Editing Catharism (section)

=== 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]].