OVERVIEW OF THE ENTIRE

TREATISE.

Dissertation I works to uncover the Name, Origin, and History of the Bogomils. First, it traces the origin of the Name to the Bulgarian language and examines various spellings of the name in Section I. It demonstrates that the group owes this name not so much to themselves as to other Authors in Section II. Other names for these same people are explained in Section III. Their origin is established as being twofold: partly more distant, traced back to the Manichaeans and Massalians The Manichaeans and Massalians were earlier dualist groups—those who believed in two opposing powers of good and evil—whom the Church considered ancestors of later heresies., and partly more immediate, traced back to Basil in Section IV. Their consistency with the Massalians is discussed more fully in Section V; in passing, the list of chapters original: κεφαλαίων (kephalaion); the main points or headings of a doctrine or dogmas of the Massalians, presented by Cotelier in Volume I of the Grecian Monuments, is illustrated by variant readings excerpted from the Bodleian Codex and restored to its original form. It is shown that their more immediate origin falls in the 12th Century, when the movement began to raise its head, although its slighter beginnings are to be sought in the 11th Century in Section VI. An account of Basil, the leader original: antesignano; literally a "standard-bearer" or someone who stands before the standards of an army of the Bogomils, is given in Section VII, who worked hardest at winning disciples for himself in Section VIII; in this section, a certain passage from Anna Anna Comnena (1083–1153), a Byzantine princess and historian who wrote the "Alexiad," which chronicles her father’s reign and the trial of the Bogomil leader Basil. is restored to its original form. Here at last the wisdom of Emperor Alexios is included in Section IX. Basil eloquently explains his doctrines before the Emperor in Section X, but after being caught in his errors by him, he is delivered to prison in Section XI. His remaining disciples are sought out, and then his companions in prison in Section XII. A unique method for distinguishing the guilty from the innocent is employed in Section XIII. Basil, found guilty of obstinacy, is condemned to the pyre and burned, a type of punishment the others barely escaped in Section XV. Shortly after, under John Komnenos, the same evil flared up again with the help of Constantine Chrysomallos in Section XVI. His writings are examined and destroyed by fire in Section XVII; however, those who had read the books professed that their minds were free from his opinions in Section XVIII. After him, Niphon, suspected of Bogomil doctrine, is likewise condemned in Section XIX, which also happened to Michael of Thessalonica. Finally, in the 13th Century, during the time of Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, certain remnants of the Bogomils survived.

Dissertation II investigates the Doctrines of the Bogomils. The writers who explained these doctrines are likewise commemorated and defended against the doubt of Gottfried Arnold regarding their reliability in Section I. Their errors concerning HOLY SCRIPTURE are discussed in Section II. Why did they reject the books of Moses? In Section III, they [rejected] certain...