Montanism

Montanism was an early Christian sectarian movement of the mid-2nd century AD, named after its founder Montanus. It flourished mostly in and around the region of Phrygia, although it spread rapidly to other regions in the Roman Empire, and at a time before Christianity was generally tolerated or legal. Although the orthodox mainstream Christian church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations, labeling it a heresy, the sect persisted in some isolated places into the eighth century. Some people have drawn parallels between Montanism and Pentecostalism (which some call Neo-Montanism). The most widely known Montanist was undoubtedly Tertullian, who was the foremost Latin church writer before he defected to Montanism.

History

Shortly after Montanus' conversion to Christianity, he began travelling among the rural settlements of Asia Minor, preaching and testifying. Montanus was accompanied by two women, Prisca, sometimes called Priscilla, and Maximilla, who also purported to be the embodiments of the Holy Spirit that moved and inspired them. He claimed to have received a series of direct revelations from the Holy Spirit and to be the paraclete of the Gospel of John 14:16. As they went, "the Three" as they were called, spoke in ecstatic visions and urged their followers to fast and pray, so that they might share these personal revelations. His preachings spread from his native Phrygia, where he proclaimed the village of Pepuza as the site of the New Jerusalem, across the contemporary Christian world, to Africa and Gaul.

The divisive movement was partly inspired by a gnostic reading of the Gospel of John— "I will send you the advocate [paraclete], the spirit of truth" (Heine 1987, 1989; Groh 1985); the response to this continuing revelation split the Christian communities, and the more orthodox episcopal hierarchy fought to suppress it. Bishop Apollinarius found the church at Ancyra torn in two, and he opposed the "false prophesy" (quoted by Eusebius 5.16.5).

Prisca claimed that Christ had appeared to her in female form. When she was excommunicated, she exclaimed "I am driven away like the wolf from the sheep. I am no wolf: I am word and spirit and power."

The most widely known defender of Montanists was undoubtedly Tertullian, onetime champion of orthodox belief, who believed that the new prophecy was genuinely motivated and began to fall out of step with what he began to call "the church of a lot of bishops" (On Modesty). Irenaeus, who visited Rome during the height of the controversy, in the pontificate of Eleuterus, returned to find Lyon in dissension, and was inspired to write the first great statement of the mainstream Catholic position, Adversus Haereses.

Although the mainstream Christian church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations, inscriptions in the Tembris valley of northern Phrygia, dated between 249 and 279, openly proclaim their allegiance to Montanism. A letter of Jerome to Marcella, written in 385, refutes the claims of Montanists that had been troubling her [1]. This sect persisted into the eighth century, and some of its emphasis on direct, ecstatic personal presence of the Holy Spirit bears resemblance to all forms of Pentecostalism. Also they are very similar to the [Molokan] sect.

Paraclete comes from the Greek word παράκλητος meaning "one who consoles" or "one who intercedes on our behalf", which first appears in the Gospel of John (16:7). Christian theology afterwards identified Paraclete with the Holy Spirit. The word appears only a few times in Greek New Testament manuscripts and using the Roman alphabet is rendered "parakletos".

Christ is quoted in the New Testament using this word; in John 14:26 the greek word parakletos is used as an alternative term for "Holy Spirit". Yet in I John 2:1 "parakletos" is used again this time in reference to Christ.

Paraclete is important to Christians because it sheds much light on the nature of God and Christ and the Holy Spirit and brings into question the concept of the Trinity, often a source of great confusion. The Holy Spirit, or Paraclete, is the third person of the Holy Trinity. The Paraclete is also called the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter and the Supporter as it is the Paraclete who comes alongside the Christian to provide guidance, consolation and support throughout life’s journey.

Montanus (2nd Century?) claimed to be the promised paraclete of John 14:16.

Islam (7th Century) claims Muhammad is the Paraclete promised by Jesus.

Some Christians believe that Jesus was himself the second paraclete and returned after his death to indwell his followers as a spirit. He himself indicates that the second Paraclete would be "another" so this implies not himself. Since the Paraclete is called the Spirit of Truth it may be one of the seven angels (spirits) that stand before the Throne of God. The word itself implies an aggressive lawyer who defends the saints and prosecutes the world system.

Differences between Montanism and Catholicism

The beliefs of Montanism contrasted with mainstream Catholicism in the following ways:

• The belief that the prophecies of the Montanists superseded and fulfilled the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles.

• The encouragement of ecstatic prophesying and speaking in tongues, contrasting with the more sober and disciplined approach to theology dominant in mainstream Catholicism at the time and since.

• The view that Christians who fell from grace could not be redeemed, also in contrast to the Catholic view that contrition could lead to a sinner's restoration to the church.

• The prophets of Montanism did not speak as messengers of God: "Thus saith the Lord," but rather described themselves as possessed by God, and spoke in his person. "I am the Father, the Word, and the Paraclete," said Montanus (Didymus, De Trinitate, III, xli); This possession by a spirit, which spoke while the prophet was incapable of resisting, is described by the spirit of Montanus: "Behold the man is like a lyre, and I dart like the plectrum. The man sleeps, and I am awake" (Epiphanius, "Hæreses", xlviii, 4).

• A stronger emphasis on the avoidance of sin, church discipline, and apocalyptic living than in mainstream Catholicism. They emphasized chastity, including forbidding remarriage.

Jerome and other church leaders claimed that the Montanists held the belief that the Trinity consisted of only a single person, similar to Sabellianism, but in contrast to the Catholic view that the Trinity is one God of three persons. Other Catholic church leaders and Tertullian denied this charge.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Montanists
• Jerome's letter (xli) to Marcella to refute the heresy of Montanus, written in 385, "the passages brought together from the Gospel of John" having occasioned Marcella's questions
• EarlyChurch.org.uk Extensive bibliography and on-line articles.

Sources

• Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia ecclesiae, 5.16–18

Further reading

• Groh, Dennis E. 1985. "Utterance and exegesis: Biblical interpretation in the Montanist crisis," in Groh and Jewett, The Living Text (New York) pp 73 – 95.
• Heine, R.E., 1987 "The Role of the Gospel of John in the Montanist controversy," in Second Century v. 6, pp 1 – 18.
• Heine, R.E., 1989. "The Gospel of John and the Montanist debate at Rome," in Studia Patristica 21, pp 95 – 100.
• Pagels, Elaine, 2003. Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas ISBN 0375501568, contains a brief introduction to Montanism, with notes in chapter "God's Word or Human Words?"
• Trevett, Christine, 1996. Montanism: Gender, Authority and the New Prophecy (Cambridge University Press)

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