For this week’s blog on the world’s religions, we will be traveling back the the first known monotheistic faith: Zoroastrianism. The religion began around 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the area that is modern-day Iran. Its founder is called Zarathustra, or Zoroaster. Zoroastrianism gave rise to many widely-accepted religious ideas, such as the duality of good and evil, the existence of heaven and hell, judgment after death, and a prediction that evil will ultimately be overcome and destroyed by righteousness. These aspects of Zoroastrian beliefs have had a profound effect on religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even Buddhism.
The Supreme Being of Zoroastrianism is known as Ahura Mazda. Although there is not a “devil” figure within the faith, there is the idea of an “evil spirit”, which is sometimes personified and called Ahriman. Zoroastrians believe that all people should take responsibility for their own actions, and their basic beliefs about morality can be summed up in three statements:
- Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds
- There is only one path, and that is the path of Truth
- Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do
Zoroastrians began to decline in population during the Middle Ages with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the spread of Islam. Today, it is estimated that there are fewer than 200,000 adherents of the faith worldwide. Perhaps the most well-known Zoroastrian was Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara), the lead singer of the rock group Queen.
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