Zoroastrainism

Zoroastrianism was once a very widespread religion, but now it has few adherents (about 150,000). It connects more closely with the Bible than any other religion, excepting, of course, Judaism and Christianity. For example, the Bible mentions some of the Zoroastrian kings who ruled the Persian Empire. These kings (Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius) are named in Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and 2 Chronicles.
This religion is the product of one man, Spitoma Zoroaster, who lived about the seventh century B.C. (his dates are sometimes given as 628-551 B.C.). Zoroaster is the Greek form of his name; he is also known by his Avestan name, Zarathustra. What little we know about Zoroaster comes from the Gathas, a set of hymns included in the Zoroastrian scriptures (the Avesta). Zoroaster was born in Persia at a time when the popular religion was the worship of the Aryan nature gods.
In the third century A. D., a reformation movement within Zoroastrianism began, which ...