Chrzest w Duchu Świętym wbrew Kościołowi? Consolamentum średniowiecznych katarów

Abstract

The phenomenon of born-again Christians is growing in the Christian Word nowadays in many countries. While much is being written about the present shape of this spiritual movement, rarely the attention of scholars is directed towards its historical antecedents. This is why in this study the medieval Cathars are reflected upon from the point of view of their ideas regarding new (spiritual) birth and – as they called it – baptism in the Spirit. Two different historical sources for Cathars are briefly presented – the Eastern and the Western ones, the latter being more important to our topic in this place. Then a special attention is paid to the Cathars’ practice of new birth by a spiritual baptism and of spiritual regeneration through laying on hands. Thus the practice of the baptism in the Spirit understood as a ritual of a group prayer over a person in search of such an experience may be considered analogous to the present practice of spiritual baptism in some forms of Pentecostal piety.