Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions. It is based on the life and teachings of Zoroaster.

Quotes

• Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed credal religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single faith.
  • Mary Boyce, in Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, p. 1.

• Zoroastrianism survives today only among small communities in the province of Fars, and among the ninety thousand Parsees of India. These devotedly preserve and study the ancient scriptures, worship fire, earth, water and air as sacred, and expose their dead in “Towers of Silence” to birds of prey lest burning or burial should defile the holy elements. They are a people of excellent morals and character, a living tribute to the civilizing effect of Zarathustra’s doctrine upon mankind.
  • Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage.

• The pantheon was never eliminated, and Zoroastrianism, in some sense at least, remained a polytheistic religion throughout its history, although today the many deities have lost their individual divine character and are not worshipped for themselves but have been reinterpreted as allegories or symbols. Thus, modern Zoroastrianism is probably best described as monotheistic, certainly as monotheistic as Christianity with its Trinity and angels, though less monotheistic than Judaism and Islam.
  • Prods Oktor Skjærvø, Zarathustra: a Revolutionary Monotheist? (2011) as quoted in Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism, in Pongratz-Leisten, Beate, p. 350, Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns. Also quoted in Elst, Koenraad (2018). Still no trace of an Aryan invasion: A collection on Indo-European origins.