Zoroastrianism is credited by authors of comparative religion as the religion that developed the original concept of eschatology or the doctrine of the end of the world and time, a doctrine that includes a final judgment and the resurrection of the souls of the righteous. It has been an unusually fruitful faith, exercising an influence on the doctrines of other religions disproportionate to its size. It was founded in ancient Persia in about 1000 B.C. E. (some sources say much earlier) by the prophet Zoroaster (also referred to as Zarathushtra). (Warren, 1885)
In this Persian religion, the Chinvat Bridge [the bridge which separates the world of the living from the world of the dead, which all souls must cross the bridge upon death] is a site of judgement. Thoughts, words and actions during life determine placement in death.
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As related in the text known as the Bundahishn, if a person had been wicked, the bridge would appear narrow and the demon Vizaresh would emerge and drag their soul into the druj-demana (the House of Lies), a place of eternal punishment and suffering similar to the concept of Hell. However, if a person's good thoughts, words and deeds in life were many, the bridge would be wide enough to cross, and the Daena, a spirit representing revelation, would appear and lead the soul into the House of Song. (West, 1897).
The religion of Zoroaster is best known for its good versus evil dualism. The god of light and the upper world and his angels are locked in a cosmic struggle with the god of darkness and the lower world and his demons. Unlike Christianity, in which the outcome of the war between god and the devil has already been decided, Zoroastrianism portrays the struggle as a more or less even match. Individual human beings are urged to align themselves with the forces of light and are judged according to the predominance of their good or evil
Since the beginning of time, fairy tales, stories and legends have shared a common theme where good and evil are played against each other. In the story of “Beowulf”, translated by, “Burton Raffel”, there is a hero who plays as a good character, and there is also a demon who rules the dark side. The hero Beowulf, agrees to take a journey to conquer the evil monster Grendel. But when Beowulf is trying to defeat the beast, Grendel fights back, causing integrity and generosity to vanish. The common theme in various tales like in Beowulf is, good vs. evil.
In the United States and worldwide people have different culture, beliefs and attitude about death. Over the past years, death is an emotional and controversy topic that is not easy to talk about. Everyone have a different definition of what is death and when do you know that a person is really dead. In the book Death, Society, and Human Experiences by Robert J. Kastenbaum demonstrates that you are alive, even when doctors pronounce you dead.
“In most human society's death is an extremely important cultural and social phenomenon, sometimes more important than birth” (Ohnuki-Tierney, Angrosino, & Daar et al. 1994). In the United States of America, when a body dies it is cherished, mourned over, and given respect by the ones that knew the person. It is sent to the morgue and from there the family decides how the body should be buried or cremated based on...
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
death may begin to sprout in an individual's mind as a reminder of the shortness of life.
In order to explain man’s path from the one to the other, he sets up a system of dichotomies that originate from Adam’s fall and are hinged upon the role of the will in earthly life. At the top, God is the source of the “supreme good,” and evil is its opposite (XII, 3). Up to this point, he is in agreement with the ancients, but he diverges again when he equates the good with nature, and evil with a defect of nature—an absence of the good (XII, 3). In this we have the first division of what “supremely is” between nature and vice, with nature arising ...
Zoroastrianism's Role in Christianity's Development. Christianity is one of the most popular religions of the early 21st century. Through the course of Christianity's first millennia it was able to rise from its original twelve followers to become the state religion of Rome and the mighty empire which it held. However, unbeknownst to many, the concepts that exist in Christianity and Judaism (the religion from which Christianity spawned) were initially conceived by the nearly dead religion of Zoroaster.
The conventional belief is that anyone facing imminent death uses his or her final moment to think about those who mean the most in his or her life. While this is nearly impossible confirm, it seems that the overwhelming finality of death would render any subsequent...
John L McIntosh. (2003) . Handbook of Death and Dying. Volume 1: The Presence of Death. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference.
This document gives a history into the image of Satan and a light anthology of him. This text will instrumental in the metaphysical discernment of this essay.
Death, and people's perception of it are a major part of many philosophies. It could be argued that the questions surrounding death and the afterlife form the basis of many philosophic concepts. To some philosophers, not only is the concept of death itself important, but also how people perceive it, and why they perceive it the way they do. Epicurus's claim that the soul is mortal, is an excellent explanation for why we should not fear death.
Herman published The Meaning of Death in 1959 a piece of writing that would galvanize the interest for psychologists to study death. Prior to publication, Feifel joined the Air Force in 1942 as a psychologist for pilots during WWII and became very intrigued that the best pilots didn’t think about death (Herman, 1990). In addition, during the screening of pilots they were never asked about how they felt about death, what would happen to their family if they die, and what they would consider a dignified death (Herman, 1990). During the Holocaust Feifel witnessed the manslaughter of the Jewish population, he was surrounded by death. Throughout Feifels experiences and the death of his mother in 1952, he wanted to investigate the thought process of death at the conscious level and the unconscious level (Herman, 1990). Until Feifel began investing the psychology of death and how people felt about death itself, there was very little research on death. His research and commitment revealed the importance of studying death attitudes, and those actually facing life-threatening
All religions have stories past down from generation to generation that explain the many wonders of the world that we live in, from why we are here to the way things work and from the creation of this world to what is to become of it. However, many of these stories and explanations draw many similarities to those of other religions. In the readings from Parallel Myths, similarities can be seen between the Hindu stories of “The Thoughts of Brahma,” “Brahma is Lonely,” “Savitri,” and “How Ruda Destroys the Universe” and the Biblical stories of creation and the apocalypse, as well as the Greek Mythological stories of the birth of the Athena, and Orpheus and Eurydice.
One thing that we often hear is that “death is just a part of life.” So often in our day and age do we hear people utter these words. However, death is far more significant and impactful than some would allege. True death is not merely a time when we cease to exist; it is an entombment, a mindset in which we are dead to this world. Throughout our lives, it is true that we can all be dead in one way or another, but it does not have to be that way. When we have our eyes opened to what death actually is, it is far easier to grasp what the true meaning of life is, and to embrace it. Often, we will come across individuals who are enveloped in death and others who are immersed in true life. The shadow of death and entombment lies upon some, encompassing