Montanism

Overview

Montanism was a prophetic movement begun by a man named Montanus in the region of Phrygia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) in the late second century. Its adherents called the movement the "New Prophecy." Its opponents called them the "Phrygians" (Cataphrygians), after the region in which the movement arose. Because ancient sources give differing dates for its beginning, it is generally placed between the 150s and the 170s. Two female prophets, Prisca (Priscilla) and Maximilla, led the movement together with Montanus.

Principal Claims

• Prophecy of the Paraclete: Montanus claimed that the Paraclete promised by Jesus in John 14, that is, the Holy Spirit who stands alongside to help, was speaking through him. He is reported to have prophesied in a state of ecstatic trance, with God himself speaking directly in the first person ("I").
• Imminent end: The movement taught that the heavenly New Jerusalem would descend upon Pepuza and Tymion, small towns in Phrygia.
• Strict discipline of life: The movement increased fasting, forbade remarriage after the death of a spouse, and urged believers not to flee persecution but to accept martyrdom.
• Many scholars judge that the movement did not differ substantially from the church of its day on core doctrines such as the Trinity. The dispute centered less on doctrine itself than on how far the authority of new revelation should be recognized and on questions of church order.

Response of the Early Church

According to the Ecclesiastical History of the fourth-century church historian Eusebius, a number of church leaders in Asia Minor met to examine the movement and rejected it. Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, and others wrote treatises refuting it. Opponents reportedly argued that a true prophet does not speak in a state of ecstasy, and they also pointed to the failure of the end foretold by the Montanists as evidence of false prophecy.

Tertullian, the theologian of Carthage in North Africa, is known to have sympathized with and joined the movement in the early third century. Scholars disagree, however, on whether he fully left the established church. The movement persisted for several centuries, became subject to legal sanctions after the Roman Empire was Christianized, and is believed to have declined from around the sixth century onward.

The Montanist Position

The Montanists maintained that they had not introduced new doctrine but that Jesus' promise of the Paraclete was being fulfilled. Citing Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17, "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," they held that the gift of prophecy, including its exercise by women, continued. Tertullian argued that the Paraclete does not alter doctrine but rather brings the Christian discipline of life to greater completeness. Because most Montanist writings survive only in quotations by their opponents, however, any reconstruction of their views is necessarily limited.

Historical Assessment

Some scholars hold that in responding to Montanism, the church more clearly defined the boundaries of the canon (the list of books of Scripture officially recognized by the church), the authority of bishops, and its wariness toward ecstatic prophecy. Some studies also reassess Montanism as a renewal movement that resisted an increasingly institutionalized church.

Discussion in the Korean Church

Because the movement disappeared in antiquity, it is not among the groups that Korean denominations currently designate as heretical. It is, however, frequently cited as a point of comparison in debates over spiritual gifts and revelation.

• Proponents of cessationism, particularly some Reformed Presbyterians, cite Montanism as a classic example of the dangers of claiming new revelation after the completion of Scripture.
• Pentecostals and charismatics draw a distinction, arguing that Montanus's problem was not the gift of prophecy itself but that he placed his own prophecies above Scripture and the discernment of the church and presented himself as the mouthpiece of the Paraclete.
• It is also invoked as a point of comparison in criticisms of claims to so-called "direct revelation" (revelation supposedly received directly from God apart from Scripture), of the New Apostolic Reformation, and of certain groups that present their leader as the Paraclete or as a special recipient of revelation.