Is zoroastrianism monotheistic or polytheistic

Answer 1

It is monotheistic but not as hard core as Judaism etc. Zarathustra saw in his "vision" that Ahura Mazda wanted him to worship him and him only. So originally Zarathustra, the founder of Zoroastrianism, wanted people to worship ONE GOD. Other deities sneaked into the religion later. After In a way it is also dualist because of good vs. evil. Ahura Mazda vs. Angra Mainyu. What you need to know about Zoroastrianism is that it influenced a lot of religions such as Christianity. The three wise men at Jesus's birth were Zoroastrian and so on.

Correction: Zoroastrianism did not influence Christianity, Judaism's Torah was the kicker that explained that a Messiah would be born of a Virgin; therefore, leading the Wise Men to Christ's birth by their knowledge of the Old Testament (Torah) books such as Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah etc ... so if the Wise Men were going off of predictions by the Torah, which was already in full form, and the Birth of Christ would then spring Christianity, and Zoroastrianism doesn't fall into the origin of the Christian faith, it does fall into the category of taking certain beliefs of Judaism and molding them into a different belief system that imitates a belief centered around one supreme God.

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past." - Micah 5:2 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." - Isaiah 7:14