Editing Montanism

{{Short description|2nd-century Christian movement}}
{{For|the unrelated Catholic philosophy emphasizing the authority of the Pope|Ultramontanism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Acts-2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Apostles in the New Testament|The Apostles]] receiving the [[Paraclete]] in [[Acts]]. [[Montanus]], the founder of Montanism, claimed to have also received the Paraclete.]]
{{Historical Christian theology|expanded=Background}}
'''Montanism''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɒ|n|t|ə|ˌ|n|ɪ|z|əm}}), known by its adherents as the '''New Revelation''', was an [[History of Christianity#Early Christianity (c. 31/33–324)|early Christian movement]] of the [[Christianity in the 2nd century|mid-to-late 2nd century]], later referred to by the name of its founder, [[Montanus]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-01-07|first=Jim|last=Laing|title=5 Things to Know About Montanism|url=https://transformedblog.westernseminary.edu/2014/01/07/5-things-to-know-about-montanism/|access-date=2020-09-15|website=Transformed|language=en-US|archive-date=16 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916222045/https://transformedblog.westernseminary.edu/2014/01/07/5-things-to-know-about-montanism/}}</ref> Montanism held views about the basic tenets of [[Christian theology]] similar to those of the wider [[Christian Church]], but it was labelled a [[Heresy in Christianity|heresy]] for its belief in new [[Prophets of Christianity|prophetic figures]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Montanism|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55975/montanism|access-date=2020-09-15|website=Catholic News Agency|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Montanism|url=https://www.theopedia.com/montanism|access-date=2020-09-15|website=www.theopedia.com}}</ref> The prophetic movement called for a reliance on the spontaneity of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] and a more conservative personal ethic.<ref name=":0" />

Montanism originated in [[Phrygia]], a province of [[Classical Anatolia|Anatolia]], and flourished throughout the region,<ref name=":0" /> leading to the movement being referred to elsewhere as '''Cataphrygian''' (meaning it was "from Phrygia") or simply as '''Phrygian'''.<ref>Speros Vryonis, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wBpIAAAAMAAJ The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor: And the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century]'', (Berkeley: University of California, 1971), p. 36</ref> They were sometimes also called '''Pepuzians''' after the town of [[Pepuza]], which they regarded as the [[new Jerusalem]]. Sometimes the Pepuzians were distinguished from other Montanists for despising those not living in the new Jerusalem.<ref name="cathen" /> The Montanist movement spread rapidly to other regions in the [[Roman Empire]] before Christianity was generally tolerated or became legal following the [[Edict of Serdica]] in 311. It persisted in some isolated places into the 6th century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Bradshaw|first=Robert I.|title=Montanism: Heresy or Healthy Revival?|url=https://earlychurch.org.uk/article_montanism.html|journal=Early Christianity|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The Montanists did not want to separate themselves from the wider Christian Church, and the Christian theologian [[Tertullian]] even recorded an event where a bishop almost declared Montanism as [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]], however changing his mind later.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Binder |first=Stephanie E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSkyAQAAQBAJ&dq=Tertullianists&pg=PA56 |title=Tertullian, On Idolatry and Mishnah Avodah Zarah: Questioning the Parting of the Ways between Christians and Jews |date=2012-11-13 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-23548-9 |language=en}}</ref> Some contemporary Christian theologians have drawn parallels between Montanism and [[Christianity in the modern era|modern-day Protestant movements]], such as the [[Charismatic movement]], as well as [[Pentecostalism]] (including [[Oneness Pentecostals]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Ford |first=Josephine M. |year=1970 |url=https://archive.org/details/pentecostalexper0000ford |title=The Pentecostal Experience |pages=50–53 |publisher=[[Paulist Press]] |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name="Robeck413">{{cite journal |last=Robeck |first=Cecil M Jr. |year=2010 |title=Montanism and Present Day 'Prophets' |journal=[[Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies]] |volume=32 |issue=3 |page=413 |doi=10.1163/157007410x531934}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Oneness Pentecostal Origins by Thomas Weisser|date=16 May 1996 |url=https://www.apostolic.edu/oneness-pentecostal-origins/|access-date=2020-09-15}}</ref>

==History==
Scholars debate as to when Montanus first began his prophetic activity, having chosen dates varying from c. AD 135 to as late as AD 177.<ref>
{{cite book |last1=de Labriolle |first1=Pierre |title=La crise montaniste |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jlNAAAAMAAJ |series=Bibliothèque de la Fondation Thiers |language=fr |volume=31 |publisher=Leroux |date=1913 |access-date=2015-07-01 }}
</ref>{{Sfn | Trevett | 1996 | p = 2–7}} Montanus was a recent convert when he first began prophesying, supposedly during the proconsulate of Gratus in a village in [[Mysia]] named Ardabau; no [[proconsul]] and village so named have been identified, however.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 12; 19 note 8}} Some accounts claim that before his conversion to Christianity, Montanus was a priest of [[Apollo]] or [[Cybele]].{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 19 note 2}}{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" | Claim made in ''Dialogue Between a Montanist and an Orthodox'' (4.4) and possibly alluded to by [[St. Jerome]]{{Sfn | Jerome | 385 | loc = Letter 41}}}} He believed he was a prophet of God and that the [[Paraclete]] spoke through him.<ref name=":1" />

Montanus proclaimed the towns of [[Pepuza]] and [[Tymion]] in west-central Phrygia as the site of the [[New Jerusalem]], making the larger—Pepuza—his headquarters.<ref name="cathen" />{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 15–18}} Phrygia as a source for this new movement was not arbitrary. Hellenization was slow to take root in Phrygia, unlike many of the surrounding eastern regions of the Roman Empire. This sense of difference, while simultaneously having easy access to the rest of the Mediterranean [[Christian world]], encouraged the foundation of this separate sect of Christianity.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 44}}

Montanus had two female colleagues, [[Prisca (Prophet)|Prisca]] (sometimes called [[Priscilla]], the diminutive form of her name) and [[Maximilla]], who likewise claimed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Their popularity even exceeded Montanus' own.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 89}} "The Three" spoke in ecstatic visions and urged their followers to fast and to pray, so that they might share these revelations. Their followers claimed they received the prophetic gift from the prophets [[Quadratus (prophet)]] and [[Ammia of Philadelphia]], figures believed to have been part of a line of prophetic succession stretching all the way back to [[Agabus]] (1st century AD) and to the daughters of [[Philip the Evangelist]].{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 37, 40–41 notes 6–8}} In time, the New Prophecy spread from Montanus's native Phrygia across the Christian world, to [[North Africa during Antiquity#Roman era|Africa]] and to [[Gaul]].<ref name=":2" />

The response to the New Prophecy split the Christian communities, and the [[proto-orthodox]] clergy mostly fought to suppress it. Opponents believed that evil spirits possessed the Phrygian prophets, and both Maximilla and Priscilla were the targets of failed [[exorcism]]s.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 31–32}} The churches of Asia Minor pronounced the prophecies [[Sacrilege|profane]], and [[excommunicated]] New Prophecy adherents.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 25}} Around 177, [[Apollinaris Claudius|Apollinarius]], Bishop of [[Hierapolis]], presided over a [[synod]] which condemned the New Prophecy.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 21–23}} The leaders of the churches of [[Lugdunum|Lyons]] and [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]] in Gaul responded to the New Prophecy in 177. Their decision was communicated to the churches in Asia and [[Pope Eleuterus]], but it is not known what this consisted of, only that it was "prudent and most orthodox".<ref name="cathen"/> It is likely they called for moderation in dealing with the movement.

There was real doubt at Rome, and its bishop (either Eleuterus or [[Pope Victor I|Victor I]]) even wrote letters in support of Montanism, although he was later persuaded by [[Praxeas]] to recall them.<ref>{{Citation |last=Tertullian |title=Adversus Praxean |at=c. 1}}.</ref>{{Sfn | Trevett | 1996 | pp = 58–59}} In 193, an anonymous writer found the church at [[Ancyra]] in [[Galatia]] torn in two, and opposed the "false prophecy" there.<ref>Quoted by Eusebius 5.16.4</ref>

Eventually, Montanist teachings came to be regarded as [[heresy]] by the orthodox [[Great Church]] for a number of reasons. The clash of basic beliefs between the movement's proponents and the greater Christian world was likely enough for such conflict to occur. Additionally, in the opinion of anti-Montanists, the movement's penchant for dramatic public displays by its adherents brought unwanted attention to the still fledgling religion. Thus, fears concerning the appearance of Montanist practices to their non-Christian rulers fueled anti-Montanist sentiment.{{Sfn | Trevett | 1996 | p = 43}} The imperial government carried out sporadic executions of Christians under the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]], circa AD 161–180, which coincides with the spread of Montanism.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

There is no clear evidence as to what happened to Montanus. One of the most widespread stories at the time, as stated by an anonymous associate of [[Apollinaris Claudius|Apollinarius]], is that he hanged himself, as did Maximilla, although he does not exclude the possibility of them dying some other way.<ref>{{cite book |last= [[Eusebius]] |title= [[The History of the Church]] |publisher=[[Penguin Classics]]|page= 162}}</ref>

There was never a uniform excommunication of New Prophecy adherents, and in many places they maintained their standing within the orthodox community. This was the case at [[Carthage]]. While not without tension, the church there avoided [[schism]] over the issue. There were women prophesying at Carthage, and prophecy was considered a genuine [[charism]]. It was the responsibility of the council of elders to test all prophecy and to determine genuine revelation.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 128}} [[Tertullian]], undoubtedly the best-known defender of the New Prophecy, believed that the claims of Montanus were genuine beginning c. 207.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 98 note 1}} He believed in the validity of the New Prophecy and admired the movement's discipline and ascetic standards. Debates continue as to whether Tertullian decisively left the orthodox Church and joined a separate Montanist sect or remained an early proto-orthodox Christian.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 98 note 1}}<ref name="JLG-Nontrinitarians">Justo L. González, ''The Story of Christianity: The [[Early Church]] to the Present Day,'' Prince Press, 1984, Vol. 1, pp. 159–161• Jaroslav Pelikan, ''The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine,'' The University of Chicago Press, 1971, Vol. 1, pp. 181–199</ref>

Although what became the orthodox Christian Church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations, inscriptions in the Tembris valley of northern [[Phrygia]], dated between 249 and 279, openly proclaim allegiance to the New Prophecy. Speros Vryonis considers these inscriptions remarkable in that they are the only set of inscriptions which openly reveal the religious affiliations of the deceased before the period of toleration, when Christians dared not to do so.<ref name=Vryonis-57>Vryonis, ''Decline of Medieval Hellenism'', p. 57 and notes.</ref> In the 3rd century, a new prophetess appeared in Pepuza, [[Quintilla]]. Her followers, the Quintillians, were regarded as an important Montanist sect into the 5th century.{{Sfn | Trevett | 1996 | pp = 167–170}}

A letter of [[Jerome]] to [[Saint Marcella|Marcella]], written in 385, refutes the claims of Montanists that had been troubling her.{{Sfn | Jerome | 385 | loc = Letter 41}} A group of "Tertullianists" may have continued at Carthage. The anonymous author of ''[[Praedestinatus]]'' records that a preacher came to Rome in 388 where he made many converts and obtained the use of a church for his congregation on the grounds that the martyrs to whom it was dedicated had been Montanists.<ref>{{Citation |last=Tertullian |at=v. 1 c. 86 |url=http://www.tertullian.org/tertullianistae/praedestinatus.htm |title=Praedestinatus}}.</ref> He was obliged to flee after the victory of [[Theodosius I]].

In his own time, [[Augustine]] (354–430) records that the Tertullianist group had dwindled to almost nothing and, finally, was reconciled to the church and handed over its basilica.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.tertullian.org/tertullianistae/de_haeresibus.htm |last=Tertullian |title=De haeresibus}}.</ref> It is not certain whether these Tertullianists were in all respects "Montanist" or not. In 530 Emperor [[Justinian]] expelled Montanist clergy from Constantinople. In 550, on the orders of Justinian, [[John of Ephesus]] led an expedition to [[Pepuza]] to destroy the Montanist shrine there, which was based on the tombs of Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2005}}

A Montanist sect in Galatia, the [[Tascodrugites]], is attested around 600 by [[Timothy of Constantinople]] and in the 9th century by [[Theodore the Studite]].{{sfn|Lieu|1999|pp=211–212}} A sect called "Montanist" existed in the 8th century; the Emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo III]] ordered the conversion and baptism of its members. These Montanists refused, locked themselves in their houses of worship, [[mass suicide|set the buildings on fire and perished]].<ref name=Vryonis-57/>

==Beliefs==
Because much of what is known about Montanism comes from anti-Montanist sources, it is difficult to know what they actually believed and how those beliefs differed from the Christian mainstream of the time.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 1–3}} The New Prophecy was also a diverse movement, and what Montanists believed varied by location and time.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 118 note 5}} Montanism was particularly influenced by [[Johannine literature]], especially the [[Gospel of John]] and the [[Apocalypse of John]] (also known as the Book of Revelation).{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 20 note 21}}

In John's Gospel, Jesus promised to send the [[Paraclete]] or Holy Spirit, from which Montanists believed their prophets derived inspiration. In the Apocalypse, John was taken by an angel to the top of a mountain where he sees the [[New Jerusalem]] descend to earth. Montanus identified this mountain as being located in Phrygia near Pepuza.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 67}} Followers of the New Prophecy called themselves ''spiritales'' ("spiritual people") in contrast to their opponents whom they termed ''psychici'' ("carnal, natural people"{{request quotation|date=August 2021}}<!--for both the Latin term and the translation, since it's the combination of the two that is puzzling. I just don't see how ''psychici'' could have meant this; the root means 'soul', i.e. the opposite of what is stated. 'Carnal/natural' should have been ''physici'', IMO.-->).{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 110}}

===Ecstatic prophecy===
As the name "New Prophecy" implied, Montanism was a movement focused around prophecy, specifically the prophecies of the movement's founders which were believed to contain the Holy Spirit's revelation for the present age.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 68}} Prophecy itself was not controversial within 2nd-century Christian communities.<ref name=Ash >{{Citation |last=Ash |first=James L Jr |title=The Decline of Ecstatic Prophecy in the Early Church |journal=Theological Studies |volume=37 |number=2 |date=June 1976 |page=236|doi=10.1177/004056397603700202 |s2cid=53551663 }}.</ref>{{Sfn | Jerome | 385 | loc = Letter 41.2 | ps = : "we tell them [Montanists] that we do not so much reject prophecy—for this is attested by the passion of the Lord—as refuse to receive prophets whose utterances fail to accord with the Scriptures old and new".}} However, the New Prophecy, as described by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], departed from Church tradition:{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 12, 37}}
{{blockquote|And he [Montanus] became beside himself, and being suddenly in a sort of frenzy and [[Religious ecstasy|ecstasy]], he raved, and began to babble and utter strange things, prophesying in a manner contrary to the constant custom of the Church handed down by tradition from the beginning.|Eusebius of Caesarea<ref name=EccHist5.16.7>{{Citation |author=Eusebius of Caesarea |title=Ecclesiastical History |volume=5 |chapter=Chapter 16. The Circumstances related of Montanus and his False Prophets. |chapter-url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250105.htm |access-date=5 August 2022}}.</ref>}}
According to opponents, the Montanist prophets did not speak as messengers of God, but believed they became fully possessed by God and spoke as God.<ref name= "cathen" /> A prophetic utterance by Montanus described this possessed state: "Lo, the man is as a lyre, and I fly over him as a pick. The man sleepeth, while I watch." Thus, the Phrygians were seen as false prophets because they acted irrationally and were not in control of their senses.<ref name=Epiphanius48.3-4>Epiphanius, [[Panarion|''Against Heresies'']], 48.3–4.</ref>

A criticism of Montanism was that its followers claimed their revelation received directly from the Holy Spirit could supersede the authority of [[Jesus]] or [[Paul the Apostle]] or anyone else.<ref>[[Placher, William C.]] ''A History of Christian Theology: an introduction''. Westminster John Knox Press, 1983, p. 50.</ref> In some of his prophecies, Montanus apparently, and somewhat like the [[oracle]]s of the Greco-Roman world, spoke in the [[Grammatical person|first person]] as God: "I am the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 12}}

Many early Christians understood this to be Montanus claiming himself to be God. However, scholars agree that these words of Montanus exemplify the general practice of religious prophets to speak as the passive mouthpieces of the divine, and to claim divine inspiration (similar to modern prophets stating "Thus saith the Lord"). That practice occurred in Christian as well as in pagan circles with some degree of frequency.{{Sfn | Pelikan | 1956 | p = 101}}{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 93}}

=== Other beliefs ===
Other beliefs and practices (or alleged beliefs and practices) of Montanism are as follows:
* In ''On the Resurrection of the Flesh'', Tertullian wrote that the Holy Spirit through the New Prophecy cleared up the ambiguities of scripture.<ref name=TertullianRes>Tertullian, ''On the Resurrection of the Flesh'', 63.9.</ref>{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 111}} The new prophecies did not contain new doctrinal content, but mandated strict ethical standards.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 129}} To the mainstream Christian Church, Montanists appeared to believe that the new prophecies superseded and fulfilled the doctrines proclaimed by the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]].<ref name = "cathen">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Chapman |first=John |title=Montanists |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=10 |publisher=Robert Appleton |year=1911 |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10521a.htm |access-date=27 June 2011}}</ref>
* The Montanists were alleged to have believed in the power of apostles and prophets to forgive [[sin]]s.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 123}} Adherents also believed that [[Christian martyrs|martyrs]] and [[Confessor of the Faith|confessors]] also possessed this power. The mainstream Church believed that God forgave sins through [[bishop]]s and [[presbyter]]s (and those martyrs recognized by legitimate [[ecclesiastical]] authority).{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | p = 91}}
* Montanists recognized women as bishops and presbyters.<ref name=Epiphanius49.2.5>Epiphanius, [[Panarion|''Against Heresies'']], 49.2.5.</ref><ref>Kienzle, Beverly Mayne; Walker, Professor Pamela J.; Walker, Pamela J. (30 April 1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bPaxru2EMQgC&dq=montanism+women+preachers&pg=PA34 ''Women Preachers and Prophets Through Two Millennia of Christianity''.] University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-20922-0}}.</ref>
* Women and girls were forbidden to wear ornaments, and virgins were required to wear [[Christian head covering|veils]].<ref>{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Montanism}}</ref>
* There was a divide between [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] Montanists and [[Monarchian]] Montanists, both beliefs existing inside Montanism.<ref name=":22" />
* An emphasis on ethical rigorism and [[asceticism]]. These included prohibitions against remarriage following divorce or the death of a spouse. They also emphasized keeping [[fasts]] strictly and added new fasts.{{Sfn | Tabbernee | 2009 | pp = 13–15}}
* Montanus provided salaries for those who preached his doctrine, which orthodox writers claimed was promoting [[gluttony]].<ref>Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, 5, 18</ref>
* Some of the Montanists were also "[[Quartodeciman]]" ("fourteeners"), preferring to celebrate Easter on the Hebrew calendar date of 14 [[Nisan]], regardless of what day of the week it landed on. Mainstream Christians held that Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following 14 Nisan.{{Sfn | Trevett | 1996 | p = 202}} However, uniformity in this matter had not yet been fully achieved when the Montanist movement began; [[Polycarp]], for example, was a quartodeciman, and St. [[Irenaeus]] convinced [[Pope Victor I|Victor]], then Bishop of Rome, to refrain from making the issue of the date of [[Easter#Date|Easter]] a divisive one.<ref>Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, 5, 23–25.</ref> Later, the Catholic Church established a fixed way of calculating Easter according to the Julian (and later the Gregorian) calendar.
* Montanists believed in [[premillennialism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Foster |first1=K. Neill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaVvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT14 |title=Essays on Premillennialism: A Modern Reaffirmation of an Ancient Doctrine |last2=Fessenden |first2=David E. |date=2007-02-01 |publisher=Moody Publishers |isbn=978-1-60066-959-0 |language=en}}</ref> 
* That the [[Lapsi (Christianity)|Lapsi]] cannot be restored back into fellowship.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pohle |first1=Rev Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3YkDwAAQBAJ&dq=Montanus+teachings&pg=PT2047 |title=Rev. Joseph Pohle Collection [9 Books] |last2=Press |first2=Aeterna |publisher=Aeterna Press |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Ecstatic]] form of worship.<ref>{{Cite book |last=III |first=H. W. Crocker |title=Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church |date=2009-02-25 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-307-56077-3 |language=en }}</ref>
* Limited distinction between the [[laity]] and the [[clergy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hierarchy of the Early Church |url=https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/hierarchy-of-the-early-church |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=Catholic Answers |quote=H. The Hierarchy as an Ecclesiastical Institution.—(I) The utterance of Tertullian (De exhort. cast. vii), declaring that the difference between the priests and the laity was due to ecclesiastical institution, and that therefore any layman in the absence of a priest could offer sacrifice, baptize, and act as priest, is based on Montanistic theories and contradicts earlier teachings of Tertullian (e.g., De baptismo, xvii). (2)}}</ref>
* Discouragement of [[infant baptism]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Killen |first=W. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-PzDwAAQBAJ&dq=Montanism+infant+baptism&pg=PA286 |title=The Ancient Church |date=2020-07-29 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-7523-6403-3 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Geographical differences ===
It appears that North African Montanism and the form of Montanism in Anatolia had many differences. The Montanists in North Africa believed that the New Testament was the supreme rule of Christian life and theology, and bishops were successors of the apostles and held much similar theology as the [[Great Church]], while Montanus himself had different views.<ref name=":22">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Montanism}}</ref>

== Opponents ==
[[Origen]] indirectly addresses montanism.

==See also==
* [[Apostolic-Prophetic Movement]]
* [[Artotyrite]]
* [[Ascitans]]
* [[Charismatic Christianity]]
* [[Council of Iconium]]
* [[Pentecostalism]]
* [[Testament of Job]]
* [[Thraseas]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist | group = "lower-alpha"}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Citation |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.v.XLI.html |type=Letter |number=xli |title=To Marcella |last=Jerome |editor-last=Schaff |publisher=CCEL |year=385}}
* {{Citation |last=Labriolle |first=Pierre |author-link=Pierre de Labriolle |title=La Crise Montaniste |year=1913|place=Paris |publisher=Leroux |language=fr}}.
*{{cite book |first=Samuel N. C. |last=Lieu |title=Manichaeism in Mesopotamia and the Roman East |edition=2nd |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=1999}}
* {{cite journal | last = Mitchell | first = Stephen | title = An Apostle to Ankara from the New Jerusalem: Montanists and Jews in Late Roman Asia Minor | journal = Scripta Classica Israelica | volume = 24 | pages = 207–223 | date = 2005}}
* {{Citation |last=Pelikan |first=Jaroslav |year=1956 |title=Montanism and Its Trinitarian Significance |publisher=Cambridge University Press |journal=Church History |volume=25 |number=2 |pages=99–109 |doi=10.2307/3161195|jstor=3161195 |s2cid=162580581 }}.
* {{Citation |last=Tabbernee |first=William |title=Prophets and Gravestones: An Imaginative History of Montanists and Other Early Christians |place=Peabody, MA |publisher=Hendrickson |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-56563-937-9}}.
* {{Citation |first=Christine |last=Trevett |title=Montanism: Gender, Authority and the New Prophecy |isbn=0-521-41182-3 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996}}
* {{Citation |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Thonemann |title=Roman Phrygia: Culture and Society |isbn=978-1-107-03128-9 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013}}

==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.
* {{Citation |last=Metzger |first=Bruce |title=The Canon of the New Testament. Its Origin, Development, and Significance |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1987 |pages=99–106 |isbn=0-19826954-4}}.
* {{Citation |last=McGowan |first=Andrew B |title=Tertullian and the 'Heretical' Origins of the 'Orthodox' Trinity |journal=Journal of Early Christian Studies |volume=14 |issue=4 |year=2006 |pages=437–57 |doi=10.1353/earl.2007.0005|s2cid=170419082 }}.
* {{Citation |last=Pelikan |first=Jaroslav |title=The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Christian Doctrine |volume=I ''The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition, 100–600'' |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1977}}.
* {{Citation |last=Tabbernee |first=William |year=1997 |title=Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia: Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism |series=Patristic Monograph Series |number=16 |publisher=Mercer University Press |place=Georgia}}.
* {{Citation |last=Hirschmann |first=Vera-Elisabeth |year=2005 |title=Horrenda Secta. Untersuchungen zum fruеhchristlichen Montanismus und seinen Verbindungen zur paganen Religion Phrygiens |place=Stuttgart |publisher=Franz Steiner |language=de}}
* {{Citation |last=Butler |first=Rex |title=The New Prophecy and "New Visions": Evidence of Montanism in The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas |place=Washington, DC |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |year=2006}}.

==External links==
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Montanism |volume=18 |short=x}}
* {{Citation |url=http://danielrjennings.org/AncientReferencesToMontanism.html |title=Ancient & Medieval References To Montanism |last=Jennings |first=Daniel R}}.  An extensive listing of references by 67 ancient and medieval writers to the Montanists.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.earlychurch.org.uk/montanism.php | publisher = Early Church | place = UK | title = Montanism}}.  Extensive bibliography and on-line articles.
{{Montanism}}
{{History of Christianity|state=expanded}}
{{Heresies condemned by the Catholic Church}}

[[Category:Montanism| ]]
[[Category:Apocalypticism]]
[[Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian denominations established in the 2nd century]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Heresy in ancient Christianity]]
[[Category:Prophets in Christianity]]
[[Category:Phrygia]]