The ” New testament” is also abhorrent.One need look no further that the denigration of women found in Paul’s writings to reveal that it is an attempt to propagate false teaching.
The Church of Rome supplemented the old testament with the new testament which consisted of stories of Jesus’ ministry and the subsequent acts of the apostles. The Church of Rome went one step further it claimed Jesus was God. In fact nearly 400 years later the Curch of Rome decided there were three “consubstantial” Gods. the Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Ghost. God the father was the creator of the universe but the actual “Father of Jesus” was nominated as the Holy Ghost.
In the eyes of the Church of Rome the Devil is a fallen angel, a creation of the consubstantial Gods dismissed from heaven for disobediance. on death every human will either ascend into heaven and experience perpetual happiness or descend into hell and experience eternal suffering.
This teaching is embedded in the New Testament and is therefore rejected by the Cathars.
Authors Note – Thanks to the activities of the Church of Rome which destroyed most of the Cathar literature no one knows wether there was an alternative testament which was used by the Cathars. The discovery and now the publishing of the Nag Hammadi library,fifty-one alternative christian texts concerned with christian beliefs, raises some interesting possibilities.
Nag Hammadi is perhaps best known for giving us access to the Gospel of Mary, almost certainly Mary Magdelene’s gospel, which it is different than the established gosples in that it is less of a history and more a treatise on the meaning of Jesus teaching or perhaps her own teaching!
As an example, the work of Valentinus, (100-160), who at one stage was a contender to become Bishop of Rome, was only known because of quotations given by his detractors. NagHammadi contains two books which can be attributed to Valentinus – ‘The Gospel of Truth” and ”Valentinian Eposition” .
This discover is exiting because in a gradual process taking 200 hundred years, the Church of Rome limited the approved works to four gospels and the acts of the apostles. They then edited those texts so that they complied with its teaching. All other books dealing with the teaching of Jesus were destroyed. At Nag Hammedi many, but possibly not all of the alternative texts were hidden and saved. The work of Valentinus shows that the Cathar faith may well have been more radical, less “Christian” in its beliefs than has been previously believed.