Christianity and Zoroastrianism
With the diffusion of cultures
through travel and agriculture, people of different cultures are bound to run
into each other and in some way influence each other's culture. Many historians
argue that Zoroastrianism was the first monotheistic religion. Therefore, it
can also be argued that Zoroastrianism greatly influenced Christianity because
the two religions have many striking similarities.
It isn't known exactly how Zoroastrianism and Christianity interacted. It isn't even clear if they did interact at all, but there are many similarities between the two. First, both religions are monotheistic. Christians worship God the Father and Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda. These two gods share many similarities including their omnipotence, omnipresence, and both religions believe that their respective deity created the world. Zoroastrians believe that Ahura Mazda has a spirit that can be with him or separate from him which compares to God's Holy Spirit in Christianity. In both religions, their respective savior is born of a virgin and will eventually defeat evil. Furthermore, both religions believe in some type of Heaven and Hell based afterlife with Hell being punishment and Heaven being a reward for your life on Earth. Both religions believe that angels are messengers of God and are directly sent from God. As previously stated, it isn't known how Zoroastrianism and Christianity may have interacted if they did, but the two religions have the most similarities of any two religions of different branches. Nevertheless, because of these numerous similarities, it is plausible that Christianity came directly from the teachings of Zoroastrianism, at least borrowing its fundaments.
It isn't known exactly how Zoroastrianism and Christianity interacted. It isn't even clear if they did interact at all, but there are many similarities between the two. First, both religions are monotheistic. Christians worship God the Father and Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda. These two gods share many similarities including their omnipotence, omnipresence, and both religions believe that their respective deity created the world. Zoroastrians believe that Ahura Mazda has a spirit that can be with him or separate from him which compares to God's Holy Spirit in Christianity. In both religions, their respective savior is born of a virgin and will eventually defeat evil. Furthermore, both religions believe in some type of Heaven and Hell based afterlife with Hell being punishment and Heaven being a reward for your life on Earth. Both religions believe that angels are messengers of God and are directly sent from God. As previously stated, it isn't known how Zoroastrianism and Christianity may have interacted if they did, but the two religions have the most similarities of any two religions of different branches. Nevertheless, because of these numerous similarities, it is plausible that Christianity came directly from the teachings of Zoroastrianism, at least borrowing its fundaments.