Thanks for your Post and for the Link to the A/J Archives Paper Doug , I found this quote particularly interesting, ( I have yet to read it all) :
"Professor M. Boyce of the University of London is able to state,
as a result of searching and rigorous scholarship:
Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed
world religions, and it has probably had more influence
on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other
single faith. In its own right it was the state
religion of three great Iranian Empires, which
II
flourished almost continually from the sixth century· B.C.
to the seventh century A .. c . Iran's power and wealth
lent it immense prestige, and some of its leading
doctrines were adopted by Judaism~ Christianity and
Islam, as well as by a host of Gnostic faiths .•.
today external forces have reduced the Zoroastrians themselves to tiny scattered minorities, living
mostly in Iran and India; but beliefs first
taught by their prophet are still subscribed to
by other peoples throughout the world. "