From Polytheism to Monotheism: Zoroaster and Some Economic Theory

Mario Ferrero

Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, 2021, vol. 38, issue 1, No 7, 77-108

Abstract: Abstract The prophet Zoroaster founded the first monotheistic religion in history, which once rose to great imperial status and still survives unchanged today despite centuries of Muslim pressure. Unlike the founders of other monotheistic religions after him, he achieved this not through the overthrow of the original Iranian polytheism but through its deep reform—a strategy that made acceptance easier and ensured a continuing role for the priests. Monotheistic reform is thus a third way out of ancient Indo-European polytheism, besides extinction in the Greco-Roman case and mutation into sectarian theism in the Indian case. This paper surveys the Iranian story and offers two economic models to account for the two key factors that made the transition to monotheism possible: the theological structure and the role of the priesthood.

Keywords: Iranian religion; Zoroaster; Polytheism; Monotheism; Priests; Economics of religion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1007/s41412-021-00113-4

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