The Cathars: Religion And Spirituality

The Cathars, also known as the Albigensians were a Christian religious group who appeared in western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. Their origin has been traced to the Bogomils and the Gnostics, with whom they shared a similar philosophy. The term Cathars originates from the Greek, catharos, which means the purified ones. Christian theologians debated with themselves for centuries whether Cathars were Christian heretics or whether they were not Christians at all. Cathars believed in two principles, a good creator god and his evil adversary. The evil god Satan or Lucifer ruled the material world which is evil and that humans must renounce the world to free their spirits. They believed that a man who died without such a spiritual rebirth would face reincarnation again and again, in human or animal form.