Catharism was a complicated mix of non-Christian religions reworked with Christian terminology. The Albigensians formed one of the largest Cathar sects. They taught that the spirit was created by God, and was good, while the body was created by an evil god, and the spirit must be freed from the body. Logically, marriage was forbidden, though fornication was permitted. Tremendous fasts and severe mortifications of all kinds were practiced, and their leaders went about in voluntary poverty.
Protestant groups display a wide variety of different doctrines.
For example, Luther believed that saving faith is expressed in baptism, which he said makes us born again and forgives our sins, while many Fundamentalists claim this is a false gospel and that baptism is merely a symbol. The great diversity of Protestant doctrines stems from the doctrine of private judgment, which denies the infallible authority of the Church and claims that each individual is to interpret Scripture for himself. The doctrine of private judgment has resulted in an enormous number of different denominations. According to The Christian Sourcebook , there were 21,000 denominations in 1986, with 270 new ones being formed each year. Virtually all of these are Protestant.