History of the Bogomils

...entered into society, especially if, by a certain accustomed formula in their prayers, they made mention of divine mercy. For this conjecture is made by Caspar Sagittarius A 17th-century German historian and theologian. in his Introduction to Ecclesiastical History, page 891, where he opines that this formula was perhaps such as the Muscovites A historical term for Russians. are accustomed to use in their prayers today: Hospodi pomiloi Old Church Slavonic: "Lord, have mercy.", that is, "Lord, have mercy on me," which they repeat quite frequently. If anyone should wish to believe that the Bogomils themselves were the authors of their own name, I would believe him not to be entirely destitute of reason for stating so, since this very name seems to carry something pleasant with it, and it is well known that heretics have affected names of that kind with all zeal. Johann Heinrich Hottinger A Swiss philologist and theologian (1620–1667) specializing in Oriental languages. observed this among others in his Philological Treasury, Book I, Chapter I, page 69, and to lend credibility to his assertion, he calls upon the examples of Muhammad, the Gnostics, Mani, etc. The author suggests these groups chose names implying "purity" or "praise" to gain favor.
Whatever the truth of this may be—whether the Bogomils themselves or their orthodox original: "recte sentientibus," literally "those who think correctly." adversaries invented the name—it is certainly not obscure why it was borrowed from a specific quality rather than from the leader and standard-bearer of the sect itself. For it appears sufficiently from the testimonies of Euthymius Euthymius Zigabenus, a 12th-century Byzantine monk and author of the Panoply of Doctrine. and Anna Comnena A Byzantine princess and historian (1083–1153) who wrote the Alexiad, detailing her father's reign and the trial of the Bogomil leader Basil. that these men sought the salvation of their sect especially in concealment and dissimulation, which without doubt applied not only to their dogmas, but also to their chief defender and leader.

III. Nor is this the only name by which they were distinguished by the ancients; rather, as one observes in other heresies, where they bore various names according to the diversity of their unusual opinions, we find the same happened to the Bogomils. In this, they followed the example of their ancestors, namely the Massalians A 4th-century ascetic sect, also called Messalians, who believed constant prayer was the only way to expel demons., to whom the very multitude of names they bore imposed the epithet of a multi-form and many-named heresy original Greek: αἱρέσεως πολυειδοῦς καὶ πολυωνύμου: see Euthymius’s Victory and Triumph over the Sect of the Massalians, pages 106 and 112, in the edition by Tollius. For these were called now Prayers original: "euchitai", now Enthusiasts original: "enthousiastai," meaning those possessed by a divine spirit,