Unlike the Church of Rome which enforces strict adherence to doctrine, the Cathar faith encourages discussions of the mysteries of faith and permits vartiations in belief. Ximene’s version places stress on the fact that little else matters other than reunion with the Good God, Certainly not material issues. She believes that salvation lies within each one of us. If we lead good lives , which means causing no concious harm to another human being then we will achieve our objective of union with the good god. She believes that there is no need for churches, bejewelled vestments or elaborate ceremonies. She does not even believe that the cathar consolumentum which can only be administered by a perfect of the faith is essential to salvation.
She believes that Jesus message was that ordinary people of all faiths have the same objective and they worship are the same Good God, admittedly under a wide range of different names. It is doctrinal religion which leads to error. The church of Rome teaching is a perversion of that message. The God of the old testament is Set the devil and continuance of that worship will bring endless conflict and suffering to our world. The cell to which Ximene belongs is guided and tutored by her grandmother and is a meld of the Castilian and Occitan traditions. The Castillian tradition has been very much influenced by its close contacts with the Muslims of Andulus and the earlier Gnostic beliefs . This is not seen by Ximene , her grandmother or the peoples of Occitan as any impediment to her inheritance or commitment to preserve the cathar faith.
The Cathar Religion always has been tolerant of other religious beliefs. A liking for intellectual theological discussions which the believe will lead to an improved understanding of the nature of the Good God a a reluctance to condemn any other beliefs, has been misunderstood as a lack of commitment to any particular belief.
Cathars believe that the Church of Rome is not only wrong, but evil, it’s members misdirected by “agents of the Devil”. The church is grievously wrong on so many fronts but the believers should be saved, not persecuted. It is difficult to criticise such an enlightened viewpoint but it represented a total miscalculation of what the Church of Rome was capable of. After one hundred years of persecution themselves, Cathar congregations are now separated from each other. With the underlying philosophy of tolerance of differing beliefs it is not surprising that different Cathar cells have developed different beliefs.Some of these beliefs are not supported by the accepted history of “Civilisation”. Who is to say what is right and what is wrong?
To generalise Ximenes beliefs :-
The reason Jesus attracted notice was because he was not a “Carpenters son” but the conjoin of many important blood lines.
What he said was given credibility because he was such an important person, he was heir to the whole known world.
He decided to preach a Messsage of Peace instead of claiming his Earthly Kingdom.
He was not Jewish but was made to appear to be Jewish
He meant to break away completely from the Old Testament. His objective was create one unified religion under one nation–the Roman Empire.
It was intended that the new religion would be taken beyond the then boundaries of the empire so that the extension of boundaries might be made easier.
Specific targets were the British Isles, North West Hispania, Germanica (Goths Vandals Avars Sueves), Parthia, Egypt, Arabia and India.
His original message was actively supported, by Roman Dictators from Tiberius’ through to Constantine.
Even though Jesus was an agent of the Roman Empire his message One State, One Religion was a valid concept.
At the core of the message was the teaching that concepts of the Good Gods Mazda, and Isis were valid. for those who need
However the material world is the devils world and the worship of the god of it’s creation–Set is fundamentally wrong.
His ministry was deliberately positioned in Judea as from the beginning it was recognised that the biggest threat to the acceptance of his message was from the followers of Set.
The same dictators tried to suppress the Jewish adaption of his ministry, which was intended to preserve their worship of set.
The antagonism between the two versions of Christanity was inflamed with that attempt at suppression, but it was inevitable. the followers of Set will always oppose those who follow the Good God.
Jesus death was an “illusion”. His “death” was needed so that he became a legend not a real person.
Mary Magdelene was a partner. She had a spiritual relationship with Jesus but was not married to him. she was the head of the church in western europe.
Mary Magdelane had dark skin, which was made to symbolise that the message was for all races all nations..
The Jewish version of Christianity was eventually approved by Constantine and ironically became “The Church of Rome”. Constantine made this decision as the jewish version of christianity had a large following and he assumed that if he made it the state religion he could alter it’s worship of set. Constantine himself was baptised as a Cathar.
For the Cathars Jesus message remained radically different to the message delivered by the Roman Church
In pseudo history/alternate old testament and Pseudo history/ alternative new testament these beliefs are documented in more detail.
Jesus attracted notice because he was a very important man. Everything he said had great credibility because he was the legitimate heir to the Greek, Roman And Egyptian Empires.Instead of claiming his material Kingdom, he decided to preach a Messsage of Peace.The Empire he envisaged would break away from the concept of expansion by war and embrace a philosophy of expansion by peaceful co operation.
For this to happen demarkations because of tribe, colour, territory and religion had to be eliminated.
There is only one god, the power behind the universe. This God had many names; Amun, Amunet,Isis, Sol Invictus, Mazda, Buddah, Zeus, but they were all the same god, the embellishments to give them identity created by humans struggling with concepts of infinity.
?? It was intended that the new religion would be taken beyond the then boundaries of the empire so that the extension of boundaries might be made easier. One religion, one state, organised for the benefit for all citizens. Specific targets were the British Isles, North West Hispania, Germanica (Goths Vandals Avars Sueves), Parthia, Arabia and India. His message was actively supported. He was a favoured son of the Empire.
However wherever there is infinite power there is also the opportunity for infinite evil. A focus on the generation of personal wealth inevitably leads to evil. From the earliest times one set of beliefs which worshipped material gain and a false God had been invented who advocated avarice, war, judgement, wrath and punishment. These beliefs had existed in Egypt since the earliest times and had been followed by those who could not accept the teaching of the good gods. The God’s name is Set and the followers of set were expelled from egypt after generations of conflict. These followers then settled in Judea.
Jesus ministry was deliberately positioned in Judea as from the beginning it was recognised that the biggest threat to the acceptance of his message was from the followers of Set. He was not Jewish but was made to appear to be Jewish. He meant to encourage a complete break away completely from the Old Testament. His objective was to convert the Jews to one unified religion under one nation–the Roman Empire. He failed in his immediate objective but was not crucified or if he was it was a deception to facilitate his escape. He generated a huge following within Judea and this following rapidly expanded within the Roman Empire. Realising his ministry was successful the Jewish establishment anxious to protect their own position infiltrated his movement instead of fighting against it.
The Roman Empire tried to suppress the Jewish adaption of his ministry. The antagonism between the two versions of Christanity was inflamed with that attempt at suppression, but it was inevitable. the followers of Set will always oppose those who follow the Good God.
Mary Magdelene was a partner. She also shared the same genetic heritage as Jesus. She had a spiritual as well as a physical relationship with Jesus but was not married to him. She became the minister of the church in western europe whereas Jesus was the minister in the east. The church became known as the Cathar church ( the Pure ones) but internally its members refer to themselves as ” The Good Christians”
Mary Magdelane had dark skin, which was made to symbolise that the message was for all races all nations..
The Jewish version of Christianity was eventually approved by Constantine and ironically became “The Church of Rome”. Constantine made this decision as the Jewish version of christianity had a large following and he assumed that if he made it the state religion he could alter it’s worship of set. Constantine himself was most comfortable with “Sol Invictus’ as his image of god but on his death bed was symbolically baptised as a Cathar. It is important not to reject the Jewish Christians and indeed those who follow the older Jewish region. Even if Cathars suffer persecution it is important that we continue to engage in disscussions which might lead to their conversion.
There are several key issues that separate Cathars from The Church of Rome.
The Church of Rome believes that the pleasure from sexual activity is inherently evil and sexual activity should be confined only to the procreation of children: Cathars believe that sexual pleasure is given to us as a sample of what union with the good god might be like. Cathars also believe that the number of children should be severely limited. Parents efforts to provide for great numbers of children is one of the primary causes of a thirst for material possession and a major reason for the conflicts which plague the human race.
Cathars believe that precious metals, extensive estates, jewels, fine clothes, ornate non functional buildings have no fundamental value: these views are obviously not shared by the Church Of Rome.
Unlike the Church of Rome which enforces strict adherence to .doctrine, the Cathar faith encourages discussions of the mysteries of faith and permits vartiations in interpretation and belief. The Cathar Religion always has been tolerant of other religious beliefs. A liking for intellectual theological discussions which the believe will lead to an improved understanding of the nature of the Good God and a reluctance to condemn any other beliefs, has been seized on as a lack of commitment to any particular belief.