I have also read that the concept of the Devil came from Zoroastrian beliefs which the Jews picked up when they were in exile.
Zoroaster spoke thus
by Doug Mason 25 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Doug Mason
That's quite correct. Just Google for daeva. The Jews' and Christian's angelology derives similarly.
Most the the OT as we have it is the product of the 6th century BCE and later.
The "Judaism" of the "Old Testament" is not the Judaism of Jesus and his contemporaries. Much took place during the intervening centuries.
Doug
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truth_b_known
Doug:
There is a YouTube channel I follow in which the content creator goes over the creation account in Genesis chapter 1 (apparently the creation account in Job differs). The content creator suggests that the creation account of Genesis is an allegory that contains Persian mythology. The reason it does not say that God created the Sun, but rather refers to lights, is because the Hebrew word for Sun is the same as a Persian god. I have not verified this, but I think it relates to your research.
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Doug Mason
Thank you truth_b_known.
The more I look, the more I discover, the more I am amazed.
Thank you for the link.
Doug
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Phizzy
This revelatory Post from Doug shines a little more light for me upon the Story of the Magi as found in the Book of Matthew.
I always found this Gospel story strange in that these were "Wise men" , Magi in the Greek, from the Persian word, and yet the story accords them nothing but respect, yet to my rigid JW mind it should at least have acknowledged they were not worshippers of the Christian god, and maybe even condemned too their practice of Astrology.
As the Christian god seems to have evolved from Zoroastrianism, it is now no surprise to me the way these gentlemen are presented.
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fulltimestudent
Doug Mason: (QUOTE) "The "Judaism" of the "Old Testament" is not the Judaism of Jesus and his contemporaries. Much took place during the intervening centuries."
Well said Doug. The more we study, not just Judeo-christian religon, but ALL Eurasian religions, the more we will become aware of the cross-cultural influences evident in each religion.
The same goes for Zoroastrianism. There seems to be evidence that it too underwent modifications in its thought and beliefs. For those who wish to know a little more, Richard Folz's, 'Religions of the Silk Road,' (Second edition, 2010) has a reasonably brief summary of Zoroastrianism's development and its influence on the development of Judaism (See Ch 2, 'Religion and Trade in Ancient Eurasia.' )
Zoroaster, may have been a contemporary of Moses, both promoted something like monotheism (the Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaton may also have done the same and perhaps lived around the same era). The god that Zoroaster promoted was Ahura Mazda (See https://www.ancient.eu/Ahura_Mazda/ ).
Before Zoroaster lived, beliefs were prevalent in Iranian influenced areas? That's not completely clear, but likely beliefs werre similar, as essentially Zoroaster was a reformer. Iranian's generally had a common pantheon, perhaps with minor variations of belief, including myths and symbols. Likely 'fire temples' with a continually burning sacred flame (like many war memorials today) existed before (and after) Zoroaster's time. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_in_ancient_Iranian_culture )
Beliefs may also have varied after Zoroaster's time, as the religion was first codified from the the third century C.E. And, that's roughly the time that rabbinical Judaism and Christianity began a period of codification. The codification of Zoroastrianism began in the era when the Sasanian's had taken over the Empire from the Parthian's, which may indicate that religion was an issue in the competition between the Christian Roman Empire and the Sasanian (Iranian) Empire.
There's a lot more that we can know about this religion, and a lot we do not know. but I'll leave it there.
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fulltimestudent
Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research, by S.A.Nigosian (Publisher- McGill-Queen's University Press )
The Amazon web-site description of this book: The Zoroastrian Faith is organized around five themes: an account of Zoroaster's life and work; discussion of the development and spread of Zoroastrianism from its beginnings to the present; description of the sacred writings and religious documents of the faith; an analysis of the basic Zoroastrian beliefs and their influence on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; and a description of the prescribed observances. In this historical and analytical study, S.A. Nigosian cuts through these problems to present a concise, systematic survey of Zoroastrianism. This book will intrigue scholars and general readers alike. A glossary and bibliography are provided as aids for further study.
If it interest you, you can read parts for one hour on the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/10/mode/2up
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fulltimestudent
And you can open a window and view some of the past on this Youtube video (made by Journeyman Pictures )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYTskBBCeIg
And a good way to find better quality information is by search via google Scholar.
I used google scholar tp search and the following pages is the result(s):
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Phizzy
Thanks FTS, I was not aware of Google Scholar until I read your Post above, I can foresee that my wife will be complaining that I am spending even more time reading !
As I said above, this Thread has been an eye opener to me, and to me is an example of the joy of learning, you add new knowledge, which then permits your mind to make lots of connections, and your Worldview is thus expanded, Wonderful !
Thank you FTS, and thank you Doug !
Edited to add : I just watched the Vid above FTS, thanks for that too, really brought the religion to life, some of the claims by the Priest were a little off, but it was good to watch.
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fulltimestudent
Thnx Phizzy!
Hope you enjoy many happy hours with google scholar. The only hassle you're going to find will likely be being able to access many of the academic sources. You need a good library to help you do that. Not sure where you're located, but in Australia many university libraries will let you join, but charge you. e.g. Sydney uni, charges $40 a semester and that's $160 a year. And, (grin) consider getting a portable HD to store all the stuff you then download.
The video you've watched, I suggest you can be quite confident that any ideas presented are partly tradition and partly time-modified belief. No religion will be unchanged over time. Early Christians would be lost in both a Catholic Cathedral and a Kingdom Hall, and contemporary Zoroastrians will believe things that are different from ancient beliefs. As the saying goes, Change is Constant.
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I was checking out images of 'fire temples' this morning and my search threw up this Pinterest page:
https://www.pinterest.com.au/mazdayasna/fire-temples/
There could be more, but since Pinterest disfellowshipped* me, (haha) I get a few roadblocks in looking for stuff on that site.
Also there was this longish article ( I havn't checked out the web-site) titled- Is there a network of sacred fires across the Himalayas and Central Asia? From Baku to Nepal and back.
Link: http://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576%200x00358452.pdf
Maybe Zoroastrian influence is greater than imagined.
But, most intriguing to me (it set me off to investigate the changing religious beliefs of the ancient Sogdians, who at one stage were the major traders on the ancient East-West Trade Network, now called the Silk Road).
From a web-site called Quartz India, " The forgotten history of how ancient Zoroastrians helped create the old Silk Road." Link: https://qz.com/india/987379/the-forgotten-history-of-how-ancient-zoroastrians-helped-create-the-old-silk-route/
The Sogdians even attempted to take China over (during the Tang Dynasty) and so weakened that dynasty that it eventually collapsed leading to 50 years of chaos (known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era) until a new strong central authority (the Song Dynasty) established itself.
To understand their full influence in China, check out this article from the (USA) Smithsonian-Freer/Sackler group, "The Sogdians- Influencers on the Silk Road." Link: https://sogdians.si.edu/the-sogdians-abroad/