Ahura Mazda Monotheistic Religion

Since Zoroastrianism is centered on Ahura Mazda, this means that Zoroaster was one of the first to establish a monotheistic religion. Monotheistic means belief in one deity, in this case it is Ahura Mazda, who Zoroaster put above all other deities worshipped by the earlier Iranians (Fisher 244). However, Zoroaster’s teachings instilled the theory ongoing dualism in Zoroastrianism. This dualism is caused by the ongoing struggle between good and evil. Zoroaster preached that what caused the making of good and evil was a “meeting” between two spirits, each given the choice of “life or not life,” one chose life the other did not (“Zoroaster” 8). Although, Zoroaster believed that Ahura Mazda is above all, it is considered that there are still
The most accepted version of Zoroaster’s death is that he was praying at an altar, when he was killed, at the age of seventy-seven, by an enemy priest (Violatti 3). Another version, which is more of a Greek astrological myth, is that Zarathustra died because of his Greek name, Zoroaster. His name in Greek first meant, “star sacrificer” or was associated with “star-worshipping.” This myth then claims that Zoroaster died by the “living,” which comes from the prefix of his name (zo-), “flux,” coming from the following letters (-ro-), “of fire from the star (-astr-),” which he called upon. It even goes to the point of inferring that the stars were held back by Zoroaster, so they took revenge by killing him (“Zoroaster”
There is just so much new information to take in, some being supported by historical evidence and others being passed down through legends and myths. One element of Zoroastrianism is that it is considered a monotheistic religion, but some sources mention that it is also a dualistic religion. After researching, I consider Zoroaster's religion monotheistic because he taught to only believe in the Wise Lord, Ahura Mazda. I do not consider the element of dualism because it reminds of Christianity, which is a monotheistic faith, that has God, up in heaven, and Satan, down in hell; so, in Zoroastrianism, Angra Mainyu, the evil side, would be like Satan. One of Zoroaster's points that he emphasized in Zoroastrianism was the idea of free will, maybe it is not that each of our decisions will support a good or evil side, but as humans we do have the moral responsibility that our decisions and actions will have an effect on others or on something. It was interesting to do research on Zoroaster and to learn about one of the first monotheistic