Recently, I had a discussion with one of my favorite authors here about Zoroastrianism. This came up because of his well written diary that inadvertently included Zoroastrianism with pagan and Wicca on a poll (he ran out of slots).
I have nothing against pagan or Wicca. It was the ensuing discussion, where a user commented s/he had not heard about Zoroastrianism, that inspired me to write this for anyone who may be interested in the religion's founding influence on the world's primary faiths:
Zoroastrianism is a religion founded in ancient times by the prophet Zarathushtra, known to the Greeks as Zoroaster.
Zoroastrianism was the dominant world religion from 559 BCE to 651 CE, and was thus the most powerful world religion at the time of Jesus. It had a major influence on other religions and is still practiced world-wide.
Those other religions that Zoroastrianism influenced?
Western Abrahamic (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and Eastern Dharmic (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) religious traditions, including God, the Devil, sexual equality, evolution, environmentalism, and, my personal favorite, free will...
More below the fold...
Read More