Zoroastrianism's eschatology, or the study of the end, has influenced the Western religions. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have all been affected by the Zoroastrian teachings. The main ideal from Zoroastrianism that contributes to the other religions is the idea of Heaven and Hell.
Christianity has a Heaven and Hell very similar to that of Zoroastrian. Paradise , or Heaven, is the ultimate goal of Christianity. Upon the end of all life both religions believe in judgment of God, where a person's immortal soul will go one of two ways. Heaven, a perfect place with no pain or anything negative, is filled with angels and the righteous. In Heaven, the Christians will be reunited with their ancestors and God to live forever as spirits. On the other hand the nonbelievers go to Hell, which is filled with a like of fire and everlasting torment governed by the Devil, one of Gods fallen angels. All of these beliefs seem to be in line with the Zoroastrian concept of the afterlife.
Judaism's afterlife is pretty much the same as Christianity's because Judaism was the original religion of God before Christianity. Christianity is the religion that spawned form the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Prior to 586 B.C. there was no mention of Satan as the Devil, then afterword Satan appears, in their testament, four times and now is a part of everyday life. The Satan, or Devil, figure was inspired by the Zoroastrians' belief. Even the idea of God and the Devil caught in an everlasting battle over our souls came from the Zoroastrians.
Islam is a religion very similar to Christianity and Judaism in the sense that there is one Almighty Heavenly God. Islam also contributed to the eschatology of Judaism and Christianity but it got many of its religious ideal from Zoroastrianism. These include all of the ideals mentioned before in Christianity and Judaism. All of the religions also believe in angels and demons, another ideal derived from the Zoroastrianism eschatology. Angels are the servants of the Lord and the demons are the Devils kin. Angels are here to help people toward the light and everlasting happiness. The demons trick men in to revoking the teachings of the One.
It is true that all four of these religions believe in heaven, hell, angels, demons, and judgment for sins, or wrong doing, but Zoroastrianism is the religion that came up with these ethics and principles first. The newer religions obtained knowledge from the earlier religions kept what is important, to them, and were created. They all used parts from the Zoroastrianism eschatology to form their own, which means that Zoroastrianism origin of the difference between Heaven and Hell.
No comments:
Post a Comment