Bogomils, 'Beloved of God' -  Link to the
Paulicians

     The annals of history next find the "True Church", still preaching the Paulician message in Southeastern Europe.    
      Now called "Bogomils" in Bulgaria and the Balkan nations where they sought refuge, this "little flock" that was so despised for their zealous teaching in Armenia to the east, was soon equally as despised here. 
 

      Concerning the link between the Paulicians and the Bogomils the Encyclopedia Brittanica  states:    

    "The Bogomils were without doubt the connecting link between the so-called heretical [in the eye's of their persecutors] sects of the East, and those of the west. They were moreover the most active agent in disseminating such teachings in Russia and among all nations of Europe.  They may have found in some places a soil already prepared by more ancient tenets [early Apostolic beliefs] which had been         preserved in spite of  the persecution of the  official church"   Ency.Brit., vol 4, pg 119 
      Not only does this highly respected source recognize the link between these two groups, but it also correlates their doctrines to that of the Apostolic church and documents the persecution they suffered by the hand of the powerful, "official church". 
      Some aspects of their beliefs and creed were: 
      They were the direct successors of the Apostles. 
      They did not believe in the baptism of infants. 
      They did not believe in the "transubstantiation" of the bread and wine - a doctrine that asserts the literal transformation (during communion) of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. 
      Church buildings were not necessary for worship.  Believers convocated on the seventh day either outdoors or in private homes. 
      They did not venerate Mary or other Saints.   
      They chose not to have contact with mainstream Christians.   
      Historian V. Raymond Edmund writes in his book, "The Light in Dark Ages": 
    "Because of persecution and also because of missionary zeal to propagate their faith  the Bogomils began to settle elsewhere in Europe, or to travel as merchants or artisans in Italy, France and Germany ..."   (pages 296-297)
 

 
 

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The Great Falling Away by Joseph Santora --- ©1998-2002 True Christian Ministries
 
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