The impact of Zoroastrianism upon Judaism and Christianity

The primary purpose of this thesis is to utilize the major scholarly works available in French and English to establish that Judaism and Christianity have been influenced by the ethical religion of Zoroaster. In the first section the early date of Zoroaster (660 B.C.), is initially suggested as a factor in the developmental precedence of Zoroastrianism. The influence of Zoroaster is extended through literature, ethics and the munificence of the Persian court in Babylon. The Jews are suggested to have been, "a discouraged, disorganized and bitter lot", when taken to Babylon. The Jew's high monotheistic concept of God developed in and after the Exile. During the Exile and the period after, the Jews had a prolonged exposure to spphisticated Zoroastrianism. On the Persian side, the religion began to deteriorate soon after the Prophet's death. The degree of that deterioration and the level influencing the Jews is crucial to the issue. The first section is summed up in pointing out the possible beneficial and detrimental influences of Zoroastrianism upon Judaism. The second section concerns the impact of Zoroastrianism directly and indirectly upon Christianity. The problem of tracing what similarities are definitely traceable to Zoroastrianism is stated and then the similarities are listed. The further possible influence through Mithraism and Manichaeism is treated in detail. There is a short summary.

Grantor dc:publisher

Boston University

Year dc:date.issued

1965

Author dc:creator

• Patchell, Herbert Sidney

• Zoroastrianism
• Judaism
• Christianity

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Dc Identifier Other

b1456970x

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.bu.edu:2144/34653