Editing Catharism (section)

== Beliefs ==
=== Cosmology ===
[[File:Paradise Lost 1.jpg|thumb|War in heaven. Illustration by [[Gustave Doré]]]]

[[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] cosmology identified [[Dualism in cosmology|two creator deities]]. The first was the creator of the [[Vitalism|spiritual]] realm contained in the New Testament, while the second was the [[demiurge]] depicted in the [[Old Testament]] who created the physical universe.{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}} The demiurge, often called {{lang|la|Rex Mundi}} ("King of the World"),{{sfn|Bütz|2009|p=}} was identified as the [[God in Judaism|God of Judaism]].{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}}

Some gnostic belief systems including Catharism began to characterise the duality of creation as a relationship between hostile opposing forces of good and evil.{{sfn|Fichtenau|2010|p=161}} Although the demiurge was sometimes conflated with [[Satan]] or considered Satan's father, creator or seducer,{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} these beliefs were far from unanimous. Some Cathar communities believed in a mitigated [[Dualism in cosmology|dualism]] similar to their [[Bogomil]] predecessors, stating that the evil god Satan had previously been the true God's servant before rebelling against him.{{sfnp|Barber|2000}} Others, likely a majority over time given the influence reflected on the ''Book of the Two Principles'',{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}} believed in an absolute dualism, where the two gods were twin entities of the same power and importance.{{sfnp|Barber|2000}}

All visible matter, including the human body, was created or crafted by this {{lang|la|Rex Mundi}}; matter was therefore tainted with [[sin]]. Under this view, humans were actually [[angels]] seduced by Satan before a [[war in heaven]] against the army of [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]], after which they would have been forced to spend an eternity trapped in the evil God's material realm.{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} The Cathars taught that to regain angelic status one had to renounce the material self completely. Until one was prepared to do so, they would be stuck in a cycle of [[reincarnation]], condemned to suffer endless human lives on the corrupt Earth.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=11}}

[[Zoé Oldenbourg]] compared the Cathars to "Western Buddhists" because she considered that their view of the doctrine of "resurrection" in Christianity was similar to the Buddhist doctrine of [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]].

=== Christology ===
Cathars venerated [[Jesus Christ]] and followed what they considered to be his true teachings, labelling themselves as "Good Christians".{{sfnp|Théry|2002|pp=75–117}} However, they denied his physical incarnation{{sfn|Bütz|2009}} and Resurrection.<ref name="Belloc 1938 86">{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=86}}</ref> Authors believe that their conception of Jesus resembled [[Docetism]], believing him the human form of an angel,{{sfnp|Townsend|2008|p=9}} whose physical body was only an appearance.<ref>{{harvnb|CUP|2022a}}</ref><ref name="Belloc 1938 86"/> This illusory form would have possibly been given by the [[Virgin Mary]], another angel in human form,{{sfnp|Barber|2000}} or possibly a human born of a woman with no involvement of a man.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}

[[File:File"-Saint Paul Writing His Epistles" by Valentin de Boulogne.jpg|thumb|St. Paul, by [[Valentin de Boulogne]].]]
They firmly rejected the [[Resurrection of Jesus]], seeing it as representing reincarnation, and the Christian [[Christian cross|symbol of the cross]], considering it to be no more than a material instrument of torture and evil. They also saw [[John the Baptist]], identified as the same entity as the prophet [[Elijah]], as an evil being sent to hinder Jesus's teaching through the false sacrament of [[baptism]].{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} For the Cathars, the "resurrection" mentioned in the New Testament was only a symbol of re-incarnation.{{sfn|Crawford|2020}}

Most Cathars did not accept the normative [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] understanding of Jesus, instead resembling [[nontrinitarian]] [[modalistic Monarchianism]] ([[Sabellianism]]) in the West and [[adoptionism]] in the East, which might or might not be combined with the mentioned Docetism.<ref>{{harvnb|CUP|2022b}}</ref> [[Bernard of Clairvaux]]'s biographer and other sources accuse some Cathars of [[Arianism]],{{sfnp|Lambert|1998|p=41|ps=: "Bernard's biographer identifies another group in Toulouse which he calls Arians, who have sometimes been identified as Cathars though the evidence is scant. It is most likely that the first Cathars to penetrate Languedoc appealed&nbsp;..."}}{{sfnp|Luscombe|Riley-Smith|2004|p=522|ps=: "Even though his biographer does not describe their beliefs, Arians would have been an appropriate label for moderate dualists with an unorthodox Christology, and the term was certainly later used in Languedoc to describe Cathars."}} and some scholars see Cathar Christology as having traces of earlier Arian roots.{{sfnp|Johnston|2011|p=115|ps=: "However, they became converts to Arian Christianity, which later developed into Catharism. Arian and Cathar doctrines were sufficiently different from Catholic doctrine that the two branches were incompatible."}}{{sfnp|Kienzle|2001|p=92|ps=: "The term 'Arian' is often joined with 'Manichean' to designate Cathars. Geoffrey's comment implies that he and others called those heretics 'weavers', whereas they called themselves 'Arians'."}}

Some communities might have believed in the existence of a spirit realm created by the good God, the "Land of the Living", whose history and geography would have served as the basis for the evil god's corrupt creation. Under this view, the history of Jesus would have happened roughly as told, only in the spirit realm.{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}} The physical Jesus from the material world would have been evil, a false messiah and a lustful lover of the material [[Mary Magdalene]]. However, the true Jesus would have influenced the physical world in a way similar to the [[Harrowing of Hell]], only by inhabiting the body of [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}} 13th century chronicler [[Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay]] recorded those views.{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}}

=== Other beliefs ===
[[File:Hieronymus Bosch - The Fall of the Rebel Angels (obverse) - WGA2572.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''The Fall of the Rebel Angels'' by [[Hieronymus Bosch]]]]
Some Cathars told a version of the [[Book of Enoch|Enochian]] narrative, according to which [[Eve]]'s daughters copulated with Satan's [[demon]]s and bore [[Nephilim|giants]]. The [[Genesis flood narrative|Deluge]] would have been provoked by [[Satan]], who disapproved of the demons revealing he was not the real god, or alternatively, an attempt by the Invisible Father to destroy the giants.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}} The [[Holy Spirit]] was sometimes counted as one single entity, but to others it was considered the collective groups of unfallen angels who had not followed Satan in his rebellion.

Cathars believed that the sexual allure of women impeded a man's ability to reject the material world.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=42}} Despite this stance on sex and reproduction, some Cathar communities made exceptions. In one version, the Invisible Father had two spiritual wives, Collam and Hoolibam (identified with [[Oholah and Oholibah]]), and would himself have provoked the war in heaven by seducing the wife of Satan, or perhaps the reverse. Cathars adhering to this story would believe that having families and sons would not impede them from reaching God's kingdom.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}

Some communities also believed in a [[Day of Judgment]] that would come when the number of the just equalled that of angels who fell, when the believers would ascend to the [[heaven|spirit realm]], while the sinners would be thrown to everlasting fire along with Satan.{{sfnp|Barber|2000}}

The Cathars ate a [[Pescetarianism|pescatarian]] diet. They did not eat cheese, eggs, meat, or milk because these are all by-products of sexual intercourse.{{sfn|Preece|2008|p=}} The Cathars believed that animals were carriers of reincarnated souls, and forbade the killing of all animal life, apart from fish,{{sfn|Preece|2008|p=}}{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}} which they believed were produced by [[spontaneous generation]].{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}}

The Cathars could be seen as prefiguring [[Protestantism]] in that they denied [[transubstantiation]], [[purgatory]], [[prayers for the dead]] and [[intercession of saints|prayers to saints]]. They also believed that the scriptures should be read in the [[vernacular]].<ref name=":02">{{harvnb|Walther|1968|p=missing}}</ref>

=== Texts ===
The alleged sacred texts of the Cathars, besides the New Testament, included the [[Bogomil]] text ''[[Gospel of the Secret Supper|The Gospel of the Secret Supper]]'' (also called ''John's Interrogation''), a modified version of ''[[Ascension of Isaiah]]'', and the Cathar original work ''The Book of the Two Principles'' (possibly penned by Italian Cathar John Lugio of Bergamo).{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}{{sfn|Barnstone|Meyer|2006|p=751}} They regarded the Old Testament as written by Satan, except for a few books which they accepted,{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} and considered the [[Book of Revelation]] not a prophecy about the future, but an allegorical chronicle of what had transpired in Satan's rebellion. Their reinterpretation of those texts contained numerous elements characteristic of [[Gnostic]] literature.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}