Religion is the earliest, if not only factor to completely differentiate man from beast. While there are other factors that many claim achieve the same separation none are as ancient and relevant as religion. Humans buried their dead before the neolithic revolution and the rise of civilization. The idea of supernatural forces is built into our brains. And today, even on this late date of 2014, religion is still a huge factor when it comes to our minds and our culture. Western culture is what currently dominates an ever globalizing world, and two of the Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity, are the basis for Western thought. However the ideas taken from the beliefs of Ancient Jews and Christians, which have had a profound effect on the
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Upon reading them one is shocked to find both extremely progressive ideas and highly conservative rituals. For example one article of the tenets says that “the woman is in a state of impurity during menstruation and must stay away from all religious objects including the household fire, and also stay away from her husband during those days.” (Khan). Similar conservative worldviews are also common in Orthodox Christianity and this is likely Zoroastrian influence on Christianity. Yet there are also articles that resemble a new age attitude not unlike that carried by members of the Baha 'i faith, a modern religion that also has Iranian roots. The Baha 'i Faith teaches the unity of God, the unity of man, and the unity of religion and is favored by liberals, progressives, and pacifists around the world. These Baha 'i beliefs demonstrate Zoroastrian influence on the world today. One sentence from the Zoroastrian tenets states “the righteous of every religion go to heaven, all religions are equal, and it is folly to convert.” (Khan). While it may seem progressive and noble, this rejection of conversion also explains the lack of numbers for an ancient and well established religion with very common rules and beliefs. The Zoroastrians claim to “rely on marriage within and increased childbirth to increase their numbers” (Khan.) However, their numbers are far from increasing and are a …show more content…
Zoroastrians and Jews clearly rubbed shoulders in the ancient world, however, it is unknown at what stage in each religions formation that the two sides exchanged ideas and therefore it is also unknown which concepts are similar due to cultural diffusion and which are due to parallel evolution of the respective faiths. Zoroastrianism originated, as stated earlier, somewhere between the 6th and 18th century B.C. Judaism began with Abraham who lived somewhere around the 20th century B.C, so in the overall timeline of humanity the two faiths are very close in their conceptions. Judeo-Zoroastrian contact most likely began when the Persians conquered Babylonian lands that Jews were being held captive in. The Jews were made free by the Persians, but many chose to stay in what was then the Persian Empire. The Jews, free to worship their own God, ended up exchanging many ideas with the Zoroastrian
Upon reading them one is shocked to find both extremely progressive ideas and highly conservative rituals. For example one article of the tenets says that “the woman is in a state of impurity during menstruation and must stay away from all religious objects including the household fire, and also stay away from her husband during those days.” (Khan). Similar conservative worldviews are also common in Orthodox Christianity and this is likely Zoroastrian influence on Christianity. Yet there are also articles that resemble a new age attitude not unlike that carried by members of the Baha 'i faith, a modern religion that also has Iranian roots. The Baha 'i Faith teaches the unity of God, the unity of man, and the unity of religion and is favored by liberals, progressives, and pacifists around the world. These Baha 'i beliefs demonstrate Zoroastrian influence on the world today. One sentence from the Zoroastrian tenets states “the righteous of every religion go to heaven, all religions are equal, and it is folly to convert.” (Khan). While it may seem progressive and noble, this rejection of conversion also explains the lack of numbers for an ancient and well established religion with very common rules and beliefs. The Zoroastrians claim to “rely on marriage within and increased childbirth to increase their numbers” (Khan.) However, their numbers are far from increasing and are a …show more content…
Zoroastrians and Jews clearly rubbed shoulders in the ancient world, however, it is unknown at what stage in each religions formation that the two sides exchanged ideas and therefore it is also unknown which concepts are similar due to cultural diffusion and which are due to parallel evolution of the respective faiths. Zoroastrianism originated, as stated earlier, somewhere between the 6th and 18th century B.C. Judaism began with Abraham who lived somewhere around the 20th century B.C, so in the overall timeline of humanity the two faiths are very close in their conceptions. Judeo-Zoroastrian contact most likely began when the Persians conquered Babylonian lands that Jews were being held captive in. The Jews were made free by the Persians, but many chose to stay in what was then the Persian Empire. The Jews, free to worship their own God, ended up exchanging many ideas with the Zoroastrian