Zoroastrianism

Tradition·Founded c. 1200 BCE·est. 100–200 thousand worldwide

Zoroastrianism

Branch
T Figure of Zoroastrianism

The Bounteous Spirit.

In the Gathas the two twins who choose are Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu, and Ahura Mazda is the father of neither choice — a distinction that keeps God out of the pairing. Later theology identified Spenta Mainyu with Ahura Mazda himself, which made the dualism cleaner and the Gathic text harder to read straight.

Names & titlesSpenta Mainyu — the Bounteous Spirit
DomainThe creative principle by which Ahura Mazda acts
RelationsTwin of Angra Mainyu in the Gathic account; identified with Ahura Mazda himself in later theology
Depicted asNot separately depicted
StandingThe distinction matters: in the Gathas the twins are Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu, which keeps Ahura Mazda out of the pairing entirely
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

The precise identity of the twins in Yasna 30 is the single most consequential interpretive question in Zoroastrian studies. The text says two primal spirits, twins, made a choice between better and bad. On the reading that most modern scholars take, the twins are Spenta Mainyu, the Bounteous Spirit, and Angra Mainyu, the Hostile Spirit, and Ahura Mazda is the father of neither choice — he stands above the pairing, which preserves a strict monotheism with a subordinate cosmic conflict. On the later Sasanian systematisation, Spenta Mainyu is identified with Ahura Mazda himself, which makes the opposition a straightforward duel between God and the devil and yields the cosmic dualism the Greeks and later observers described. A third position, the Zurvanite heresy attested in Sasanian times, made both twins sons of Zurvan, Time — which orthodoxy rejected. Which reading one adopts determines whether one calls the religion monotheistic or dualist, and Zoroastrians today overwhelmingly say monotheistic.

The same ground, other faiths

claims that share this one's ideas
God is one, indivisible, and engaged with history. Judaism · core tenet Go deeper →
God is one being in three persons. Christianity · core tenet Go deeper →
There is no god but God. Islam · core tenet Go deeper →
God is one, beyond form. Sikhism · core tenet Go deeper →
T Tian — Heaven. Confucianism Meet them →

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