How Zoroastrian Is Judeo-Christianity?

Did Zoroastrianism shape the way we think about good and evil, the afterlife, and the end of the world? How much of modern Judaism and Christianity can be traced back to this tradition?

The reforms of the ancient Iranian religion by the prophet Zarathustra led to the foundation of Zoroastrianism, which many religious studies scholars identify as the first “world religion.” Zarathustra focused the faith on the worship of the supreme God known in the Avestan language as Ahura Mazda (“Lord Wisdom”).

Ahura Mazda is nevertheless opposed by a cosmic devil named Angra Mainyu (“Evil Spirit”), which accounts for the existence of evil in the world. This struggle is predicted to continue until the end of the world, when a savior will appear, resurrect the dead for final judgment, and establish a new world where evil has no place.

While ideas like a cosmic devil, resurrection of the dead, the Apocalypse, final judgment, and an afterlife in heaven and hell were absent in Judaism in the First Temple Period, they became central to many sects of Judaism in the Second Temple Period—after the Persian conquest of Babylon allowed the Judean exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple under Persian rule. Nevertheless, dating Zoroastrian practices remains difficult due to limitations in historical sources.

In this lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place surveys the available evidence to assess the extent to which Zoroastrian beliefs and practices influenced the development of Jewish and Christian traditions.

Join the livestream to participate in the discussion and to ask questions to our lecturer during the Q&A.

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[willhovell]

Fascinating thank you. I'm aware of the Parsi community and Iranis in India especially modern Mumbai, with wonderful restaurants and food. Some of this community are well known in commerce such as the Tatas and the Bilimorias .Well done indeed for shining a light on the amazing faith and culture.

[korneliusjansen]

I've seen that you used my map, for the place names found in the Avesta, for your presentation. Being a big fan of your talks, I am really happy about it.

[maryb]

Zoroastrianizem was before both Christianity and Judaism and after affected them heavily.😊

[fastballflakes]

Thank you once again to John and everyone at Centre Place for tonight's Hamercopia of Knowledge. Excellent stuff as always. I give this one 5 bags of popcorn, 2 sodas and a painting of Daniel in the Lions Den.

[kaloarepo]

Zoroaster has never disappeared from the European consciousness -he pops up everywhere including in Renaissance epics like Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso" where he is called Sarastro and from there as the wizard in Handel's "Orlando" and indeed as Sarastro in Mozart's "Magic Flute" -the benign wizard whose adversary is his wife the "Queen of the Night" who sings the chilling aria of revenge 'Hell's anger boils in my heart." The item of contention is their daughter Tamina of whom both are trying to obtain custody.

[exoplanet]

An excellent and comprehensive introduction. Perhaps a future lecture could provide a point by point contrast Judaism/Canaanite religion pre- and post- contact w/ Zoroastrianism to see if its concepts then appear in Judaism going forward, and get carried into Christianity.

[InquisitiveBible]

Gad Barnea of the University of Haifa has recently done some interesting research on Persian/Zoroastrian influence on the Jews and the Jewish temple in Elephantine, Egypt.

[kasraavafadari]

It’s not a dualism!
I’m Zoroastian my self, and I know we believe in one and only and only one creator/God “AhuraMazda” The Sepanta Minu and Angra Minu is not a two different God but is the absolute necessity of creation! For creation should be no creation first and for understanding light you need darkness(no light) for everything else also(happiness-sadness/ day-night / known-unknown...) this is the facts of to having the creation of what we know and to have the game of life can be going we need this to force! But we(human) as a co-works and friend of the AhuraMazda consciously we can choose to be part of the Sepanta maynoo( the mind of expansion and life and creativity and righteousness and light...) or trapping to the mind sets of Angra maynoo which is the representation of the mind of anger and destruction of life and lies and darkness... those mindset existed in the reality of life as needed but in our mind we create one is as bad or good and after realization and consciousness(Vahoomana) we can choose to be in the path of Asha. and on the end be one ☝️ with the source of creation MazdaAhura ✨

❤️‍🔥

AhuraMazda is the only God we believe and the war is not between good God and bad God but it is between two forces is between Angra Maenu(the mind of anger and deconstruction…) Vs. Sepanta Maenu(the mindset of life expansion and constructive…)

[lambert]

I think the literary heritage of Zoroastrianism is underestimated. According to Zoroastrian tradition, the Avesta was first written down in the Achaemenid period, on golden tablets. That was apparently the only written copy of the Avesta at the time and the purest and most complete written compilation produced ever since. That copy was later destroyed in the fire of Persepolis, which is one of the reasons why Alexander is commonly described as "the accursed" in later Sassanian and Islamic-era Zoroastrian texts. As a result of this, and the disestablishment of the Zoroastrian church by the Greeks, the Avesta was scattered all over the Iranian realm, some transmitted orally and some literally, until the reign of the Parthian king Valash I (51-78 CE), who ordered for all these scattered fragments to be brought back together in a second complete compilation of the Avesta. This copy was then passed onto and preserved by Sassanians, but then later again lost and fragmented during the Arab invasions and the Islamization of Persia. This is the traditional Zoroastrian narrative, and I'm not sure why it seems to be often ignored by Western scholars.

[PamelaContiGlass]

I am thrilled to see such participation. Finally!

[assazandieh]

The word 'magi', derives from the Old Persian
'magus'
', and specifically refers to the Zoroastrian Persian high priesthood, who were renowned throughout the Middle East for their knowledge of the stars and for their expertise in astrology.
Source: William Dalrymple.

[jaapvandenbergh]

Allways so informative. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[stevenwelp]

Excellent research and connecting the dots!

[ObjectiveEthics]

This was a good summary of some Zoroastrian influences on Judaism and thus subsequently on Christianity and Islam.

I would like to see a follow-up lecture focused on the extensive archeological evidence we have of the Zoroastrian influences on the early Persian and Iranian culture. I think this will help some of the viewers better understand how scholarship has determined an early dating for the life of Zarathustra and of the composition of the Avestas.

Remember that according to the Hebrew Bible (the Christian old testament) Cyrus the Great was called the Lord's Messiah.

"Good thoughts, good words, good deeds." - Zarathustra 🙏

[michaelchilds]

Lectures are excellent. Keep up the sublime work, sir

[tranceverse]

Reasoned and well presented take on topic. Thank You
I also like the screen format.

[longdongsilver]

Muhammad also took stories, and beliefs from different abrahamic belief systems he encountered over the 30 years he was a merchant trader. Then coincidentally, he all of a sudden has his own revelation.

[JR-lzbz]

I hope someday Zoroastrianism has a Dead Sea Scrolls moment where we find some ancient manuscripts of the Gathas and Young Avesta that date to the 6th/5th centuries BC or thereabouts.

[beanndip]

I'm just commenting to boost the algorithm. I have nothing of importance to say. However....

Here's a few mundane/unimportant things:

1. Cereal is typically served with milk.
2. The lines on a globe are called longitude and lattitude.
3. A tuxedo is a type of formal wear.
4. The acronym TV stands for Television
5. I have 2 dogs, Tina and Sully.
6. Ducks usually live near water.
7. The English alphabet has 26 letters.
8. "Tractor Trailer" and "Semi Truck" refer to the same thing.
9. Hotdogs are not made of dog and they come cold, you must heat them yourself.
10. You are a champion for reading this far. Congrats!

[brizoyeah]

Fantastic. I've watched twice already and will no doubt be back to it.