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Albigenses
A heresy during the
middle ages that developed in the town Albi in Southern France. This error
taught that there were two gods: the good god of light usually referred to
as Jesus in the New Testament and the god of darkness and evil usually associated with Satan
and the "God of the Old Testament." Anything material was
considered evil including the body which was created by Satan. The soul,
created by the good god, was imprisoned in the evil flesh and salvation was
possible only through holy living and doing good works. At death, if the
person has been spiritual enough, salvation comes to the believer. But, if the person has
not been good enough, he is reincarnated as an animal or another human.
The Albigenses denied the resurrection of the body since it was considered
evil.
The Albigenses taught that Jesus was God but that He
only appeared as a man while on earth. It also taught that the Catholic church of the time was
corrupted by its power and wealth. Their asceticism
and humility compared to the great affluence of the clergy helped to bring many converts
to this evangelistic movement.
There were two types of Albigenses: believers and
Perfects. Believers were Albigenses who
had not taken the initiation rite of being a Perfect. Perfects denounced
all material possession. They abstained from meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and
sexual relations. To become a Perfect a believer had to go through consolamentum, an initiation rite
involving the laying on of hands that was supposed to bring the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Infrequently, suicide was practiced as a way to rid oneself of the evil human
body.
In 1208, Peter de Castelnau, an official representative
of the Pope, was
murdered by an Albigenses. Since they had been growing in number, becoming
a threat, and would not convert to Christianity, Pope Innocent III ordered them
to be wiped out. The persecution was fierce and the movement was
stopped.
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