RESPONSIBILITY (100BC)
“Good thoughts, good words, good deeds”
We have seen before that old religions were meant to help people controlling nature (see ‘gods’) and keeping peace (see ’power’). This chapter describes how around 1000BC religion got a new dimension – enabled by a growing sense of self-awareness. Personal ethics becomes important even though control of society and nature never disappear completely.
Zoroastrism is probably the oldest ethical religion. (This is still uncertain because their oral tradition were documented quite late.) Many will have heard about the prophet Zarathustra. Yet his innovative ideas about God, good and evil are less well known, let alone that his ideas have influenced later religions like Christianity.
Zarathustra lived in a time of increasing injustice. Harvests improved and wealth increased, so some could focus on spiritual- rather than material needs. Yet others were slaves living with many restrictions. Wars were fought on larger scale than before. Weapons were more deadly. In short, kings and priests were apparently unable to offer their subjects peace and justice. Visionaries stepped forward searching for new ways, in particular personal virtues like temperance, ascetism, moral purity and justice.
Zarathustra was one of the first. In his mind the fickle gods of his time were being replaced by one good God (Ahura Mazda) and an evil opponent. The good God and his angels are at war with the devil and his demons. The battle-stage is the world and the war will end with a victory for the good. A very special; feature of Zarathustra’s faith is the key role given to people in this fight. This starts the long process of ‘internalizing evil’ that in due time will lead to awareness of human sin.
The cosmic battle between order and chaos does not depend on kings and priests, not on their (bloody) sacrifice rituals. The outcome is the result of thoughts, words, deeds of ordinary people. Each and everyone will rise after death and be held accountable to God, either admitted in paradise or thrown into the abyss – depending on his moral choices in life.
Around 500BC Zoroastrism was the main religion in Persia. Inscriptions have been found with Darius praying to Ahura Mazda. During their exile the Jews got in touch with this religion and it seems quite plausible that they were influenced by it. In any case, it is certain that only the last books of the Bible (Old Testament) – the book of Daniel – speak about Gods Judgement of people after death. Later Jewish groups like the Essenes, Pharisees and also the authors of the New Testament adopted these views.
Zarathustra was an important figure as he opened people’s eyes to a spiritual reality. He provided an explanation for the existence of evil and offered hope for the future; when people did well, eventually their good behavior would be rewarded. In this way the revolution of new ideals started: from power to justice; from rite to virtue; from king-priest order to personal morality; from fatalism to responsibility.