[Uncle Chip]

Some of the Christians persecuted by the RCC were:

The Paulicians The Albigenses The Paterines The Petrobrussians The Henricians The Arnoldists The Hussites The Waldenses The Annabaptists

Amen. Don't forget the Huguenots...

And all that persecution could have been avoided had they simply chosen to remain illiterate --- Biblically illiterate.

[hosepipe]

[.. And all that persecution could have been avoided had they simply chosen to remain illiterate --- Biblically illiterate. ..]

LoL...

[wmfights]

And all that persecution could have been avoided had they simply chosen to remain illiterate --- Biblically illiterate.

It is the history nobody wants to recognize. It's so much easier to act as though it never happened.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

And all that persecution could have been avoided had they simply chosen to remain illiterate --- Biblically illiterate.

Exactly.

[Cronos]

And all that persecution could have been avoided had they simply chosen to remain illiterate --- Biblically illiterate.

So, you associate yourself with the Albigensians, eh? Well, here's what they believed in: The Cathars claimed there existed within mankind a spark of divine light. This light, or spirit, had fallen into captivity within a realm of corruption — identified with the physical body and world. This was a distinct feature of classical Gnosticism, of Manichaeism and of the theology of the Bogomils. This concept of the human condition within Catharism was most probably due to direct and indirect historical influences from these older (and sometimes also violently suppressed) Gnostic movements. According to the Cathars, the world had been created by a lesser deity, much like the figure known in classical Gnostic myth as the Demiurge. This creative force was identified with the Old Testament God and was not the "True God", though he claimed for himself the title of the "one and only God". The Cathars identified this lesser deity, the Demiurge, with Satan. (Most forms of classical Gnosticism had not made this explicit link between the Demiurge and Satan).

Essentially, the Cathars believed that the Old Testament God of Jews and Christians was an imposter, and His worship was a corrupt abomination infused by the failings of the material realm. Spirit — the vital essence of humanity — was thus trapped in a polluted world created by a usurper God and ruled by his corrupt minions.

While this is the understanding of Cathar theology related by the Catholic Church, crucial to the study of the Cathars is their fundamental disagreement over the meaning of "resurrection". In the book Massacre at Montsegur (a book widely regarded by medievalists as having a pro-Cathar bias) the Cathars are referred to as "Western Buddhists" because of their belief in "re-incarnation" and non-violence.[1] Such were the disagreements that eventually led to the extermination of the sect.

the hussites were primarily a political movement while Paulicians denied the Trinity.

Do you agree with any of these?