Editing Catharism (section)

=== 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}}