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Historians think that Zoroaster lived in what is today Iran about 628 - 551 BCE. They believe he may have been a priest in the polytheistic religion of his society. Somehow, Zoroaster experienced a fundamental revolution in religious thought: He came to believe there was just one god. This god was named Ahura Mazda, and he fought a host of devils led by Angra Mainyu. What is it called when a religion states there is only one god?
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monotheism--Zoroaster’s breakthrough idea was a monotheistic religion centered on the Wise Lord Ahura Mazda, who was locked in a struggle with the leader of the evil spirits, Angra Mainyu. Like Satan in Christianity, Angra Mainyu is a supernatural being but not a god—he is an evil spirit or bad angel.
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Zoroastrianism, the religion that formed around Zoroaster’s beliefs around 600 BCE, says that human beings are not supposed to worship God passively through offerings and prayer. They are meant to join the cosmic battle of good versus evil on the side of Ahura Mazda, or good. Humans are meant to do good works, have good thoughts, and speak good words. How are these actions different from passive worship?
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They require people to change their actions based on their religious belief. Most polytheistic religions, like those of ancient Greece and Rome, did not ask their followers to be morally good. The gods themselves were usually morally flawed. All a polytheistic worshiper had to do was believe in the gods, make offerings to them, praise them, and seek their help in hard times. Zoroastrianism made an impact on its followers’ lives, asking them to be good and reject bad behavior and negative thoughts and speech.
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In Zoroastrianism, every person chooses which side they will fight on, good or evil, and every person’s choice has consequences. People are free to serve Ahura Mazda or reject him. Those who choose to work with him help to refresh the world, making it a better place. How is this freedom of choice different from the beliefs of polytheism?
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In traditional polytheism, people do not work with the gods to bring about a result. Instead, the gods have all the power and choose to use it or not. The gods of traditional polytheism intrude on people’s lives, meddling with their affairs without explanation or warning, and supporting or abandoning people on a whim. People have no say in what happens to them. In Zoroastrianism, people make a conscious decision to support a god who will support them in the fight against evil. Ahura Mazda needs human help in this battle; he does not have all the power in his relationship with people.
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In what ways was Zoroastrianism a turning point for humans' ideas about god?
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First, Zoroastrianism presented only one God. Second, it taught that humans were sent to earth to assist the god, Ahura Mazda, in the battle between good and evil, to make the world a better place, and to overcome evil. Many later religions, including Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, embraced this idea as a central theme and began to base their legal systems, and sometimes their systems of government, on the belief that people should be held responsible for their actions.
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