zoroastrianismhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoroastrianism_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZoroastrianism, n.
Revised 2023

Zoroastrianismnoun

  1. 1832–
    A religious system originating in ancient Persia (now Iran), maintaining a dualistic doctrine which contrasts the force of good in the world with that of evil, and predicts the ultimate defeat of evil by good. Cf. Zarathustrianism n.
    Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of the ancient Persian prophet, Zoroaster (also called Zarathustra), said to have lived at some point between the middle of the first and second millennia b.c. The sacred scriptures of the religion (see Avesta n.) contain elements attributed to Zoroaster himself (see Gatha n.). It was the dominant religion of Persia from the 6th cent. b.c. until the rise of Islam and was subsequently preserved predominantly amongst the descendants of Zoroastrian Persians who fled to India after the Islamic conquest (see Parsee n. A.1).
    1. 1832
      At the period alluded to, and for a long time antecedent to the epoch of the Jewish captivity, we have according to Volney, the high antiquity assignable to the principles and tenets of Zoroastrianism.
      R. J. Rowe, Diss. Ruins or Revol. of Empires xvii. 227
    2. 1871
      The ancient Zoroastrianism of the undivided Iranian race appears as a pure monotheistic religion, opposed alike to pantheism and polytheism.
      P. Smith, Ancient History of East xviii. 386
    3. 1941
      He took from Zoroastrianism cosmic and eschatological principles, and from Indian teaching the ascetic ordering of life.
      A. C. Bouquet, Comparative Religion xi. 216
    4. 2021
      Interactions with Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism had in turn a deep influence on Mediterranean Islamicate cultures.
      L. Saif in E. Asprem & J. Strube, New Approaches to Study of Esotericism 68

Zoroastrianism, n. was revised in March 2023.

Zoroastrianism, n. was last modified in July 2023.