In this series, we will explore a collection of religious stories that once circulated across Eastern Europe and were last recorded about 120 years ago in northern Romania. These oral tales bear a distinctly dualistic character, suggesting they may be surviving fragments of the elusive Bogomil Bible— a text that has never been discovered in written form.

Genesis: How the Earth Was Made

Long ago, before time began, there was only water—endless, dark, and deep. Above its surface walked two beings: God and the Devil.

They met upon the waters.

“What is your name?” asked God.

“Nefrtate,” replied the Devil. Non-brother. Enemy.

“And yours?” the Devil asked in return.

“I am Frtate,” said God. Brother. Friend.

“Let us make land,” said God.

“Very well,” answered Nefrtate.

God instructed, “Go into the sea and bring up soil—but do so in my name.”

Instead, the Devil defied him. “I will take the soil in my own name.”

But when Nefrtate scooped the earth from beneath the water, it slipped through his fingers. The soil dissolved and was lost to the depths.

“You see?” said God. “You did not act in my name. Try again.”

The Devil descended once more. “Still, I take it in my name.”

But God caused the waters to freeze. By the time Nefrtate shattered the ice, the earth was gone again.

“You have not obeyed,” said God.

Each time, the water rose higher: first to the Devil’s knees, then his waist, then his neck.

“Be warned,” said God. “You are close to death.”

Still, Nefrtate persisted in pride. Once more, God froze the waters.

The Devil descended again—and this time, when he saw he would drown, he cried out, “Let it be in His name, then!”

At that moment, a bit of soil remained, caught under his fingernails. He rose up with it.

God took a stalk of straw and scraped the soil from the Devil’s nails. He kneaded it into a small pie of earth, laid it on His palm, and blew upon it. Then He clapped His hands together.

When He opened them, the pie had become a mound—just large enough to lie down upon.

He placed it on the waters.

“We now have earth on which to sleep,” said God.

That night, God slept peacefully. But Nefrtate did not rest. Jealous and bitter, he nudged and pushed God throughout the night, hoping to drown Him.

Yet as he pushed, the earth beneath them grew—widening and rising. By morning, the land had spread as far as the eye could see.

It had grown beneath God.

Alternate Version: God Cast Into the River

In another telling, God was resting on the bank of a river when the Devil, in secret malice, rolled Him into the waters to drown Him.

But the moment God touched the water, it dried up. The river vanished.

The Devil stood stunned. In that moment, he understood: God’s power was greater than he had ever known.