Petrobrusians

Petrobrusians were a 12th century sect that rejected infant baptism, Catholic mass, veneration of the cross
and prayers for the dead.[1] Petrobrusians are sometimes identified as a precursor to the reformation.[2]

Teachings
In the system of Peter of Bruys baptism is necessary for salvation, however only a baptism that is done on
believers. Petrobrusians saw the cross as a symbol of Christ's suffering, thus they cannot be venerated, and
Petrobrusians destroyed crosses into bonfires, in the theology of Peter the gospels were interpreted literally,
however the New Testament epistles were subordinate to the gospels.[3] In Petrobrusian theology there was
also a low view of the Old Testament, but not a full rejection. The Petrobrusians were iconoclasts, they
rejected transubstantiation and the mass as a sacrifice.[4]

Comparison to Catharism
Some have attempted to identify Cathar influence in Petrobrusians, but such views have been criticized.[5]
The Petrobrusians and Cathars had some similarities, which is why Döllinger identified them as Cathars,
the similarities include: rejection of infant baptism, rejection of the veneration of the cross, rejection of
transubstantiation, the Petrobrusians also held a low view of the Old Testament, but not a full rejection of
the Old Testament. But against the claim that the Petrobrusians were Cathars, there are no existing sources
that identify dualism or Manichaeian ascetism in the Petrobrusians, the Petrobrusians also had no hostility to
marriage, unlike the Cathars had.[4]

References
1. "Definition of PETROBRUSIAN" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Petrobrusia
n). www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
2. Kim, Elijah Jong Fil (2012-04-06). The Rise of the Global South: The Decline of Western
Christendom and the Rise of Majority World Christianity (https://books.google.com/books?id
=Tl5NAwAAQBAJ&dq=Peter+of+Bruys+reformation&pg=PA201). Wipf and Stock
Publishers. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-61097-970-2. "Peter bruys became one of the earliest
leaders of the Reformation, rejecting images, infant baptism,"
3. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Petrobrusians" (https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11781a.
htm). www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
4. History, American Society of Church (1892). Papers of the American Society of Church
History (https://books.google.com/books?id=_ODRAAAAMAAJ&dq=Petrobrusians&pg=PA1
84). American Society of Church History.
5. Reagan, Joseph Cowley (1927). "Did the Petrobrusians Teach Salvation by Faith Alone?" (h
ttps://www.jstor.org/stable/1195227). The Journal of Religion. 7 (1): 81–91.
doi:10.1086/480637 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F480637). ISSN 0022-4189 (https://www.worl
dcat.org/issn/0022-4189). JSTOR 1195227 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1195227).
S2CID 170351805 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:170351805).

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