In the course of the 1st millennium BC in the Near East, a certain reaction developed against the traditional notions of the gods. This reaction mostly was fostered by ethical considerations: the concepts of justice and goodness demanded the existence of gods that were at least in some cases or in theory absolutely just or good, and thus above human shortcomings. Perhaps this ethical reaction was inspired by major historical events, when several states and peoples appeared to have had no help at all from the gods that they had so faithfully worshiped but were annihilated in the violent wars and upheavals caused by Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and Persians. Clearly, the evolution of the Jewish religion toward an ethical monotheism—in which Yahweh was the Lord of history who would in the end reward his people and punish all sinners—cannot be seen separate from the vicissitudes of the Jewish people in these centuries. Elsewhere in the Near East too, some gods acquired the characters of champions of the good, whereas others developed the features of devils. Of great influence in this respect was the religion of Iran, which in this period developed
Into a strongly ethical theological system, attributed to a legendary founder, Zarathustra (Greek: Zoroaster), who was probably a historical figure sometime in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. In this theology, the highest god was Ahura Mazda (or Ormuzd), Lord of Heaven, the god of light, who was in permanent conflict with the power of darkness, Ahriman. Humans were supposed to assist Ahura Mazda with morally just behavior in his struggle so that in the future Ahriman would finally be defeated. All the other gods were as helper gods and lesser powers distributed over the two opposing camps. Thus, the world of both gods and men was ordered along the principles of good and evil. These ideas would prove to have a great influence on the later religious developments in the Near East and the Mediterranean area.
World History
