Zoroaster and Avesta could have replaced the Roman gods, but it would have been no different than the transition from the Persians to the Greeks to the Romans. The old gods couldn't have created the self-flagellating, endlessly reforming anomaly that was medieval Christendom. The Reformation and the Enlightenment, and all the revolutions…
Zoroaster and Avesta could have replaced the Roman gods, but it would have been no different than the transition from the Persians to the Greeks to the Romans. The old gods couldn't have created the self-flagellating, endlessly reforming anomaly that was medieval Christendom. The Reformation and the Enlightenment, and all the revolutions that followed, are fueled by co-opting and disjointing various aspects of the utterly unique/insane message of the Gospel: that the last shall be first, that there were no rich or poor among them, that you should love your enemies, etc.
The conflict between all that delicious hippie commie stuff and crushing ones enemies to hear the lamentation of their women (in the name of the lord your god, of course) seems to be the root cause of much of the worst navel gazing drivel in all of human history.
The paradox gets resolved in "the folly of the Cross": non-violence, enemy-love, forgiveness, the Kingdom not of this world, etc. Would that more Christians knew that! But to be fair, Communism runs into the same problem (how to create utopia without being corrupted by violently enforcing it) and has no solution.
Zoroaster and Avesta could have replaced the Roman gods, but it would have been no different than the transition from the Persians to the Greeks to the Romans. The old gods couldn't have created the self-flagellating, endlessly reforming anomaly that was medieval Christendom. The Reformation and the Enlightenment, and all the revolutions that followed, are fueled by co-opting and disjointing various aspects of the utterly unique/insane message of the Gospel: that the last shall be first, that there were no rich or poor among them, that you should love your enemies, etc.
The conflict between all that delicious hippie commie stuff and crushing ones enemies to hear the lamentation of their women (in the name of the lord your god, of course) seems to be the root cause of much of the worst navel gazing drivel in all of human history.
The paradox gets resolved in "the folly of the Cross": non-violence, enemy-love, forgiveness, the Kingdom not of this world, etc. Would that more Christians knew that! But to be fair, Communism runs into the same problem (how to create utopia without being corrupted by violently enforcing it) and has no solution.