MONTANISM, a somewhat misleading name for the move ment in the 2nd century which, along with Gnosticism, occupied the most critical period in the history of the Early Church. It was the overthrow of Gnosticism and Montanism that made the "Catholic" Church. In this article an account will be given of the general significance of Montanism in relation to the history of the Church in the 2nd century, followed by a sketch of its origin, development and decline.
I. From the middle of the 2nd century a change began to take place in the outward circumstances of Christianity. The Christian faith had hitherto been maintained in a few small congregations scattered over the Roman empire. These congregations were provided with only the most indispensable constitutional forms. This state of things passed away. The Churches soon found numbers within their pale who stood in need of supervision, in struction and regular control. The enthusiasm for a life of holi ness and separation from the world no longer swayed all minds. In many cases sober convictions or submissive assent took the place of spontaneous enthusiasm. Then, in addition to this, Christians were already found in all ranks and occupations—in the Imperial palace, among the officials, in the abodes of labour and the halls of learning, amongst slaves and freemen. Should the Church take the decisive step into the world, conform to its customs, and acknowledge as far as possible its authorities? Or ought she, on the other hand, to remain a society of religious devotees, separated and shut out from the world? That this was the question at issue is obvious enough now, although it could not be clearly perceived at the time. It was natural that warning voices should then be raised in the Church against secular ten dencies and that the well-known counsels about the imitation of Christ should be held up in their literal strictness before worldly Christians. The Church as a whole, however, under pressure of circumstances rather than by a spontaneous impulse, decided otherwise. She marched through the open door into the Roman state, and settled down there to Christianize the state by im parting to it the word of the Gospel, but at the same time leaving it everything except its gods. On the other hand, she furnished
herself with everything of value that could be taken over from the world without overstraining the elastic structure of the or ganization which she now adopted. With the aid of its philosophy she created her new Christian theology; its polity furnished her with the most exact constitutional forms; its jurisprudence, its trade and commerce, its art and industry, were all taken into her service ; and she contrived to borrow some hints even from its religious worship. With this equipment she undertook, and carried through, a world-mission on a grand scale. But believers of the old school protested in the name of the Gospel against this secular Church. They joined an enthusiastic move ment which had originated in a remote province, and had at first merely local importance. There, in Phrygia, under the leadership of a prophet known as Montanus, the cry for a strict Christian life was reinforced by the belief in a new and final outpouring of the Spirit--a coincidence which has been observed elsewhere in Church history—as, for instance, among the early Quakers and in the Irvingite movement. These zealots surrendered themselves to this guidance. In so doing, however, they had to withdraw from the Church, to be known as "Montanists," or "Kataphrygians," and thus to assume the character of a "heresy." Their enthusiasm and their prophesyings were de nounced as demoniacal; their expectation of a glorious earthly kingdom of Christ was stigmatized as Jewish, their passion for martyrdom as vainglorious and their whole conduct as hypocriti cal. Nor did they escape the more serious imputation of heresy on important articles of faith; indeed, there was a disposition to put them on the same level with the Gnostics. The effect on themselves was what usually follows in such circumstances. After their separation from the Church, they became narrower and pettier in their conception of Christianity. Their asceticism de generated into legalism, their claim to a monopoly of pure Chris tianity made them arrogant.