In this exchange of thought and belief, what has obviously been
transferred has been some of the visibly manifest aspects of the
religion, namely rituals and myths. This is why when the influence
of Zoroastrianism on Judaism and Christianity is studied, time and
again we return to:
"First, the figure of Satan, originally a servant of God,
appointed by Him as His prosecutor, came more and more to resemble
Ahriman, the enemy of God. Secondly, the figure of the Messiah,
originally a future King of Israel who would save his people from
oppression, evolved, in Deutero-Isaiah for instance, into a universal
Savior very similar to the Iranian Saoshyant. Other points of comparison
between Iran and Israel include the doctrine of the millennia; the
Last Judgment; the heavenly book in which human actions are inscribed;
the Resurrection; the final transformation of the earth; paradise
on earth or in heaven; and hell." by J. Duchesne-Guillemin
The following extensively lists quotations from other scholars
to emphasis the same point, as well as to elaborate on many of these
similarities. However, what is often missed in these comparisons
is the effect that such overwhelming influence would have on shaping
the faith, psyche and spiritual chemistry of the affected people.
Namely, such infiltration of mythology and ritualism will inevitably
define a framework of what is conceivable and possible vs. what
was once inconceivable and consequently not part of the world conception
of that people. Let us first study some of these quotations::
Frances Power Cobbe, Studies, new and
old, of ethical and social subjects:
"Should we in a future world be permitted to hold high converse
with the great departed, it may chance that in the Bactrian sage,
who lived and taught almost before the dawn of history, we may
find the spiritual patriarch, to whose lessons we have owed such
a portion of our intellectual inheritance that we might hardly
conceive what human belief would be now had Zarathushtra never
existed."
A.V. Williams Jackson, Zoroastrian Studies:
"The typical passage is found in the Hþtokht Nask (Yt. 22.
1-36; and compares Vistþsp Yasht, Yt. 24. 53-64). For the first
three nights after the breath has left the body the soul hovers
about the lifeless frame and experiences joy or sorrow according
to the deeds done in this life. On the dawn of the fourth day
the soul takes fight from earth..."
Note: compare this to the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday,
and his resurrection on Monday (the dawn of the fourth day).
"The author has attempted in his article in the Biblical
World to show how much the Messiah-idea in Judaism and the Saoshyant-idea
in Mazdaism, probably taught by Zarathushtra himself, resemble
each other."
"The similarity between it (the Zoroastrian doctrine of
the future life and the end of the world) and the Christian doctrine
is striking and deserve more attention on the side of Christian
theology, even though much has been written on this subject."
Rustom Masani, Zoroastrianism: The
Religion of the Good Life:
" `To all good thoughts, words, and deeds (belongs) Paradise,
so is it manifest to the pure.' This is the simple admonition
given in the prayer Vispa Humata."
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a thousand
faces:
"Persian belief was reorganized by the prophet Zarathushtra
according to a strict dualism of good and evil principles, light
and dark, angels and devils. This crisis profoundly affected not
only the Persians, but also the subject Hebrew beliefs, and thereby
(centuries later) Christianity."
James Henry Breasted, The Dawn of Consciousness:
P. 345
"There is plenty of evidence that the post-exilic religious
development of the Hebrews was affected by the teachings of Zarathushtra,
and that among the international influences to which the development
of Hebrew morals was exposed, we must include also the teachings
of the great Medo-Persian Prophet."
P. 337
"It was not until the rise of the Chaldean power (Neo-Babylonian)
in the 6th century B.C. and the subsequent supremacy of the Persians
after Cyrus, that the Babylonians disclosed outstanding intellectual
interests and their noble astronomers laid the foundations upon
which the astronomical sciences of the Greeks was later built
up.
John Gray, Near Eastern Mythology:
p. 16
"The Persians had their own mythology, or rather their own
conception of the natural and supernatural order, formulated by
the religion of Zarathushtra. this cosmic philosophy, influenced
by Babylonian astronomy, had an effect on late Jewish thought
and Messianic expectations."
P. 127
"The development of the concept of Satan as the personal
power of evil, who had his counterpart in the archangel Michael,
the champion of cause of man in God's purpose of creation, was
probably developed under the influence of Persian Zoroastrian
belief in the two conflicting spirits of good and evil...."
Ninian Smart & Richard D. Hecht,
Sacred texts of the world - A universal anthology:
"The (Zoroastrian) dualism between good and evil was to
have an impact upon ancient Israel, Judaism, Christianity and
Islam."
R.C. Zaehner, The Dawn & Twilight
of Zoroastrianism:
P. 20
"Meanwhile in her encounters with the Medes and Persians,
Israel had found a kindred monotheistic creed in the religion
of Prophet Zarathushtra, and one of her own Prophets, Isaiah,
did not hesitate to salute Cyrus, her liberator, as the Lord's
anointed. From this religion too she learnt teachings concerning
the afterlife altogether more congenial to her soul than had been
the gloomy prospect offered her by her own tradition, teachings
to which she had been a stranger before."
P. 51-52
"An almost exact parallel to this solution of evil is to
be found in the Manual of Discipline, perhaps the most interesting
document of the Dead Sea sect of Qumran. That Judaism was deeply
influenced by Zoroastrianism during and after the Babylonian captivity
can scarcely be questioned, and the extraordinary likeness between
the Dead Sea text and the Gathic conception of the nature and
origin of evil, as we understand it, would seem to point to direct
borrowing on the Jewish side."
P. 57
"Zarathushtra's doctrine of rewards and punishment, of an
eternity of bliss and an eternity of woe allotted to good and
evil men in another life beyond the grave is so strikingly similar
to Christian teaching that we cannot fail to ask whether here
at least there is not a direct influence at work. The answer is
surely `Yes', for the similarities are so great and the historical
context is so neatly apposite that it would be carrying skepticism
altogether too far to refuse to draw the obvious conclusion."
P. 58
"Thus from the moment the Jews first made contact with the
Iranians they took over the typical Zoroastrian doctrine of an
individual afterlife in which rewards are to be enjoyed and punishments
endured. This Zoroastrian hope gained ever surer ground during
the inter-testamentary period, and by the time of Christ it was
upheld by the Pharisees, whose very name some scholars have interpreted
as meaning `Persian', that is, the sect most open to Persian influence."
P. 171
"One is tempted to say that all that was vital in Zarathushtra's
message passed into Christianity through the Jewish exiles."
P. 172
"It is impossible to revive a religion once the well-springs
of the original revelation have been allowed to dry up, and once
the sacred language itself has become so sacred that it is no
longer understood even by those who set themselves up as its official
interpreters."
Paul William Roberts, In Search of
the birth of Jesus - The Real Journey of the Magi:
"Without Zarathushtra there would be no Christ. He was the
bridge, and the Romans burnt it...."
Leo Trepp, A History of the Jewish
Experience
P. 54
"How did the idea of two opposing forces (Satan & God)
originate? It too is the result of conditions during the Hellenistic
age, a period when ideas were exchanged widely among various religions
and nations. The principle of dualism came from Zoroastrianism,
.... This idea spread through the wide open Hellenistic world;
the controversy between God and Satan is its reflection in Judaism."
P. 55
"....The people have a heavenly representative, a guardian
angel. This is a new concept of Zoroastrian origin. Previously
the term `Malakh', angel, simply meant messenger of God."
John R. Hinnells, Persian Mythology
"It is thought by many that this doctrine `Zoroastrianism'
was a source of influence for both Eastern and Western beliefs
- Hinduism and Buddhism in the East, and Judaism and Christianity
in the West."
As mentioned earlier, while it is obvious that such influence had
considerably affected the recipients culturally, the more overwhelming
and significant influence is often overlooked.
Zoroastrianism, through its cultural and socio-political influence
carried the seed of a world conception that was previously non-existent
and even inconceivable to the affected people, namely the existence
of a monotheistic divinity, which is all good, and all light. A
divinity who created a dualistic physicality which for its very
existence required dual aspects, for each aspect is only definable
and may be experienced in the full context of itself vs. its opposite.
And finally a conception that gives our lives purpose and meaning,
namely being progressive and working for the Good.
Effectively, this Zoroastrian influence generated a major paradigm
shift in the people's thoughts at that time and for generations
since. It is therefore quite justifiable to claim that Zarathushtra's
world conception and teachings have affected the Western thought
and civilization both directly and indirectly.
