Bogomilism
In one sentence
A medieval Balkan dualist movement critical of church institutions and material sacramentality.
In simple terms
Bogomils contrasted God’s spiritual realm with the material world, which they associated with an evil principle, and rejected many visible institutions and rites of the established church.
Biblical truth
The Bible teaches that the material world was created by God and originally declared very good; evil is connected with rebellion and sin rather than an eternal evil creator equal to God.
Key Scriptures
Gen. 1:1,31 · John 1:1–3 · Col. 1:15–20 · 1 Tim. 4:1–5
Example
The cross, icons, church buildings, and material sacraments could be rejected as belonging to the lower material order.
Who holds it
Medieval communities in the Balkans, especially Bulgaria and surrounding regions; much of our evidence comes from their opponents.
Not to be confused with
Bogomilism should not be treated simply as an early Protestantism; its dualist cosmology differed radically from Reformation theology.
History
It appeared in tenth-century Bulgaria and is associated with a preacher named Bogomil; it later spread through the Balkans and likely had connections with Western European dualist movements.
Main point of debate
Historians debate the precise content of Bogomil doctrine and how direct its influence on the Cathars was because the sources are fragmentary and often polemical.