760 CATHAR LITERATURE
In Solomon's Proverbs it is written, "The wicked are overthrown by their
evildoing."^41 The messenger Paul alludes to the destruction of the powerful
through the coming of our lord Jesus Christ when he says to the Hebrews,
"in order to destroy him through his death, he who has the empire of death
and who is the devil."^42 Likewise, our lord is forced to destroy not only the
powerful but also all forces or dominations who through the powerful have
appeared at times to dominate the creatures of the good god who has been
exposed to the empire of evil. That is what the holy virgin says in the Gospel
of Luke:
He has toppled monarchs from their thrones
and raised the poor to their feet.^43And the messenger in the First Letter to the Corinthians tells us, "Then
comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to god the father, after he has
destroyed every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until
he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is
death."^44 The same messenger says to the Colossians, "Give thanks to the fa-
ther, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the
kingdom of his beloved son."^45 And Paul also says, "And when you were dead
in sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, god made you alive together with
him, when he forgave us all our sins, erasing the record that stood against us
with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed
the rulers and the powers, and he made a public example of them, triumphing
over them."^46 And likewise Paul was sent by the lord Jesus Christ to strip this
power, as it is written about him in Acts: "For I have appeared to you for this
purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have
seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your
people and from the gentiles, to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so
that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to god,
- Proverbs 14:32.
- Hebrews 2:14.
- Luke 1:52.
44.1 Corinthians 15:24-26. - Colossians 1:12-13.
- Colossians 2:13-15.