A denomination which commenced about the year 796. They held with the Gnostics and Manicheans, two principles, the one of good and the other of evil. They denied the divinity, and even the humanity of Jesus Christ, asserting that he was not truly man, did not suffer on the cross, die, rise again, nor really ascend into heaven. They rejected the doctrine of the resurrection, affirmed that the general judgment was past, and that hell torments were no other than the evils we feel and suffer in this life. They denied free will, did not admit original sin, and never administered baptism to infants. They held that a man can give the Holy Spirit of himself, and that it is unlawful for a Christian to take an oath. This denomination derived their name from the place where their spiritual ruler resided.
See MANICHEANS and CATHERIST.