What does Zoroastrianism have in common with Christianity and Judaism?

Answer 1

My answer is coming from a presupposition that all religions are man-made and that Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all have values and beliefs found in earlier animistic religions. Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) was the first to hold a belief in monotheism (Zoroastrianism's god is Ahura Mazda) and start a religion based on monotheism. prior to him, religions were mainly polytheistic. the idea of Satan, the idea of angels and demons, the final resurrection and final judgement are also other concepts that were found first in Zoroastrianism. Countries in the Middle East have many cultural influences from Zoroastrianism as well, especially Iran, formerly known as Persia, where Zoroaster spread his religion. The flame around the head of pious or holy individuals in old Islamic art is something originating in Zoroastrianism with their strong reverence for fire.

Answer 2

Similarities between Zoroastrianism and the Monotheisms:

• Belief in a Beneficent Supreme God
• Belief in Heaven and Hell (except Judaism)
• Belief in the Devil or the Divine Opposer
• Belief in Angels
• Belief in the final judgement and resurrection (more believed in the apocalyptic believers).
• Belief in helping others and doing what is right

Answer 3

Similarities between Zoroastrianism and the Monotheisms:

• Belief in a Beneficent Supreme God
• Belief in Heaven and Hell (except Judaism)
• Belief in the Devil or the Divine Opposer
• Belief in Angels
• Belief in the final judgement and resurrection (more believed in the apocalyptic believers).
• Belief in helping others and doing what is right

Answer 4

Since the two groups lived side by side in Babylonia, there may have been some borrowing in language or other minor matters. But in terms of beliefs, the two are quite different.Judaism, according to tradition, has always been monotheistic. Even at the height of the unfortunate spread of idolatry among the less-loyal Ten Tribes, there were thousands who remained loyal to God (1 Kings 19:18).

http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-history/judaism-and-monotheism

The Zoroastrians, however, believed in two gods, not one. The Jewish Sages who redacted the Talmud in the early centuries of the Common Era lived in Babylonia, witnessed the practices of the Zoroastrians, and recorded this fact (Talmud, Sanhedrin 39a). In any case, Zoroastrianism is unlike Judaism in that:

• its deity is not immanent
• it believes in worship through intermediaries, who are themselves "worthy of worship"
• evil has its own creator, Angra Mainyu or Ahriman, which had always existed
• some of its adherents believe in a self-creating universe
• some modern scholars see it as a form of pantheism
• it has "fire-temples," with worship in the presence of flame
• its adherents are not required to marry within their faith
• some Zoroastrians dispose of their dead through ritual exposure to the open sky, while some others cremate the dead body
• dogs are considered sacred
• such creatures as snakes, ants and flies were "not created by the creator of good"
• it includes a virgin birth, in which its messiah will be conceived without sexual penetration

Answer 5

There is no scholarly consensus on the extent of the influence that Zoroastrianism has had on the three abrahamic religions. This seems to be partly because of an unwillingness to be seen as undermining respect for the subject religions and partly because there is more than one way of interpreting the evidence. Certainly, Zoroastrianism has been in the right place at the right time, and certainly each of the abrahamic religions has evolved in the same direction as Zoroastrianism.The following partial summaries are only intended to confirm the influence of Zoroastrianism, rather than be a comprehensive list of the concepts that first existed in Zoroastrianism and appear to have been adopted by the abrahamic religions.

Judaism

Zoroastrianism was the religion of the Persians, when they defeated the Babylonians and freed the Jews to return from Exile to Judah. According to the Book of Isaiah, a significant part of which (known as II Isaiah) was written during the Babylonian Exile, God acknowledged the role that Cyrus, king of Persia, had played in freeing the Jews and allowing their return. The high regard the Jews felt for Cyrus and the Persians made them receptive to new ideas from the Persians, who in turn believed that Ahura Mazda did not mind what people called him, as long as they worshipped him.

Isaiah 44:28: "That saith of Cyrus. He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid."

Isaiah 45:1: "Thus saith the Lord to his appointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden ..."Isaiah 45:4: "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee even though thou has not known me."

In the earlier books of the Old Testament, God intervened in human affairs, but little mention was made of him as a Creator apart from the two creation stories at the beginning of Genesis. In the Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, some importance was placed on the role of their god, Ahura Mazda, in creating the world and this emphasis now infiltrated the writings of the Jewish prophets. In II Isaiah, God was made to remind the people frequently that he created the world and was their Maker.

Prior to the Babylonian Exile, the Hebrews did not believe in the notions of resurrection or heaven and hell as destinations for the soul. Even in the post-exilic period, not everyone accepted the concepts of immortality or resurrection, as shown by Ecclesiastes 9:5: "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten". At the time of Jesus, the Sadducees still rejected the concepts of resurrection and rewards and punishments after death. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, they even denied the immortality of the soul. The Pharisees were more progressive and had adopted all these concepts. Some scholars say that the word "Pharisee" is probably a corruption of "Farsi", the ancient name of the Persians.

Christianity

In some ways, the theology of Christianity is more clearly reminiscent of Zoroastrianism than is Judaism, potentially relfecting a continued influence in the Jewish milieu, long after Alexander's defeat of the Persian Empire. Judaism had adopted the notion of Satan as a spirit who tested the faithful, but Satan was originally seen as a loyal assistant of God, not an adversary. Christianity saw Satan as a wholly evil adversary to God, just as Ahriman (Angra Mainyu) was the evil adversary of Ahura Mazda.

Islam

Islam inherited from Judaism and Christianity many of the earlier apparent influences of Zoroastrianism. It too, in subtle ways, also adopted further concepts from Zoroastrianism, especially after the Arabic conquest of Persia and the close contact this gave them with followers of Zoroastrianism. The details of the bridge of judgement (Sarat), punishments of hell, and rewards of heaven, resurrection and return of the souls to the Source in the Koran are the best witness to this fact. Other Islamic views that are derived from Zoroastrianism are the five times daily prayers, emphasis on wisdom, rejection of images, and of God being a kind and merciful entity who is "the light of the heavens and the earth".

Answer 6

Since the two groups lived side by side in Babylonia, there may have been some borrowing in language or other minor matters. But in terms of beliefs, the two are quite different.Judaism, according to tradition, has always been monotheistic. Even at the height of the unfortunate spread of idolatry among the less-loyal Ten Tribes, there were thousands who remained loyal to God (1 Kings 19:18).

http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-history/judaism-and-monotheism

The Zoroastrians, however, believed in two gods, not one. The Jewish Sages who redacted the Talmud in the early centuries of the Common Era lived in Babylonia, witnessed the practices of the Zoroastrians, and recorded this fact (Talmud, Sanhedrin 39a). In any case, Zoroastrianism is unlike Judaism in that:

• its deity is not immanent
• it believes in worship through intermediaries, who are themselves "worthy of worship"
• evil has its own creator, Angra Mainyu or Ahriman, which had always existed
• some of its adherents believe in a self-creating universe
• some modern scholars see it as a form of pantheism
• it has "fire-temples," with worship in the presence of flame
• its adherents are not required to marry within their faith
• some Zoroastrians dispose of their dead through ritual exposure to the open sky, while some others cremate the dead body
• dogs are considered sacred
• such creatures as snakes, ants and flies were "not created by the creator of good"
• it includes a virgin birth, in which its messiah will be conceived without sexual penetration