The religion of Zoroastrianism may have its origin as far back as 3,500 years. It is definitely an offshoot of the remnants of the once glorious Vedic Aryan civilization of India. The doctrines comprising of the rituals and languages are indications that the two religions are connected in many ways. This tiny group may number about 100,000 or so in the world today.The followers of Zoroastrianism are called Zarathustra, named after their first prophet, Zarathustra. He was born in Persia which is now called Iran, supposedly in 8,000 B.C. according to Greek Historians. He reveals that there is only one God, Ahura Mazda and that life in the physical world is a battle between good and evil. A man's action will determine his crossing of the "Chinvato Peretu" or the sword bridge to heaven after death or fall from it and go to hell, the abode of the evil ones.
It is written in the Zend Avesta, one of their most ancient scriptural texts, that the final days would result in a battle between good and evil. Evil would be vanquished and the world would be purified by a bath of molten metal (fire). Ahura Mazda (God) would then judge the world, resurrecting the dead and His Kingdom would be established on earth.
The heavenly kingdom of the Zoroastrians, would certainly pose a serious dilemma for the righteous people of other faiths. The scriptures of these religions all point to the end and in what ways. Nevertheless they are mute to the exact time the end will occur simply because these fore-tellers do not want to be proven wrong or to show their scriptures deceitful to the gullible believers.
The Zoroastrian concepts of heaven and hell, resurrection, coming of the savior, Virgin birth, the end-time by fire and God and Satan, are no different from the dogmas of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and which Zoroastrianism credits itself for, as their origin. They also believe their religion to be the most ancient and their people are descendants of the Ancient Aryans of the North. But it yet remains for them to account for the rational creation of the Universe or the first human.
The teachings of Zarathushtra believe that all races in the world are created by God and are equal; a sign of true ancient Aryan's nobility and tolerance. They also took credit for helping the Jews, many of whom settled in Iran after fleeing persecution in Babylon. During their stay, books of the Bible were written adapting all Zoroastrian concepts to Christianity and other religions.
The followers considered Zoroastrianism to be the mother of all of present day faiths. If this is so, then they alone are responsible for the tyranny and the wanton loss of human lives and property during the dark ages of the church. Their own persecution and flight out of Persia at the hands of Islamic invaders should be attributed to the irrational dogmas. Therefore whose fault is it that today, the world stands more divided because of religion.
What is finite cannot be infinite. This finite universe was created and so it must come to an end. Even if, there is a kingdom on earth created by their God, it will have to come to an end. Then, what is next?
The prominence of the Zarathushtra's religion lasted until the conquests of the Arabs, about thirteen hundred years ago. While Iran was being converted to Islam, many Zoroastrians facing persecution fled by boat to India.
The world as created by Ahura Mazda was perfect, with no evil. The first man Gayo Maretan had no disease, suffered no hunger and thirst. The cattle, dogs, horses, and birds were the existence of the good creation of God. Then Ahriman the evil one attacked the world and caused evil to appear, along with diseases and old age and finally death. The night began to fall (before the sun was at the noon position - fixed, so there was no time).
What an injustice, on the part of Ahura Mazda, to grant perfect bliss and piety to only one individual at the beginning of his creation and subjected all others to evil. If he created a perfect world where did the evil one come from? He is the creator. Therefore, there is no doubt that he created Ahriman, the evil one, which means He alone is solely responsible for the chaos that followed.
They also believe that is why the evil brood of animals, snakes, insects, and cats began to appear. Therefore evil in the ancient faith is an external introduction, which one day will be purged when the world will be bathed with the purification of fire. Paradise itself will be established on the earth, in the form of the Kingdom of Ahura Mazda, after judgment of the world and resurrecting the dead. The doctrine of the Zoroastrians is not in harmony with science. God's Divine Laws of nature are immutable. Therefore it is preposterous to believe that the earth stopped in its track to end the day at noon and put time at a standstill. Art and mythology were the norms of Indian cultures during this age of decadence. The sad reality is that it was the origin of Zoroastrian religion and all the other doctrines who drew on their concept.