The popularity of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's bestselling novel, has replicated that of Holy Blood, Holy Grail back in 1982-3, which brought the Cathars to renewed prominence in the English-speaking world, after some years of obscurity. From time to time this medieval sect emerges from its normal habitat of scholarly research into the world of popular culture. Normally it is associated with a mysterious lost treasure that, as in Brown's book, can take the shape of some unwelcome knowledge concerning Christ. The fact is, though, that the Cathars stand nearly at the end of a long tradition of unorthodox Christian thinking.
These pages of this web site will be devoted to what I have learned over several years of casual research, largely using secondary sources, to establish an intellectual heritage for Cathar beliefs.
The Cathars, also known as the Albigensians, were Christian heretics associated with southwestern France, the area north of the Pyrenees, south of the Dordogne and west of the Herault river, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. However, in spite of a profound link with this part of France, Cathar beliefs in fact were more widely spread across Western Europe. The first references to Cathars in Western Europe occur in writings by German religious in 1163, who identify the origins of the heresy in the Rhineland to the 1140s.
Two unknown Cathar martyrs burned after a trial before the archbishop of Cologne in 1143 apparently alluded to their faith having a long tradition, and it does share so many common points of practice and belief with a Balkans religious movement known as the Bogomils that it seems highly likely that its origins lie not in Western Europe but in Asia Minor and the Balkans. The Bogomils themselves drew from an earlier sect known as the Paulicians, who seem to share many views in common with an early heterodox Christian leader known as Marcion, from the Black Sea port of Sinope. Marcion was active during the early second century AD, and is largely responsible for the concept of a New Testament canon, a selection from various books associated with early Christianity to serve as the inspired word of God.
So the Cathars were part of an enduring strand in Christian thought, that arguably has as much claim to being in the tradition of the "original Church" as orthodox Christian theology. However, the word "Cathars" comes from the Greek katharoi, or pure, suggesting that the Cathars could be like the Puritans of the seventeenth century, seeking to restore the church to its inspired, primitive form.
Dualism The defining characteristic of Cathar beliefs is the conflict between a Material world and the Spirtual one. The human soul is imprisoned in a body and world that keeps it apart from God.
Hierarchy Unlike many belief systems deemed heretical by the orthodox Catholic churches, the Cathars had a hierarchy. The Perfect, who functioned as a priestly caste, were above the non-ordained believers in the religious hierarchy. There were bishops who wielded a degree of authority over other clergy.
Catechumenate The Cathars regarded most of those who followed their religion in much the same way as orthodox Christianity treats catechumens. The catechumen is allowed to view some of what goes on, but is excluded from the most sacred moments.
Baptism and Confirmation The Cathars set the sacrament of baptism by water aside, preferring to regard a sort of sacrament of Confirmation, known as the consolamentum as the point at which a believer secured the road to salvation. This ceremony owed more to New Testament descriptions of Pentecost than the baptism by John of Jesus. During it, the Holy Spirit descended on the confirmed after a book of scripture was held to the top of the head by the presiding clergy, who then recited a form of blessing.
The Cross The Cathars dispensed with they symbolism of the Crucifix altogether, regarding it as nonsensical to venerate a material thing.
The Eucharist The ritual of the Lord's Supper was abandoned altogether by the Cathars. Their antimaterialist theology would render the point of Transubstantiation meaningless. It is not altogether clear how the Cathars glossed over the statement in the Gospel "do this in memory of me", but they certainly regarded the Mass and Communion with at least indifference and at most hostility.
Dietary regulation The Cathars followed a strict dietary regime. They were to abstain from dairy products and all forms of food that were the product of coition. However, they may have eaten fish, on account of an incomplete knowledge of the way these animals reproduced. They also kept special fast days, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.