Fact remains that from a modern perspective they were definitely Christians, and the bible, God and Jesus were at the centre of their beliefs. A pure Cathar work would never appear as secular as the VM does.
The first link provided by VViews cites the following passage from the Cathar version of baptism:
Also, the second article linked by VViews theorizes that the Cathars moved to the Americas where they lived "high up in the trees". Literally.
The first link provided by VViews cites the following passage from the Cathar version of baptism:
Quote:"If he is to receive the consolamentum forthwith, let him perform his melioramentum and take the Book from the hand of the elder. And let the elder exhort him and preach to him with suitable scriptural verses and in such words as are proper for the consolamentum. Let him speak thus:Etc etc etc
’Peter, you wish to receive the spiritual baptism by which the Holy Spirit is given in the Church of God, together with the Holy Prayer and the imposition of hands by Good Men. Of this baptism our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of St. Matthew to His disciples:
Quote:"Going therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." [Matt. 28:19-20]
And in the Gospel of St. Mark, He says:
Quote:"Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned." [Mark 16:15-16]
And in the Gospel of St. John, He says to to Nicodemus:
Quote:"Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." [John 3:5]
And John the Baptist spoke of this baptism when he said,
Quote:"I baptize with water but He that shall come after me is mighter than I, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire." [John 1:26-27; Matt. 3:11]
And Jesus says in the Acts of the Apostles,
Quote:"For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." [Acts 1:5]
This holy baptism with the imposition of hands was instituted by Jesus Christ, according to that which St. Luke recounts, and He says that His friends shall perform it, as St. Mark relates,
Quote:"They shall lay their hands upon the sick and they shall recover." [Mark 16:18]
Also, the second article linked by VViews theorizes that the Cathars moved to the Americas where they lived "high up in the trees". Literally.