zoroaster's Influence on Christianity and Islam

Plotinus spoke of the World-Mind, the World-Soul, and Nature as being forces emanating from the One (or God).

A simpler yet modified version of his philosophical theory is that the One is the universe, the World Mind is the order of the universe, the World-Soul is animal life (including human beings), and Nature emanates everything else including the plants and other matter.

Judaism had a much simpler explanation in that it was assumed that God created everything except Himself by simply saying "Let there be...." But in Judaism there is no explanation for how God came into being, or why evil exists if God created everything and God is perfectly good.

Zoroaster (628 B.C. - 551 B.C.), founded Zoroastrianism, which influence Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It emphasizes that good and evil are separate entities at war with each other, in the form of Ormuzd (the god of good, creation and truth) and Ahriman (the god of evil, destruction and lies), both ultimately descended from the Wise Lord, Ahura Mazda.

Zoroastrianism, like other religions has gone through different phases, attracting in the course of time many elements from different sources. The most characteristic aspect of Zoroaster's faith, however, is belief in dualism. He conceived of two powers active in the universe, Good and Evil. Our world is the scene of conflict between the two. The outcome of this conflict, upon which depends the destiny of humanity, will be decided as much by people's choice as by any other factor. The choice is between siding with Ahura Mazda and following the path of truth, or uniting with Angra Mainya (Ahriman) and following the way of falsehood.

In the fateful struggle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, it is human beings and their deeds which hold the balance. It is through the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds of pious people that the forces of Good eventually triumph. There will be a day of reckoning when those who have resisted the temptations of Angra Mainyu and have followed the dictates of the "Good Religion" will be blessed.

Note that if you think of this blessedness as Heaven (at the end of the good life) and its opposite as Hell (at the end of an evil life), then you have the Christian and Islamic notions of the afterlife.