CATHAR LITERATURE 759
And again in John:
And he was given dominion
to act for forty-two months. Then he opened
his mouth to utter blasphemies against god,
blaspheming his name and his tenting place,
and those who have set their tent in the sky.
He was given powers to battle the saints
and to overcome them.^36Leaning on such testimonies, the sages decided it impossible that this pow-
erful god, and his might and force, had been created, essentially and directly,
by the true lord god, since our god works feverishly every day against that
force and vigorously combats him. And the true god would not respond in
this fashion if evil had derived from him, in any way, as almost all our adver-
saries claim.
ON THE DESTRUCTION OF THE
POWER IN EVILIn the holy scriptures it is clearly expressed that the true lord god will destroy
the powerful^37 and all his forces who work feverishly every day against him
and against his creation. David has indeed said of the one who is a powerful
malignancy, "That is why god will destroy you forever. He will tear you out of
your place, drag you out of your tent, and strip your roots from the land of the
living."^38 And for asking help from his god against the powerful, David again
says, "Break the arm of the impious and the wicked. You will punish him for
his lies and he will be no more. The lord will reign forever and into eternity."^39
David also sings out, "In a moment the wicked will be no more. You will look
at the place where he was and you will no longer see him there."^40- Revelation 13:5-7.
- Nelli observes that Jean de Lugio calls the principle of evil the powerful but never the all
powerful. So the principle of good and the principle of evil are never equal (Ecritures cathares,
46-59). - Psalm 52:5.
- Psalm 10:15-16.
- Psalm 37:10.