Essay, Research Paper: Zoroastrianism

The Arab world is now dominated by one strong and fierce religion. But, during the
dynasties of such nobles as the Achaemenids, a truly noble and proud religion appeared;
Zoroastrianism. The word of this religion was brought to the world by the Persian
prophet Zoroaster. The origins of the religion and the beliefs of Zoroastrianism were and
still are the cornerstone of the religion. During time, the religion depleted in size because
of Mohammed, who introduced and brought the faith of Islam into the world.
Also, Zoroastrianism played a major part in everyday life. Because of its beliefs,
Zoroastrianism could once again arise as a dominate religion. This is not just because of
its beliefs, but also that its roots as a religion are strong and present in many families
today.
The religion of Zoroastrianism is based mainly on two aspects of life. The people
who tell the truth are on the side of Asha, and are know as the people of righteousness.
The others, who are know as the people of the lie, or the Druj, followed the dreary way of
evil. Zoroastrianism is a polytheistic religion which shows people ways of life but lets the
person make a choice of truth or lie. But, it is also believed in Zoroastrianism that a
judgment day will occur when good will defeat evil. In this great battle, Ahura Mazda,
the Lord wisdom would fight Angra Mainya, the Fiendish spirit for control over the
world. During this war between good and evil, Ahura Mazda and his assistants would
defeat the evil Angra Mainya. Furthermore, all evil would be eliminated on earth in an
ordeal in which fire and molten metal would burn away all evil and only leave behind
good.
It is believed that Zoroastrianism first appeared as a religion during the reign of
Darius I in Persia. Zoroaster, as he was know by the Greeks, proposed this religion to
Darius I and it was accepted. It was believed that Zoroaster had saw an invision from the
Lord Wisdom Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrianism continued to grow under Grecian rule with
the likes of the Seleucids ruling Persia. Also, under the Parthian Arsacids, Zoroaster was
a dominate religion. From 226-641 AD, Persia was finally back under Persian rule with
the Sassanids. During this time, Zoroastrianism grew rapidly and was the most powerful
religion in Persia. Eventually under the Sassanids, who were of Zoroastrian belief, made
Zoroastrianism the official state religion. This meant that everyone was
now of this belief since that a emperor ordered it. Overtime, Zoroastrianism soon
depleted in size mainly because of the ascension of another religion, Islam. During the
7th century, Persia was slowly converted to the faith of Islam by the Arabs. Because of
this, people of this religion were not safe in a dominate Islam society and most were
faced with another dilemma, death. The Islamic people converted the Zoroastrian people
with force. However, Zoroastrian still lives on in eastern parts in India because the Islam
crusaders never reached this far away place.
Even though not much is know how Zoroastrianism played a role in the
household of Persians, it is know that it did help their lives. Zoroastrianism brought the
people of Persia a religion which based on two ideologies, old and new. Zoroastrianism
had brought along many aspects from the past which included the Magi. This tribe of
people, which produced the prophet Zoroaster, were though to have had a pre-Zoroastrian
religion. But, after the rise of this religion, they headed Zoroastrianism as priests and
pretty much ran the temples of Zoroastrianism. They were though to have reputed power
over demons and this gave rise to the word magic. The main new ideology of
Zoroastrianism was that of good conquering evil. With this combination of old and new,
a very well balanced, high moral religion was produced.
Zoroastrianism has played a major role in the way our world works today. For
example, this religion shows the people of the world very strong and righteous morals
such as telling the truth and telling lies. It was believed by them that truth overcomes lies,
which today is still taught. It is also seen as the right thing to do. Nevertheless, this
religion knew that this would not always be the case and showed us that everyone has the
choice of truth or lie. No one is ever forced to lie, it is there choice. This is what was
taught many centuries ago and it can been still seen like this today. There is no reason
why Zoroastrianism could not arise to be powerful again because the beliefs which were
used so many years ago have not considerably faded or changed and are still seen in the
same way. This is why Zoroastrianism is such a wonderful religion which should not be
over looked, but cherished.



Bibliography


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Word Count: 807