Montanus

(second century)

   Sect Founder.

   Montanus was a preacher of Phrygia. He taught that the New Jerusalem was about to appear, heralded by a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He regarded himself and his immediate followers as the bringers of this new era and he urged withdrawal from the world, fasting and the anticipation of renewed persecution. Prominent among his early disciples were two women, Maximilla and Prisca. The movement spread through the African Churches and Tertullian was a prominent convert. It was condemned, however, by the mainstream Church and by 230 ad it had been driven underground. Montanism is interesting in that it foreshadowed many later millenarian groups which tried to return to the simplicity and enthusiasm of the Primitive Church.

   T.D. Barnes, ‘The chronology of Montanism’, Journal of Theological Studies, n.s. xxi (1971);

   J.M. Ford, ‘Was Montanism a Jewish-Christian heresy?’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, xvii (1966);

   C. Trevett, Montanism (1996).