As one of the world’s oldest religions, Zoroastrianism has survived throughout the existence of the Persian Empire and continues to flourish today (BBC Religions: Zoroastrianism 2009). In addition, Zoroastrianism is one of the smallest religions in the modern society with as few as 190,000 followers that are concentrated in Iran and India, but have recently migrated into the western hemisphere. Some believe that their numbers are low due to their inability to proselytize because of their belief that one must be “born into the faith” instead of allowing non-believers to convert (Contractor 2003). In contrast, Christians are called to “make disciples of all nations” and spread the Gospel to every people group, religion, and race (ESV Study Bible
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Due to these difficulties, Christians will have less context to use while sharing the Gospel unless they study the religion and attempt to understand the rituals that are performed. For example, fire is an extremely important symbol in Zoroastrianism and it is used in numerous ceremonies (Duchesne-Guillemin 1996). An outsider may not observe the great significance of the flame, or if they do they may not understand why the fire is of such importance. With a closer examination, one would understand that fire is considered a supreme symbol of purity, which is highly revered in the Zoroastrian faith (BBC Religions: Zoroastrianism 2009). Knowledge of the context of what is occurring in a fire ceremony may not seem like a grand achievement, but in reality background context is extremely helpful in sharing the Gospel because missionaries will be able to communicate in a high-context manner. While researching Zoroastrianism, one may find that some of the terms mentioned are difficult to translate to English. Often it takes multiple words to describe one concept in the cultural language, which results in frustration and confusion. If one is able to solidify key concepts that are central to the message of Christ it will be easier to translate the Gospel to a different language or cultural context. When sharing the Gospel with this group, one …show more content…
Human kind is meant to live together in a perfect world in which God is living among them, but darkness and evil entered the world through human’s decision to choose disobedience from God. The woman listened to the advice of the serpent, or evil, and took fruit from the sole forbidden tree and “she ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened” (ESV Study Bible 2001). After this point, the war between good and evil became apparent and now people are in constant pursuit of the perfect community the man once had with God. Man attempts to grow closer to God and perform tasks that he believes will please God enough to gain his grace but man cannot accomplish this alone. God is one God with three parts: God himself, or the Father, Jesus, or the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Unlike the Zoroastrian trinity, all three components of God are equally God and important to His character. As creator, God sends part of himself, Jesus, as the ultimate savior for our evil thoughts and actions. Jesus claims to be “the light of the world” and as the light, he is pure, thus he is the perfect entity needed to return humanity back to community with God (ESV Study Bible 2001). In order to complete the task of bringing relationship with God back to man, Jesus needed to purify our evil temptations by dying and then returning back to life
Due to these difficulties, Christians will have less context to use while sharing the Gospel unless they study the religion and attempt to understand the rituals that are performed. For example, fire is an extremely important symbol in Zoroastrianism and it is used in numerous ceremonies (Duchesne-Guillemin 1996). An outsider may not observe the great significance of the flame, or if they do they may not understand why the fire is of such importance. With a closer examination, one would understand that fire is considered a supreme symbol of purity, which is highly revered in the Zoroastrian faith (BBC Religions: Zoroastrianism 2009). Knowledge of the context of what is occurring in a fire ceremony may not seem like a grand achievement, but in reality background context is extremely helpful in sharing the Gospel because missionaries will be able to communicate in a high-context manner. While researching Zoroastrianism, one may find that some of the terms mentioned are difficult to translate to English. Often it takes multiple words to describe one concept in the cultural language, which results in frustration and confusion. If one is able to solidify key concepts that are central to the message of Christ it will be easier to translate the Gospel to a different language or cultural context. When sharing the Gospel with this group, one …show more content…
Human kind is meant to live together in a perfect world in which God is living among them, but darkness and evil entered the world through human’s decision to choose disobedience from God. The woman listened to the advice of the serpent, or evil, and took fruit from the sole forbidden tree and “she ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened” (ESV Study Bible 2001). After this point, the war between good and evil became apparent and now people are in constant pursuit of the perfect community the man once had with God. Man attempts to grow closer to God and perform tasks that he believes will please God enough to gain his grace but man cannot accomplish this alone. God is one God with three parts: God himself, or the Father, Jesus, or the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Unlike the Zoroastrian trinity, all three components of God are equally God and important to His character. As creator, God sends part of himself, Jesus, as the ultimate savior for our evil thoughts and actions. Jesus claims to be “the light of the world” and as the light, he is pure, thus he is the perfect entity needed to return humanity back to community with God (ESV Study Bible 2001). In order to complete the task of bringing relationship with God back to man, Jesus needed to purify our evil temptations by dying and then returning back to life