Zoroastrian Research Paper

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Religion is the belief and worship of something above ourselves. There are thousands of religions that have unique characteristics, one particular religion is Zoroastrianism. This is one of the oldest religions that originated in ancient Persia, which is present-day Iran and some parts of India. There is no concrete evidence of the religions of Iran and India before Zoroastrianism. A priest, Zarathustra, founded this religion sometime in the sixth century BCE. Zarathustra taught many people about angels, demons, and saviors, which can be found in the sacred text called, Avesta. Zoroastrians believe in one God, Ahura Mazda. They also believe that an evil entity named Ahriman, is all of the evil in the world and that death is his domain into which Ahura Mazda cannot enter (study.com). …show more content…

Some basic philosophies include good, evil and when you die, you are judged and go to paradise or be punished. Zoroastrians believe in the twin spirits: truth and lie. They also believe in free will and that every person must live by a creed. The creed instructs them to have good thoughts (humata), good words (hukta), and good deeds (hvarshta). All people are called to live by these fundamental teachings (newworldencyclopedia.org). However, what makes this religion unique is its influence on other popular religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and even Christianity. Zoroastrianism coined the thoughts and terms of religious traditions, including god, devils, sexuality, and evolution. Since this is such an old religion, it is believed that it influenced the development of Judaism and eventually the birth of Christianity. Christians identified Zoroaster with prophets and through the latter, with Jesus himself (dailykos.com). Just like every religion, Zoroastrianism has sacred holidays and feast days. A popular obligatory feast is The Six

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