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MONTANISM s

PROPHESY OR HERESY?

A Thesiss presented for the

degree of M.Th.
Research having been conducted
in the Department of
Ecclesiastical- History,
The University, Glasgow
By BARNABAS AHUNA OGUGUO.
October 1983*
 ProQuest Number: 10970821

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter I
Prophecy in Israel

Chapter II
Prophecy in the l\Ieu Testament

Chapter III
Prophecy in the Book of Revelation and the
Shepherd of Hermas

Chapter IV
Prophecy of Hontanus

Chapter V
Present Approach to Montanism

Select Bibliography
ABBREVIATIONS

A N E T Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the old

testament.
Edited by J.B. Pritchard
2nd Edition 1955

A 0 T Altorientalisite Text Zum alten testament

Edited by H. Gressman
2nd Edition 1926

B A S 0 R Bulletin of American Studies of Oriental Reaearch

B J R L Bulletin of John Rylands library

Manchester

C S E L Corpus Scriptorium ecclesiasticormn latinorom

Vienna 1866

D C B Dictionary of Christian biography

Henry Smith and Henry Wallace
London 1880

E T English Translation

H E Hist or ia Ecclesiastic a
Eusebius

H T R Harvard Theological Review:

J B C Jerome Biblical Commentary

Brown Raymond E S S and Others
London 1968

J B: L Journal of Biblical Literature

J E H Journal of Ecclesiastical History

J T S Journal of Theological Studies

NTS New Testament Studies^

P G Batrologia Greco-Latina
ed J.P. Migne
Paris 1843 - 90

P L Batrologia Latina
ed J.P. Migne

R B Revue Biblioue

T B N T Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

E T of Theologisthes Wortenbuch Zum Neuen Testament,
ed G. Kittel, G. Friedrich
Stuggart 1933 - 74

I Q Sa Rule of Community (appendix) from Qumran Gave I

V T Vetus Testamentum
 I

Summary

My interest in Montanism developed out of my quest for non theological

factors surrounding religious movements in the early Church* This

interest developed over a. long time but was enkindled once more during

the course of my studies with Professor W H C Frend. I became

particularly interested in the Phrygian movement, and the environment

that helped its development*

Several opinions have arisen about whether Montanism was prophecy or

heresy* Sometimes arguments, have arisen as to how Montanism differed

in its original home of Phrygia from that which was known in the

West* Some authors saw the extinction of Montanism as, the extinction

of the Spirit of prophecy which gave life to the early church* Others

have seen it as the ending of the ’’heresy of the Phrygians” .

In this work an attempt has been made to trace prophecy up to the time

of Montanism and see what factors, sociological, environmental or

otherwise contributed to the spread or extinction* Hence in my

Chapter one, I traced prophecy in Israel* Taking my bearing from

the origin and the influence environment had on the prophecy in Israel,

in Chapter two, I treated the New Testament prophecy and had a look

at Paul’s understanding of the word prophecy.

Chapter three deals with two books of the early Christian Centuries,

which were written with the explicit reason that they were prophecy*

One, Revelation was written in Asia Minor and one, the Shepherd of

Hermas was written in Rome* In the two books we saw how social and

economic conditions precipitated the need for prophetic utterances*

Chapter four deals with thaMontanist movement;, a brief survey of the

situation prior to the time of the outbreak of the movement and how/
 II.

/how it eventually spread as far as the West.

Chapter five discusses what 20th Century writers had to say about

Montanism, and thus to Conclusion®

INTRODUCTION
 1

Montanism as a religious movement in the early church has been branded

a movement of double home^. As a movement of enthusiasm, it took its

rise in Asia, thereafter attracting the attention of the Church in

Rome, it reappeared in 'Africa* in its later form, as a movement of

rigorism. The above sentences give a birds-eye view of the fact that

what is really a religious movement has many factors contributing to

whichever phase it took wherever it took it., No one can seriously

doubt the influence of paganism and philosophy as providing the

intellectual background against which Christianity developed, similarly

no serious student of history can doubt the contribution within the

Roman Empire, Hellenistic Judaism in all its many aspects made to mould

the social as well as the theological patterns that characterised its

development. Non theological factors were always present in its steady

advance during the first two centuries.

Environment and social conditions have a great deal of influence in

whatever people believe. Examples abound as to the influence of these

factors. For instance, one who is accustomed to worship only in one

of the big cities of Western Europe would be completely surprised at

what people of the same sect or. faith do in the remote regions of

Africa. The doctrine of heaven and hell will have more meaning to

the impoverished regions of Nigeria than to the affluent society in

the developed world. The difference between urban and rural environment

plays a great part in shaping of peoples beliefs and as Professor Frend

puts it "Christianity began as an urban movement end when the rural

areas took over, it. adapted". Could we not find the truths in the

adaptations which the Christian message made from the Jerusalem home/
 2

/home into all parts of the world? So, Prophetic Movement as a

movement in the proclamation of the Christian message had its adjustments

too.

The difference between Hennas of Rome and Montanus of Phrygia may lie

partly in their local environment. The author of Revelation was clearly

influenced by his environment and social conditions in Asia minor.

The same may be said of the Old Testament prophets like Amos, Micah

and others in so far as we are able to discover.

My thesis therefore concerns the prophetic movement within the early

Christianity. How far was Montanism a continuation of this? How

far was the spread to Horth Africa and Rome the response to a social

and religious message that appealed to Christian inhabitants with the

orthodoxies and complacencies of a residential urban episcopate? Or

was Montanism simply the heresy of the Kataphrygians? These are the

questions my thesis tries to answer. In my work I am greatly indebted

to my supervisor Professor W H C Prend whose advice and guidance has

proved invaluable. I am also grateful to Anne Russell for her patience

and courage in typing a difficult Manuscript.

 3

Notes :

1 For this account .cf G Salmon, s v ’Montanus’ in D C B iii

935 - ^5; J Tixeront, History of Dogma i Page 192 - 1993
G N Bonwetsch, Die Geschichte des Montanismus (Erlangen, l88l)
see also Tillemont, Memoires, ii *ll8 - h8, and Fleury,
Hist Eccl h2J - 33
C H A P I E R I

PROPHEC Y IN ISRAEL
 4

Discussion of prophecy and its social implications in the Old and New

Testament and in the Church in the first two Centuries must start

with its origin among the Israelite people* Prophecy represents a

phase in the religious history of Israel* In this Chapter, we consider

its origin and the social and historical environment in which it first

developed*
n
Erophecy appears in many religions and cultures, not least those of

ancient Near Bast* Though evidence is scanty, due to the fact that

prophets proclaimed their message orally , some scattered traditions

have survived about Near Eastern prophets which indicate its existence

from early times. Two groups of individuals having prophetic, powers

are recorded,namely Seers (roeh) and Nabii (ecstatic prophets). One

form of prophecy, that of the Seer was noted in the. nomadic world.

Among the nomads of ancient, Near East, the figure of a Seer played

an important role. While there are few specific allusions in the

early period, persistency of the nomadic institution of the Bedouin

world makes it likely that men of God or inspired persons appeared as

Seers among the nomads proclaiming divine instructions on the basis of

dreams and presentiments* Thus the Patriarchs of Balaam (Numbers

22 - 24) may correspond to Arabic Kahim • The Seer was not necessarily

associated with the. sanctuary,, but. there was no opposition between the

Seer and the Sanctuary attendants because sometimes both these activities

can be found in one person* In the early nomadic culture the activities

of priest, magician and the clan leader might coincide with those of

a. Seer in a single person held to be inspired. The Seers* primary

contact with the other higher, world was through the sense of vision;/
 5

/visions hearing played a lesser role,. Oracles were usually based

on what came into view, and what the Seer observed. This wass true of

Balaam, who had to see the Israelites before he could curse them.

Another form of prophecy had its root in the settled area of the ancient

Near East and was linked with stimulating vegetation and fertility

cults*• This is called the ecstatic prophecy in the Sanctuary or

Royal Courts who are best designated by the Old Testament nabi,. We

arc not going to delve into the etymology of the. word, but it is

enough to say that some medieval Jewish commentators understood the

root meaning of the Nabii to come from the. Akkadian word meaning “call”.

The Old Testament itself mentions the ecstatic prophets of the. god

Baal (I Kings 18 j 19 ff II Kings 10 : 19) and presupposes the

existence of prophets as an internationally known phenomenon (Jer 27 J 9)*

In the 18th Century BC a letter from Aleppo, an ambassador of Zimrilin,

King of Mari, mentions Apilum “Answerer0 who had a female counterpart

2
and normally performed his duty in the Sanctuary • From around 1700 BC
It M
a series of letters from Mari on the middle of Euphrates testifies to.

the appearance of male and female prophets termed, apilum or Muhhum

3
and Muhhutum • They belonged to a class of men and women who received

mandates from the deity with whose temple they are associated through

omens, dreams, or visions and ecstatic experiences which they trans.-

mitted in the form of oracles. In the following period^ also they

were in Babylon priests and priestess who supported the King with

“spoken dreams” • In Assyria, there was another type of ecstatic

prophecy exercised by priestess known by name, especially those

associated with Ishtar temple at Arbela* In the 15th Century BC a/

 6

/a letter of Rewassa of Taanach mentions an ammanu of Asarte who was

5
expert in magic: and could forsee the future * Inscriptions of Zakir,

King of Hamath (about 800) , speaks of Seers and men who could forsee

future^•

In Egypt,, there is no certain evidence for the appearance of prophets*

Nevertheless, Pliny reported in his ''Historia Naturalist VIII 185

that during the cultic ceremony around the Apis bull young men were

seized by frenzy and predicted future events. The Mari letters tell

in each case how a man or woman came without being summoned to a

governor or other high official of the King bringing a demand or

message from the deity to be transmitted to the King. The letters

frequently state that ecstatics received the instructions of the deity

in a dream.. No distinction is made between dreams and visions which

are also mentioned* The requirements, of the deity were addressed to

the King and referred to quite diverse matters : the deity*s instructions

about the strategic situation when the King was at; war', the construction

of a city gate, the provision of sacrificial animals and the observance

of a sacrificial occasion* Other examples abound* From what has

been said, it is clear that, prophecy wae not a unique phenomenon to the

religion of Israel. The parallels of the prophecies in the ancient Near

East to the Israelite prophecy are unmistakable* The apilum or mahhum

correspond to the nabi; like the nabi, he used the form of the short

prophetical saying* He demanded that the divine command be transmitted

to the King without regard for whether it pleased the King* He

criticised the King*s conduct without regard to the fact that the

vassals of the King learned of his criticism. He delivered admonitions/

 7

/admonitions and warnings. If a promise was conditional, he expected

the King to obey the divine command, but he could also promise

unconditionally* All in all, this is like the professional prophecy

of Israel. The fact that in Israel there existed the form of prophecy

found in ancient Near East is evident in I Samuel 9 * 9 * He who is

called a prophet (nabi) was formerly a freer. This shows that nomadic

Israelites brought with them to Palestine the institution of a freer as

represented by patriarchs in the pre-Yahwistic period and found the

institution of the nabi (prophet) in Palestine and borrowed it* The

same passage shows furthermore that the two distinct forms began to

coalesce and something new was coming into being.

Old Testament prophecy transformed what it had borrowed» adapting it

to the requirements of Jewish monotheism. Influence of Yahwism made a

crucial contribution to the existing elements, even more marked than

in other aspects of Hebrew religion. Thus began a long and complicated

process that was still in full swing about 1000 BC. In this period

Yahwistic Seers (Nathan) and Nabis (I Samuel 10 s 5) still existed

7
side by side as representatives of separate phenomena • Their gradual

coalescence produced the Old Testament prophecy in the strict sense,

first in transitional forms that are hard to make out, more clearly

in Elijah and Elisha* Following the practice of the freers, such

prophets could make their appearance as individual figures independent

of Sanctuary and Cult and without ecstatic experiences* In Israel

as in other parts of Near East, prophetic ecstasy in the absence of

bureaucratization remained a force to reckon with* In the times of

war, these ecstatics were bound up with national movements. In this/

 8

/this aspect really, the Israelite nebiim was net different from those

found elsewhere. They were recruited according to personal charisma,

they pursued their common exercises in special habitats,* Mention is

made of nebiim, in such Israelite towns as Gibeah, Rama, Gilgal, Bethel

etc and music and dances were means of evoking ecstasy (II Kings 3 s 15) •

Their activities also included acts of frenzy which was to acquire

magical powers. The miracles with which Elisha in II Kings 4 s 15»

£
4 J 8 is associated with is typical of professional sorcery* This

allows us to confirm that the nebiim were sought after as medicine men*

As war prophets, the Yahweh nebiim appeared in the Northern Kingdom at

the beginning of the national wars* At first this had nothing to do with

prediction* Its business was the incitement to crusade, promise of

victory-magic * There is no proof of relationship, between ecstatic

war prophecy of individuals and the later school of nebiim ecstasy.

Obviously there must have been a relationship because the war ecstasy

was in no way confined to individuals1 ecstasy of charismatic berserks,

and war prophets of the earlier times;, and mass ecstasy of the dervish

bands of later times of the peasant army.

When the peasant army got well organised, there was no longer any need

for the nebiim* In the time of the Yahwistic revolt of Jehu against the

Omrid dynasty the ecstatic nebiim under the leadership of Elisha once

more appeared'.as. a political factor* The Nebiim of Elisha differed

from that of Saul and Samuel in that they constituted a school.

Strictly speaking, these free prophets had no national Israelite

character. Under given conditions they made their services available

to non Israelites. Their confirmed employment in both parts of the/

 9

the Kingdom was attested by the sharp, words of the so called

writing prophets who waw them as lying prophets. It. would seem that

the present version of prophecy no longer distinguishes between Roeh

and Nabi*. It maintains the Roeh was an older name for Nabi - we

can dispute this. Roeh originally meant a man who gave oracles on

the basis of dreams, in short narrating the mind of Yahweh,, he could

have visions and be able to interpret them. The Nabi employs an

ecstatic frenzy and utter words, later they came to be in a

group.

As the division between Roeh and Nabi in Israel gradually tended to

disappear, there gradually arose a group representing the dominant

state of prophecy. There developed cultic prophets who were participat­

ing in the cultic observancies of the Sanctuaries alongside the priests

and the levites. Discourses of these are found in the verses of the
Q
Is alms , and the prophetical books of Nahum * Habakkuk. There were

also Court prophets who exercised their ministry at the Royal Court

and probably around the vicinity of other important national figures.

They promised the King his desired victory before a military campaign

(I Kings 22) or like Hanniah supported the King's policies against

dissenters,, (Jeremiah 28). All these groups include those condemned

as false prophets. The Israelites now thought primarily of the

professional prophets., as. prophetic class alongside whom individual

prophets made their appearance. These were regarded as extra.

These individual prophets however, include the names of those who were

accepted as true servants of Yahweh. Amos,, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah,

Zephaniah,; Jeremiah and Ezekiel and some part of Deutro-Isaiah.

 10

From Babylonian exile beginning in 586 BC the pattern of Israelite

thought about the prophets began to change. There was a gradual

realisation that the individual prophets, though few, were right and

their court rivals had been proved wrong. In the post exilic times,

cult prophecy more and more lost its importance, while the discourses]

and accounts of the great individual prophets were collected and

gradually took the character of a Holy writ. The individual prophets

were concerned with the covenant relation between the members of the

Israelite Community* Oppression, and extortion were denounced as

abominable to God. The Covenant included social idealism. Prophecy

itself tended to coalesce in a single message pronounced by one who

was acknowledged to hava been "Called to God"•

“
What then were the experiences of those prophets? Here we consider

the phenomena common to all prophets. The ministry began with the
Q
'’Call” experience • This is persistent whether the message is accepted

or not. The next is the proclamation. Here the prophat performed

some public acts but he also had a deep personal contact with God

in which the Spirit of .Yahweh comes to him. They had a secret

experience which was at first doubted by the prophets. The experience

was obviously accompanied by ecstatic experiences. Ezekiel is a case

in hand. The next is the prophets, interpretation of his experience.

This is aided by the prophet's life and is followed by rational

interpretation or ..processing of his experience. This is. followed by

the reduction of his message to artistic form.

Let us now have a look at some of the individual prophets and the

general outline of their, teaching. Hera we do not intend to be/

 11

/be exhaustive but it, still suffices: to have a bird's eye view of vhat

the prophets taught.

AMOS:

Amos is first in the list of the writing prophets*. He was from Tekoa*

twelve miles south of Jerusalem* His time of ministry was during the

reign of Jeroboam II (786/82 - 753/46 BC) (cf Amos I s I, 7 i 9). His

ministry must have been between 760 and 750 BC.

Though from Judah* he preached in the Northern Kingdom. Fundamental

to Amos' message was a resounding no to the existing social conditions

in Israel and its understanding of history. Amos came forth as a

champion of civic and commercial righteous universal deity who was

supremely displeased by his people's attitude and performance.* They

would be held accountable for their flagrant violations of the Mosiac

Covenant. This Covenant which had first been presented to them as a

divine gift intended to strengthen the community faith* had now become

the instrument of Israel's indictment. Through prophets who he had

already dispatched, Yahweh had favoured Israel with a clear sign of

his will (2 : ll) • He had also directed a series, of famine, plagues, and

droughts against his people in hope that they would once more take

seriously their covenant relationship;;,with him (4 - 6 s ll) • To

all but the insensitive, these disasters would have been interpreted

as warnings that Israel would repent and return to her maker. Since

the nation had not responded positively to such "exhortations" the deity

had no choice but to let loose his wrath on the Cataclysmic day of

Yahweh.
 12

HOSEA:

Ministry also in the Northern Kingdom. His ministry began while the

dynasty of Hehuwas still on the throne, probably during the reign of

Jeroboam II (of Hosea I : I, 4) and extended through the period of

internal confusion and regicide following the fall of his dynasty

as well as the Syro-Ephramite war (736 - 733 BC) into the days of

hosea the last King of Northern Israel* (cf Hosea 1 1 - 1 2 , 12 : 2)

but ended before the fall of the Northern Kingdom so his ministry

could be dated between 755 and 750 BO 725* The text of his

discourse were brought down to Judah after the fall of the Northern

Kingdom., His message is dominated by severe tension between Yahweh's

conduct towards Israel and the conduct of Palestinian Israel towards

Yahweh* Amos rejected the cult as a means of salvation on ethical

grounds opposing it to practice of daily life. Hosea attacked the

cult because it was not directed to the God of Israel but to a -

baalized Yahweh or infact, to Baal. He also attacked the domestic

and foreign policy of Israel.

MICAS:

Micah came from Moresheth-gath in the hill country of Judah,, south

west of Jerusalem. He appeared, during the reign of Hezekiah (cf Jer

26 : 18)• His activities must have begun before the fall of Samaria.

So his ministry can be dated from 725 to soem time before 7 H BC.

Through his personal experience he knew the abuses he attacked*

especially the Jerusalem initiated annulment of the ancient Agrarian

law for the benefit of large landowners. The prophet's censure of the

rich is especially pronounced in Micah. He claims that the well-to-do

remain awake at night devising schemes of wickedness (2 : l). He even/

 13

/even outlines their illegal real-estate transaction (2 : 2). Then

comes the awful disclosure of divine intention. ’’Behold, against this

family I am devising evil,, from which you cannot remove your necks;;

and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will he an evil time” (2 : 3).

Jut who precisely is tha target of divine rebuke? Perhaps the term

’’this family” applies to Jerusalem’s irresponsible upper class‘d .

Another view however is that this term is a later gloss inserted by

an unknown individual who wished to limit the disaster*^. Neither

alternative has to be accepted, however. Amos 3 s 1 - 2 and Jer 8 : 3

illustrate the noun ’’family” can denote the entire covenant people. If

this is how Micah used the term, then he would be predicting the

destruction of the entire country and the attendant suffering of the

rich and poor alike. Because the Southern nation as a whole has become

corrupt it must suffer ruin. In 2 : 6 - 1 1 other examples of outrageous

social behaviour are mentioned. The affluent seem to have employed

robber gangs to victimise their unsuspecting neighbours (2 : 8) . The

people have also silenced those who speak the truth. The one who says

”1 will preach to you of wine and strong drink” (2 s ll) attracts an

enthusiastic crowd, whereas the popular response to Micah’s candor is

”Do not preach” (2 : 6). In Micah*s estimation, Judah's urban culture

is plagued by rank corruption.

ISAIAH::

Isaiah came from Jerusalem and was probably of noble birth. He

exercised his ministry during the reign of Joham Ahaz and Hezekiah,

a time of political turmoil. His last discourse dates from 701 BC.

In the first years, of his ministry, Isaiah devoted his message to the/
 14

/the attacks on social and ethical situations in Judah and Jerusalem

remonstrating against the King and the Government.. He also attacked

the upper class, the great landowners. He rebuffed the cult as a

means of salvation* For him it is being willing, doing good and

obedience to the will of Yahweh that can save.

ZEPHANIAH:

Zephaniah was a Judaite and probably lived in Jerusalem. He appeared

during the reign of Josiah. His ministry could be dated around 630 BC.

In his preaching, Zephaniah followed Amos, Isaiah and Micah. He

attacked idolatry, the imitation of practices baaed on foreign religions.

JEREMIAHt

Jeremiah came from the priestly family that resided at Anathoth,

north east of Jerusalem. He was probably b o m around 650 BC or shortly

after. His prophetic call came in 626 BC (cf Jer 1 : 2, 2S s 3)*

He exercised his prophetical ministry for more than four decades with

interruptions. His ministry can be divided into four periods whose

message reflects both internal situations of Judah and the crucial

events of world politics which also determined his own conditions.

The first period comprised the year of his call to shortly before

Josiah’a reformation was finished (626 - 622 BC). After a short period

of activity at Anathoth, he went to Jerusalem where he preached

against the sins of his people in cultic, ethical and political realm.

When he was the futility of his message, he considered his message

over, and he remained silent, for many years,: (cf Isaiah 6 s 1 0 - 1 1 ,

27 - 29) • The second period fell in the reign of Jehoiakim and it/
 15

/it involved him in serious conflicts (608 - 59t BC). This time he

attacked the temple and cult, asking the people to return to Yahweh

and judgement was approaching* He found serious, opposition both

from the King and the priests who threatened and attacked him,

accusing him of blasphemy. His thoughts were written down by Baruch

and recited in the temple* The King ordered his arrest and he had to

go into hiding until the King*s death*

The third period comprises the years of accession of Zedekiah after

the first deportation until after the fall of Judah and Jerusalem

(597 - 586).
After the fall of Jerusalem, he remained in Palestine, but after the

murder of Gedaliah, the G.ommisar appointed by the Babylonians,, by a

group of refugees, he was forced to accompany them to Egypt (Chapt 42-43) •

There he exercised his ministry for a short time and disappeared from

history. Heremiah's message bore his personal stamp as. no other prophet

had done. He was the sins of his age that he attacked in political,,

cultic and ethical realm* On account of these, Yahweh's judgement was

coming. Intercession of even Moses or Samuel was a useless exercise

(Jer 15 5 l) • Jerusalem and Judah were living in alienation of Yahweh.

PROPHETS AND. THEIR TEACHING:

The prophets regarded themselves as intercessors for the people of

Israel. Yahweh spoke and it was for them to warn the. people* Most

or all of the times, the preaching fell on deaf ears. They had

opposition both from the priests and the King and the false prophets,

also from the local populace. The prophets in general attacked the

evil of the society, the life of the people in general, the cultic

life and the relations with their neighbours. The prophets warned/
 16

/warned against the old life "because it was characterised "by many ills.

Great conflicts existed between Kings, and the prophets. They tolerated

the prophets only in uncertain times, but whenever they were sure of

themselves, they had recourse of persecution. The King of Israel

said to Micah, ”1 hate him for he never prophesies good concerning me

but only evil". He put him in prison (I Kings 22 : 8, 27).

Likewise Elijah was persecuted by Ahab because he was regarded as one

who brought disaster to Israel (i Kings 18 s 17) • To the Kings, the

prophets who prophesied peace were popular not because people only

wanted to hear good news, but that the preaching actually brought

peace. Throughout history, the Kings were hostile to the great prophets.

About the priests, no prophet before Ezekiel ever spoke favourably of

the priests.. Amos recognised only the Nazarites and the Nebiim as

Yahweh fs tools but failed to mention the priests. The very existence

of their own free type of prophecy was a sign of the weakness of the

priesthood. Besides;, the priests have been instrumental for the worship

of false gods,in Israel. This they failed to oppose because the$ were

feeding fat from the worship; and sacrifices to the false gods. Because

of those economical reasons, tie priests, failed to heed the warning

of the prophets; for change of life and return to the true worship of

God.

On the other hand, the prophets never attacked the temple as; such but.

the cultic worship which had degenerated to the worship of a baalized

Yajiweh or even to Baal. The prophets also received opposition*! from

the. upper classes; who opposed the prophets* call for repentance on

, economic grounds. Prom the poor they also received opposition

because many gained from the false sacrifices and the debased moral/
 17

/moral life of the community* The prophets were falsely accused of

being haters of culture hut what they preached was culture as handed

down from their fathers. A revival or a going back to the morals as

handed down by God. Gan we see this attempt at revival anywhere in the

New Testament?

THE HOST EXILE PROPHETS

What then happened to prophecy after the exile?

At first sight the predictions of Ezekiel that prophets would no longer

be enrolled in Israel (Ezek 13 * 9) seems to be fulfilled, for no

prophets appear on any list of returned exiles, yet prophecy did survive

the debacle and prophets were active in the Golah (return) • In some cases

their names have come down to us, Haggai, Zechariah, and no doubt others.

Ezra speaks of prophets of God (Ezra 5 * 2 ) . Zechariah (l : 2 - 7 )

refers to temple prophets and 8 : 9 refers; to the prophets who had

been preaching before the foundations of the temple were laid. They

■urged the re-establishment of the temple cult without abandoning hopes

for a spectacular reversal of fortune. For them, it seems that the

observance of Torah and the temple cult were necessary preconditions for

the coming of Godfs Kingdom. Most of the prophets during the early

period seemed to have worked closely with the clergy and were concerned

with cult and ritual. Gnmpare this, to the prophets before the exile.

Is this a transition? How did the post-exile prophecy become apocalyptic?

Here mention must be made of Ezekiel. In this man, the formative

elements of apocalyptic style combined and produced the model for many

centuries to come. This is evident both in his first part 1 - 24 >

33 - 37 and in the last part where the priestly concern is more manifest

40 - 48* In Ezekiel's prophecy we can identify apocalyptic modes./

 18

/modes*. With the fall of Babylon before the forces of Cyprus II

(The Great) of Persia in 539 a new but obscene chapter begins in the

history of the Jews. A new community is formed which looks back to

the past to understand its. future* During the Persian rule, 539 - 332,

the apocalyptic movement will now feel the impact of an anti-gentile

spirit, the demise of prophecy and the eschatological psalms.

The post exilic community tended to isolate itself from her neighbours.

Mixed marriages were forbidden (Ezra 10), (Nehemiah 13), though there

were some devout Jews who recognised the goodness of foreigners. The

story of Ruth is an example of this. As far as the Jews were concerned,,

it was the Ganaanite fertility rites and their superstitous concern

over rituals as well as the foreign alliances of the royal party in

Jerusalem that had brought the difficulties to Israel. They musi; not

repeat the mistakes., they must keep themselves uncontaminated by gentile

impurity (Haggai 2 : 10 - 14) , (Zech 5 5 5 - 11) • So they rejected all

offers of help in rebuilding the temple from a non-Jewish community

(Ezra 4 s 1 - 5)• This decision of Zerubbel and Joshua triggered off

a big hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans.

In 351 the Jews were involved in a general revolt against Persia.

12
Artaxerxes III (35^ -338) put down the revolt with a great force .

It was at this time of trouble and distress that we can locate the

works such as the apocalyptical works of Ezekiel (38 - 39)» Isaiah

(Chapters 24 - 27), Deutro-Isaiah 63 s 1 - 6 , Obadiah, Zechariah

(9 - 12)* The apocalyptic gradually turned to a position of sanctuary

revolt; major difference between them and the pre-exilic prophets

who seldom, if ever, favoured wars that the pre-Egyptian party in/
 19

/in Jerusalem stirred up against Assyria and later Babylonian masters

Isaiah 8 i 12, 10 i 5» 19 ■ 20.

PROPHECY AND DECLINE

The last that was heard of prophecy was in 4-60 BC, when Malachi preached*

Even here the prophet is now being judged by the Torah. His position

is subservient to the Levitical priesthood and his hopes centre around

the temple. This evaluation applies to Haggai, Zechariah whoee-ministry

came some 80 years before Malachi. Though Zechariah condemned social

abuses, he relied on the priesthood for hearing. At this time,;

preaching no longer strove primarily to instil personal goodness and

social justice. Its goal was the careful functioning of liturgy. The

prophets no longer brave wrath to hurl judgement on the erring nation.

13
Rather prophecy is subjected to the Torah and judged by the priests*

For this, prophecy no longer fitted the old name hence bible

commentators refer to it as apocalyptic to designate the new religious

movement. The demise of prophecy helps to explain the upsurge of

sapiential movements which rushed to fill the gap. What has now

happened to prophecy is now evidenced in J o e l ^ composed around 400 BC,

as a temple sermon* The preacher quotes frequently from earlier

prophets. Another example of what has happened to prophecy is the work

of the Chronicler composed also around 400 BC. Joel and the Chronicler

speak of Judah and Jerusalem. The work of the Chronicler was prophetic

history with midrash and apocalyptic tendencies. However, prophecy

was still a force to reckon with, a bit earlier. This is evidenced

by the fact that Sanballat and his allies accused Nehemiah of soliciting

prophetic support for his own messianic pretensions (Nehemiah 6 : 7 ) *

We hear of the prophetess Noadiah and certain cultic ecstatics./

 20

/ecstatics. These allusions, however, give the impression that

prophecy no longer stood high in repute. The hook of Jonah written

later does not show a high regard for prophecy. Prophecy is now dead

admitted the author of I Maccabees (I Mac 4 i 46) 9 s 27, 14 s 41,

Ezra 7 J 26 Lamentation 2 : 9 * They believed that as a result of its

faithfulness to the observance of the Law, God will break through the

narrow boundaries of post-exilic Judaism and make Jerusalem the world

Capital. That through a mighty outpouring of the Spirit, he will

fulfil the ancient premises, hence many symbols were used to depict

this situation cf Zechariah 1 - 6 .

Luring the Hellenestic period 332-63 BC the world politics and thought

changed but-Judah was unchanged in her hopes and practices. The/Jews felt

very unhappy when Alexander the Great permitted the Samaritans to

maintain their own temple in Gerizim and from this time on, the break

between Gerizim and Jerusalem was bitter and beyond repair* Judaism

itself gradually separated into two principal groups. The Jerusalem

priesthood, later to be called the Sadducees and. the fervent lay sect

later to be called the Pharisees. The priests maintained a slavishly

literal attachment to the Torah, unwilling to tolerate any change or

new practice and the Pharisees gave equal treatment to oral Torah with

its application and modification of the written Law. An example of

the priestly caution is Ben Sirach composed around 190 BC.. The

other position open to new. religious ideas such as the resurrection

of the dead and retribution after death found expressions in

apocalyptic and midrashic writings. 2 Maccabees, Lan 12 ; 1 - 13.

About 150 years after Ezekiel was written, apocalyptic literatures/

 21

/literatures began to appear* Daniel was the first among these. He

used images to bring his message across:* It was attributed to an

author who lived before Ezra at the. time of the Babylonian exile.

Pseudonym was applied by the writer because it was a literature of

re&i&tajice against the hostile authorities. It was this pattern that

other apocalyptic writers were to follow. Another reason for using

fictitous names was that the Jerusalem priesthood accepted only the

Torah or the Pentatench as revised by Ezra (Ezra 14) • There was a

tendency to attribute the apocalyptic works to men of great personalities

of early salvation history so as to get a hearing following that is

also the fact that the conviction of the post-exilic Judaism was that

true prophecy has to be vindicated by its fulfilment* The authors

wrote about, the present but applied the literary form of an ancient

prophecy or early sision. Soon after the book of Daniel, the book of

Enoch was written, not long after the Maccabees revolt came the book

of Jubilees. This was followed by the Testament of the Twelve 3

Patriarchs and in 50 BC the Psalms of Solomon. With these there came

complete transformation from prophecy to apocalyptic.

PROPHECY AND APOCALYPTIC - ANY DIFFERENCE?

The prophets were men of action, rising to the needs, of their time by

spontaneous eloquent preaching. The apocalyptic were men of written

word communicating their message with studied effect. The prophets

were involved in the Palestinian politics, but the apocalyptic

reached a cosmic mission. The prophets presented their message as

a judgement upon individual events, the apocalyptic especially that/

 22

/that of Daniel developed a religious explanation of religious history.

The prophets crusaded for the rule of Yahweh over his people Israel*

and championed the course of Davidic royal family. The apocalyptic

envisaged a wide world reign of Yahweh and gave less and less attention

to Davidic line and messianism,. The apocalyptic view of history is

that only Yahweh and his direct intervention can transform the world

into a new order. The prophets spoke more about religious abuses but

apocalyptic used symbolism. The two key figures are Ezekiel and the

author of Daniel* As a prophet, Ezekiel acquired a place of leadership

within this movement but as a pries!, he diverted the movemoit into a

different direction*

Daniel signalled the liberation of the apocalyptic from the priestly

group# The temple remained the centre of liturgy and hopes.

Many more things can be said about prophecy and apocalyptic; pages

and pages are written about them. How then did the prophetic line

continue in the New Testament? The next chapter will treat that. We

shall consider John the Baptist as a prophet, then go on to the New

Testament proper.

PROPHETESSES:

We have discussed the prophets therefore it will be unfair not to

say anything about the prophetesses.

In Israel, as in all ancient Near East, women enjoyed considerable

privileges. In old Arabic religions, Gods and Goddesses often occurred

15
in pairs * the Goddess being the greater. In various functions of

worship such as bringing offerings, smoking and the sacred stone, etc,

women took part as well as men. Women were also found in the official/
 23

/official position of the Kahim (Seer) the chief officer of the

Arabic religion. In Babylon we hear of the Godess Ishatar. Among

the Assyrians we hear of Aatarte the supreme godess. Women took

prominent roles in the worship. Women were recognised as priestess

and prophetesses. In Judaism then, while there is evidence that

there were prophetesses as in all the Bear Eastern religions, there

is meanshile no evidence that women were priesta*

Women appear from time to time in the history of Israel as inspired

prophetesses. Miriam is called a prophetess (Exodus 15 - 20). She is

asaociated with her brother in exclaiming "had Yahweh indeed spoken only

by Moaes? Hath he not spoken by usH - Numbers 12 : 2.

Deborah appears as a prophetess and a judge (Judges 4 5 4> 5)•

Huldah appears as a. prophetess to whom the messeges of Josiah applied

when they were directed to inquire.

In Nehemiah 6 : 14, the prophetess Noadiah appears among the rest of

the prophets hired by Tobiah and Sanballat to hinder the restoration

of Jerusalem. It ia: manifeat that in Israel the appearance of

prophetesses was exceptional. The prophetic guild did not include women.

There should be no great surprises because we know that the great

prophets were not members of any caate inheriting an office. He

may be taken from any class; from the priesthood like Samuel,

Jeremiah, Ezekiel and probably others, or from the ariatocracy of

the Capital, like Iaaiah; from the population of the country township

like Micah and Uriyah of Kiriath Jerim (Jer 26) or from those that followed

after the flock like Amos. A prophetess was like Amos coming from his

farm work not trained for office but inspired and compelling respect/
 24

/respect for her gift of power and influence. The Law forbade her

to speak and no custom hindered her from rising to the position of

influence. In New Testament times, we shall again hear of prophetesses,

an example of which is Anna (Luke 2 : 36).

 25

Notes:

1 George Fohrer
History of Israelite Religion
New. York - 1972
Page 224

2 A Malamat
History and Prophetic Vision in Mari letter
Eretz - Israel V (1958)
Page 6 7 - 7 3

3 A Malamat
Prophecy in Mari Documents
Eretz - Israel IV (1956)
Page 7 4 - 8 4

’"’Prophetic revelations in the new documents from Mari

and the Bible”
V T (Supplement) 1966
Page 207 - 227

4 A 0 I
Page 281 - 284

5 W F Albright
A Prince of Taanach in the Fifteenth Century BC
Basor XCIV 1944
Page 1 2 - 2 7

6 A 0 T
Page 443 - 444

A N E T
Page 501 - 2

7 George Fohrer
opus £jtt
Page. 228

8 Psalms 2 : 21, 18, 132

Isaiah 6, Jeremiah 1 : 4 - 10
Ezekiel. 1 : 1 - 3* 15

Rolland E Wolfe
^Introduction and Exegis to Micah*1
in George A Buttrick and Othera edition
The Interpreter Bible
(Nashville : Abington Press 1956)
Vol 6 Page 911

Emil G Kraeling
Commentary on the Prophets
New York : Thomas Nelson & Sons 1966 2 : 21.0

Josephus Antiquities
II VII : 1

R H Charles
Religious development between the Old and New Testament
New York 1914
Page 41

M. Decor
Les Sources du Deutro - Zaoharie et sea Brocedes D femprunt
B B 59 (1952) :
Page 396 - 399

Robert Smith
Kingship and Marriage in Early Arabia
Page 300
 27

EXCURSUS

The Qumran Community and Prophecy.

Before discussing John the Baptist our attention must he drawn to the

Qumran Community. Who are they and is the Teacher of Righteousness a

prophet? Since the discovery of the scrolls in 1947 > a good deal of

research has been doneand work is still going on to identify the

people of the scroll. For the purpose of our work, we shall accept

the arguments of A Dupont - Sommer and F M Cross in favour of identifying

the esaenes.. and the covenanters^. Coinage evidence in Qumran dates

the Covenanters to the reign of John Hyrcanus I and the Seleucid

Anthioches VII, but the main building of the Monastic settlement appear
2
to be later, not before the time of Janneus • This might suggest that

the sect retreated into the desert as a part of a proteat againat the

perpetuation of the high priesthood in the Hasmonian family coupled

with Janneus policy of surrounding petty states;, and seeking closer

ties with the Roman republic. This time the faithful remnant was

represented by the Teacher of Righteousness and his followers who

went out into the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord, make

straight in the desert a high way for the Lord (Isaiah 40 '• 3) by

studying the law and the Revelation of the prophets.

They expected a rapid end to their age. They were concerned with the

membership; of the future kingdom. Their teaching was a strongly social

teaching favouring the poor with whom they identified themselves. For

them they were the ’’Community of the poor” . Their basic aim was

to live according to the communual rule, to seek God... to do what is

good and upright in his sight, in accordance with what he commanded/

 28

/commanded through Moses and his servants the prophets (lQs I s 2-3)

The disclosure of the revealed will of God from the law is the function

of the priestly teachers in the first, place, in every group of ten, men

of the community there had to be a seeker or interpreter of the law

(probably a priest) who night and day in continous study and who shared

with the brethren the truth he discovered ( Qs 6 : 6 - 7)• But the

tradition of an esoteric revelation goes back to the Teacher of

Righteousness (the Right or Rightful Teacher)•

The sect regarded the Teacher of Righteousness as one of those who

discovered or had revealed to him the true interpretation of the Torah.

Support for this view would be strong if some of the references to the

interpreter of the law - not all of them* of course since the task of

interpreting the Torah had to continue after the death of the first

Teacher of Righteousness - are references to the functions of the

Teacher of Righteousness. This view is in agreement with the suggestion

that the Teacher of Righteousness was an aspirant to the office of the

high priest as described in 2 Chronicles 15 s 3 ff ie a chief priesb

as a teaching priest whose perogative it was to teach or expand the

law^. The books of the prophets form authorities that demand obedience

(CD 7 s 1|5 - 18) and their importance for the community was enormous,

for God through the words of his servants the prophets, foretold all

that could happen to the people and the land (l Qp Hab 2 : 9 ff) but

what the prophets said like the words of the law, remained a mystery

until explained or interpreted.

One notable passage from the Habakkuk commentary illustrates their

exegesis (known as pesher - interpretation) of a prophetic text/

 29

/text. In Habakkuk 2 : 2 God tells the prophet 'write down the vision

and make it plain upon the tablets, that he who reads may read it

speedily'. This is interpreted as follows s God told Habakkuk to

write down that which would happen to the final generation, but he

did not make known to him when time would end, and for that which he

said "that he who reads may read speedily", interpreted - this concerns

the Teacher of Righteousness to whom God made known all the mysteries

of the words of 'his servants the prophets' (l Qp Hab 7 * 1 - 5)•

Several of the sect's basic beliefs about prophecy are expressed in this

text. In the first place the words of the prophets are. mysteries which

have a hidden significance that must be discovered by further revelation.

Secondly this hidden meaning has to do with what is to take place in

the last days. Thirdly the end was near and therefore the prophecy

applies to the writer's own generation and movement. Fourthly, and the

most important, the person to whom all these mysteries are revealed is

the Teacher of Righteousness^.

In short biblical prophecy - whose meaning was not known to prophets

themselves was made comprehensible to the community alone, most of

them were about to be fulfilled in the community's own history. The

men of Qumran never employed the term 'prophet' with reference to the

Teacher of Righteousness but then Josephus never used the term either

of himself and his historical writings or of the essenes - Yet they

share the conviction that the real meaning of the text* in both the

law and the prophets,, is revealed to the inspired exegete as a result

of direct divine illumination. Is not such an inspired person or

interpreter of biblical texts with reference to their present and/

 30

/and future fulfilment in many respects; a prophet as; we know it?

The Teachers words, are received ! from, the mouth of the Lord* (1 Qp

Hab 2 : 2) and he is; instructed by God himself (1 Qp Hab 1 : 4)

We may not continue this enumeration or explanation,, we can infer

that one very significant distinction between the Teacher of Righteousness.

and the Old Testament prophets is the fact' that although the Teacher is

inspired by God to unravel the secrets; of the words of the prophets

which will remain hidden mysteries to the community apart from his

expositions, he does not create new prophecies of equal authority, he

does not add,, through his teaching to what is; written,, but bases his;

teaching soley upon the written word.. He has been given by God a

right understanding in order that he may bring his community into the

Covenant which they may live according to the law, that is according
5
to the will of God • Inspired interpretation,, however authoritative,,

is not tie same as direct and immediate; address from the ’Council of

the Lord* in the message form. - Thus; said the Lord.

Attempts have been made to identify the prophet of 1 Qs 9 * 11 with the

Teacher of Righteousness; mainly on the basis of similarities of language

with C D 6 : 11. One can certainly agree with G Jeremias that there is

no text which conclusively identifies, the Teacher of Righteousness with

the prophet promised in Deuteronomy 18.

It may be that the Teacher, was never called a prophet because the

Qumran community flourished during the period when prophecy was

regarded as no longer existing and perhaps; because of his own conciousness

of his particular task of bringing back to the practice of the Mosaic

Torah. The Teacher of Righteousness nevertheless has prophetic/

 31

/prophetic features* such as; Josephus would have recognised and which

are in considerable accord with our idea of prophets;. How,ever it is

probable that John: the Baptist was more truly a successor of Old

Testament prophets than was the Teacher of Righteousness •

F M Cross
Ancient Library of Qumran (London 1958)
Page 37

A Dupont-Sommer
Les Ecrits Esseniens
Decouverts pres de la mer Morte
Paris 1959
Page 51 ~ 81

F M Cross
opus cit Page U3

M Black
The Scrolls and Christian Doctrine
(Ethel M Wood Lectures)
London 1966.
Page 6 - 8

cf F F Bruce
Biblical exegesis in the Qumran texts
London 1959
Page 9 ~ 10

cf„Gert Jeremias
Per Lehrer der Gerechtigkeit
(Gottingen 1963)
Page 1^1

G Jeremias
opus cit Page 198
C H A P T E R II

PROPHEC Y IN THE.

NEW TESTAMENT
 33

JOHN THE BAEEIS3?

Discussion on Brophecy both in the Old and New Testament cannot he

complete without mention of John the Baptist. He has been regarded

by all believers as a prophet of transition* Not much is known about

John from the evangelists because their main line of action is Jesus

and John, is mentioned in so far as it has to do with Jesus*

We have no reason to doubt what the evangelists tell us about his

family. That John was b o m into the priestly family of Zecharia

and Elizabeth. So John the Baptist set out in history as a prophet

proclaiming the eschatological day of the Lord. He was the one to

make ready for the Lord God a prepared people (Luke 1 s 16 - 17) •

He is thus the one who will himself set the stage for eschatological

day of deliverance. As a herald of God's coming (Malachi 3 s 1* 4 * 6)

(Sirach 48 : 10) he is endowed with the Spirit from his mother's womb

and b o m in consequence of divine intervention according to the bible

(Luke 1 i 5 “ 24).

John was b o m six months before Jesus and nothing more was heard of

him until his preaching in the wilderness. At the time, the promised

land was occupied by Home, the chief priests held the offices at the

pleasure of the Roman rulers. God had promised Israel the land and

political sovereignty (Deut 15 s 6). Erophets and seers of Israel

had written about a. day when God's wrath would be poured out upon the

wicked, and his promises constituted the basis upon which were raised
i
hopes for the coming of:* the Kingdom of God. This would mean deliverance

from the clutches of the gentiles from the point of view of the

righteous, who were weal oust for the Covenant. The unrighteous would be/
 34

/be punished. The alternative for the righteous were limited. Some

escaped the. unclean and corrupt life of the city and towns and withdrew

into the wilderness. Others remained bound in the towns observing the

complicated and highly refined system of ritual washing. When Mark

the evangelist talks of John he does so in composite quotation^, what

he says is about Johns diet. This is because this builds gradually up

John as a forerunner. His clothes were like that of Elijah (2 Kings 1 : 8)

(2ech 13 s 4) for the main message of Mark is that John is the prophet

of the end time. In Judaism, this restoration came to be conceived of

as a mass repentance of -Israel.

With no concrete materials, we are left with speculations as to where

and how John spent his early years until his wilderness debut.

There is a hypothesis which states that John must have had connections

with the Qumran community, that it is likely that John must have been

sent (perhaps at the death of his parents) to be trained in the discipline

2
of the Qumran Community • That this community had many followers among

priestly families and it appears more likely to have drawn this not

from the Sadduciac priesthood it anathematized, but from those rural

circles whose ideals of piety, as represented in the Lukan birth

narratives, are the closest approximation to those of the Qumran

to be found in the New Testament.

This community is situated not very far from John's home and it is

still nearer to where John emerged in the wilderness of Judea (Mt 3 * l) •

Provision is made in the additional column to its manual of discipline^

for the training of those who came for instruction as children and

for their assimilation by stages as adult members (i Qsa, 4 - 18)•

/(i Qsa 4 - ii8) through the essenes of the community did not marry,

according to Josephus^"* However this hypothesis says that John later

broke with the community. The Essene Community as they are called

believed that Satan had spread his net over Israel. Un chastity, ill

gotten riches and pollution of the temple had become common place

things. To them the service of the temple could no longer be carried

out without defilement by the priests being so lax, and when their

representation was not followed by the removal of the evil, they

ceased to attend to the temple or take part in its. services. To look

at another hypothesis, random statements^ in Josephus and Talmud reveal

that in the 1st Century AD a sharp cleavage was developing in the

Jewish priesthood between the urban aristocracy of Jerusalem and their

less fortunate colleagues who lived in towns and countryside and came

to the temple two weeks in a year for their turn to perform sacrifice.

Three factors were deemed responsible for the trouble.

1. There was the tendency of both Herod and the Roman Procurator to

politicise the high priesthood.

2. There was the tendency for the family so appointed to live loose

moral lives*

3. There was the tendency for the priests and families or family
£
circle to appropriate all money to themselves. Josephus talks

of some priests dying of hunger in the period before the Jewish

7
War, and the Talmud mentions disputes over the division of

amenities of an earlier time*

If John had followed the normal course he may have become a priesbt. He

however may have seen what was happening in the temple in Jerusalem/
 36

/Jerusalem as a desecration of high calling bringing the Wrath of God

to the whole nation.

Allowing for John's vindictive temperament the situation confronting

him could have led him to turn his hack upon the priestly calling

with a sense of revulsion against its representatives* For John to

have taken such a decision would have been unintelligible to the local

folk who regarded priesthood with honour and this would have made

life unbearable for him sending him forth into bitter anguish, and out
g
into the wilderness • As I said earlier, this is also a hypothesis, I

am tempted to believe this more* Whatever is the case, his decision

to go into the wilderness: would have resulted from a catastrophic

event*

WHY THE WILDERNESS?:

The wilderness of Judah was a centre of religious worship as well as

a place of refuge* The wilderness sojourn of John was however not

entirely negative* For the ancients.,, the wilderness, was not only a

place devoid of human habitations and remote from man made civilization,

it was a place where manocame in contact with the supernatural power*.

For the Jews in the ancient Palestine, it was a place full of danger*

The supernatural power was however, not limited to Satanic influences.

In the wilderness the ancient Hebrew found God and his angels.* It

was in the wilderness of Sinai that Moses found Yahweh. It was, under

the Juniper tree in the wilderness that Elijah encountered the Angel

of the Lord* (I Kg 19 s 4 - 8) It was the herdsman of the wilderness:

of Tekoa Amos who became the inspiration for. the greatest period of

the early Hebrew prophecy*.

 37

Between the wilderness and the prophet a relationship seemed to exist

that, the dress^ of the wilderness, dweller became the characteristic

garb of the prophet (Zee 13 J 4)* John was not the only one in the

first century AD to reveal the. association of those claiming special

endowment by God with wilderness environment, Josephus tells stories

of men who tried to lead people astray claiming prophetic power and
9
messianic endowment • These deceivers began by urging people into

the desert*, For them., it does not necessarily mean seclusion* but to

get Divine Influence* The wilderness must have been looked at this

way by John* In the wilderness,, John became what he had not been

before* a preacher, a man who felt himself divinely inspired to

speak to the people* There is an analogy to Johns preaching and the

Old Testament prophecy which talks about the religious experiences of

the prophets. We have an allusion to this in (Luke 3 s 1 - 2 ) the New

Testament, Where we are told that the Word of God came to John in the

wilderness in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. This suggests a date at

10
the beginning of the ministry of John to be between 27 - 28 AD •

JOHNS BREACHING

Two New Testament writers gave us a clue as to where John preached;

Mathew talks of the "Wilderness of Judea" (Mat 3 : 1) • In traditional

Hebrew usuage the wilderness of Judea is the area along the eastern shore

of the Dead SLea where John couldn't have baptised^Matthew, using the
11
designation loosely thereby reducing its value for us

The other, is the fourth gospel which talks of John's activities at

Bethany across, the Jordan and Aenon near Salim (John 1 : 28,10 : 40> 3 s23)/
 38

/(John 1 ; 28, 10 s 40> 3 s 23)* Archaeological discoveries and

Patristic evidence has now clarified the location of the two cities.

Bethany was probably a hamlet on the eastern side of the Jordan not

far from where the river was forded by those travelling the main High­

way from Jerusalem eastwards by way of Jericho to Rabath Ammon in

Transjordan. Aenon, as the name implies spring, is almost certainly

a well watered area some thirty miles up the Jordan Valley on the

western bank of the stream, it lay north of Samaria not far from where

the highway leading northwards from Jerusalem dipped down into the

Jordan Valley before passing Scythopolis (Beisan) and thus reaching

12
lake Galilee • This is evidenced by the fact that John was taken

prisoner by Herod’s antipathy, which must have happened in Berea, while

the strength of John’s preaching lay in Judah, Galileans found him

13
within their reach •

We do not intend to enter into the dialectics of whom John was, preaching

to because opinions vary. Some say he was addressing the Jews, as a

nation, and others, that he was addressing certain individuals.

Whichever way the argument goes, our main concern is the message. We

know at the time of John the Baptis-t, like all other times of the

prophets, the nation seemed to have lost its way towards Yahweh by

debased morals. This the prophet seems to correct.

Among general statements, the one that formulated John's exhortations

clearly is that of Mat 3 * 1 - 2 , here we are told that J ohn came

preaching in the wilderness "Repent ye for the Kingdom of God is at

hand". This is an elaboration of Mark’s statement that John came

preaching a baptism of repentance Mk 1 : 4« By giving repentance/

 39

/repentance a significant place, John falls into line with Israel's

prophets. From Ezekiel onwards repentance was understood in Hebrew

thought as an aat by which man turned from sin and unrighteousness to

God and the performance of his will. For the prophets, this would

obtain the forgiveness of God*

John in his preaching stressed the need for individual repentance.

For John-repentance and baptism was for all, Jews and gentiles alike.

There was none privileged in the eyes of God • What J ohn thought did

not differ from what earlier prophets insisted on. To do justice,

love kindness, and to walk humbly before God. To everyone he gave a

message appropriate to one's status.

While the common people were impressed and sought baptism, religious

leaders remained unimpressed. John was concerned with righteousness

(Mt 21 i 32. ,1 6 : 20. Josephus Antiquities XVIII ll6f) . The message

was not revilutionary but the motive of social justice was evident. John's

ethical teaching perhaps reflects hiss picture of a corrupt society which

would soon be swept away, a society dominated by inequality, abuse of

•power and oppressive taxation - the very issues which a prophet like

Amos attacked with vigour and authority. It is noteworthy that the

Synoptic gospels describe (cf Luke 3 : 1 , with Jer 1 : 1, Hosea 1 : 1 ,

Joel 1 : 1 , Zech 1 : 1 etc) the appearance (cf Eech 13 : 4 and. especially

2 Kings 1 : 8 with reference to Elijah) and the preaching of John

wholly after the manner of 01s Testament prophets, and his baptism can

be interpreted as a prophetic sign or action for those who penitentially

received eschatological message of salvation. In John's teaching/

 40

/teaching theological (prophecy) andnon theological (social) factors

go together as in the Old Testament Erophats*

The climax of John's ministry was as the New Testament tells us the

baptism of Jesus which marks, the beginning of his own ministry. The

narrative in Luke 7 • 24 - 35> Mat H i 7 - 1 9 treats the relationship

between Jesus and John. In this passage John is designated as a

prophet, indeed as more than a prophet.

About his death; John meets virtually the inevitable end of a prophet,

that of persecution and death*. The idea of a prophet as a martyr

figure is one which has a long tradition reaching back into the Old

Testament. Next we shall look at prophecy briefly in Jesus.

JESUSi

WAS JESUS A PROPHET?

The statement in Revelation 19 t 10 reveals that the testimony of

Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy*

We might not be very wrong to say that the phenomenon of prophecy in

the New Testament Church in some quarters at least, was regarded as

having inspiration in the witness or testimony of Jesus» To say it

in another way, the central concern of Spirit-inspired prophecy was;

bearing witness to Jesus*

The proclamation of John was this; 'Judgement is at hand, repent1•

Jesus proclaimed 'The Kingly rule of God is now dawning'.

To talk of Jesus' prophetic ministry we have to start at his baptism,

what did he understand his baptism to be? He regarded it as a call

to embark upon his ministry*.

At Jesus' baptism we are told the Holy Spirit descended upon him*. No

matter what is said to the elaborate explanatory details, found in

various accounts of the gospel, all agree on the endowment with the

Spirit for his ministry. In Judaism of the time, the imparting of the
14
Spirit almost meant prophetic inspiration . So when it is said that

the Spirit descended on Jesus, the meaning is that Jesus is both called

and charismatically endowed to be God's messenger, and that the ending

of the era of quenched Spirit (already initiated by John) is further

confirmed*. The prophetic, spirit had been given*. The similitude of

the children playing at weddings^ and funerals (Mat 11 s 1 6 - 1 9 )

makes it clear that, whereas John's ministry was, a stern and preparatory

ministry of repentance, Jesus ministry was. the joyful ministry of grace/

 42

/grace and salvation* It can be said in another, way, that John's

baptism marks the time when Jesus;' awareness of the dawning, indeed

the presence, of eschatological salvation breaks through* Jesus

understood his call to ministry by John's baptism and its endowment

with authority and the Spirit (prophetic) to carry out in the ministry

in which the Kingdom becomes a present reality in history* This is

summed up in Luke 4 where Jesus applies the words of Isaiah 61 : 1 f

to himself , 'The Spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed

me to preach good news to the poor* Luke's interest in the Spirit is

well known. As one whom the Spirit rests upon, Jesus, is according to

the Jewish thought of the time, a prophet and engaged on a ministry

marked, by numerous prophetic features*

In certain repects, Jesus1 activity had similarities with that of the

scribal teachers of his day* He gave much of his teachings to a group

of disciples : he debated the interpretation of the law : he was

approached for legal decisions (Mark 12 : 13 - 17, Luke 12 ; 13 f) • He

had many differences with the other scribes and. one outstanding one

was that he did not have recourse in his teaching to past authorities*

His disciples were to remain disciples (Mat 23 ! 8),

His teaching was direct and authoritative because it was charismatic

rather than professionally learned as Mark 1 : 22 demonstrates to the

1*5
satisfaction of most of the interpreters of the verse .

It follows that the conclusion to be drawn from Jesus' manifest

inspiration and authority was that he was a prophet and some of his

contemporaries certainly regarded him as such. In Mark 6 : 15 and 8 : 27

it is reported that some people, (not the disciples) considered him/

 43

/him to be (like) one of the prophets ie according to Semitic

idiom, a man belonging to the prophetic, typed, not one particular type

pf prophet^. This popular estimate of Jesus appears again in Matthew

21 : 11 and 46. Even the pharisees are recorded as having known or

shared this contemporary assessment of Jesus. Simon the pharisee

observes^ that if Jesus were a prophet as some considered him to be, he

would have known about the murky past of a woman who anointed him

(Luke 7 5 39) and the demand for a sign made by the pharisees (Mk 8 :ll)

in all probability carries with it the assumption that Jesus is a

prophet who ought to authenticate his claim,. Even the disciples on

the way to Emmaus (Luke 24 t 19) considered Jesus during his lifetime

to be a prophet in deed and word before God and all the people. Luke

makes Eeter tosee in Jesus the promised prophet of Deuteronomy

18 : 15 ff (cf also Stephen's speech in Acts 7 s 37) it is possible that

the words of Luke 24 s 19 reflect an interpretation of Jesus as the

prophet like Moses who was indeed powerful in speech and action before
17
God and men • The crowd response to the miraculous raising of the

widow's son atNaim is a typical example of what the people thought of

Jesus 'a great prophet has arisen among us and God has visited his

people' Luke 7 * 18. A careful comparison of this Lucan s^tory with

the LXX of I Kings 17 s 7 - 2 4 reveals a number of striking similarities in

the characters involved, the location of the incident and the language
l8
employed • What Luke is really saying here is that Jesus is a prophet

like, or as great as Elijah (in his power to raise the dead) for, in

the following paragraph the testimony that Jesus gives to John's disciples/
 44

/disciples to relate to their master includes a reference to the raising

of the dead (Luke 7 * 22)•

That Jesus was considered to he the eschatological prophet ’like unto

Moses' an expectation based on Leut 18 : 15 seems clear in Matthew, and

John as well as in the primitive Christology (as witnessed in Acts

3 ; 2 f, 7*38) and in the Jewish Christianity following the apostolic

period*.

We may continue endlessly into this. What is really certain here is

that Jesus was regarded as a prophet* What did Jesus himself say

about himself*. did he understand himself as a prophet?

There are only two logia explicitly containing the word^ prophetes' to be

considered*

1 The proverbial saying 'A prophet is not without honour* except in

his own country' (Mark 6 s 4 f*) •

2 'it cannot be said that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem1

(Luke 13 s 33).

In neither, case is 'prophet' a self designation* but Friedrich's

remark is both penetrating and pertinent., Jesus is not describing

himself as a prophet but quoting a common view* Nevertheless, by not

merely adopting the view but also preparing to examplify it, Jesus
19
numbers himself among the prophets • In other, words, without using

'prophet' as a self designation Jesus clearly indicates that he

understands his role in prophetic terms in so far as it involved

rejection* persecution and martyrdom - the fate of prophets; according

to certain strands of Old Testament thought I Kg 9 * 10 Neh 9 * 26)

made popular in apocryphal words (like the ascension of Isaiah/

 45

/Isaiah 5 * 1 “ 14) and. testified to in the many passages in the New

Testament. (Mt 23 : 31 and with Acts 7 * 52) .

Within Judaism of the time, thepossession of the Holy Spirit.,, the Spirit

of God was; regarded as a mark of prophecy. It follows, then that Jesus1

inspiration and equiping for the ministry by. the Holy Spirit or the

Spirit of God signifies that he was (and probably regarded himself) a

prophet. His claim to possess the Spirit is; quite explicit if 'the

blasphemy against the Holy Spirit* (Mark 3 * 29) is rightly interpreted

as the denial of the divine source of the spiritual power with which

Jesus, casts out demons as an activity Yflaich indicates that the Kingdom

of God, or God's sovereign rule - itself another characteristic theme

of Old Testament prophetic proclamation is breaking through and becoming

present reality in history (Luke 11 : 20) •

Continuity can be seen between Jesus and the prophetsof the Old Testament.

Most of Jesus' teachings- were delivered in using parallelism,, rhythm.,

paronomasia etc as was the teaching of the Old Testament prophets-* The

parable form which Jesus uses often has precedent in prophetic speech

(2 Sam 12 : 1 - 7* Isaiah 5 * 1 - 7 ) and the beatitudes, especially in

the second person - as in Luke whose tone is that of consolation and

assurance rather than of paraenetic exhortation,; are not without a few

parallels in the prophetic or prophetic-apocalyptic speech (Leut 28 — 3 -

words of Moses;., and Isaiah 32 s 20) and woe-saying (like those found in

Luke in association with the beatitudes) are frequent in Old Testament

20
prophets, even in Series (Isaiah 5 * 8 - 23) •

From time to time, the gospels suggest that Jesus, had visions, and

ecstatic-prophetic experiences.
 46

Jesus claimed that his ability to cast out demons; derived from the

power or Spirit of God (Luke 11 : 20, Mt 12 s 28) and that; these

victories; over evil were manifestations of the dawn of the era of

salvation* Another indicative of the charismatic nature of Jesus1

prophetic role is his possession of tie gift of insight into the

innermost thoughts and motives of. people in his company* The ability

to reveal the secrets of a man's heart was regarded: by Baul as a

distinctive mark of effectiveness of prophesying (I Cor 14 s 24 - 25)

and it seems to have been considered a mark of the prophetic phenomenon

by Jesus' contemporaries (cf Luke J i 39 f) • Undoubtedly he possessed

21
the prophetic power to scan the. thoughts and impulses of men • There

can be no doubt that Jesais; foresaw his death, constantly under threat

from his opponents, he had to reckon with the possibility,, indeed, the

likelihood, that he would meet the fate of a prophet - persecution and

martyrdom.

The claim by J esus to authority or even to finality for his mission

finds expression in saying, which take the form - I came (elthqn), (Mark

1 j 38,. 2 : 17, 10 J 45, Mt 5 i 17, 10 s 34 - 36, Luke 12 : 49, Mt 11 s

19 f) or I was sent (apostalen) (Mark 9 s 37, Mt 10 s 40, Luke 1'D: 16) •

Though some scholars like Bultmann may regard some of these as Church

formulations* In Luke 12 s 49 Jesus is clearly speaking of his ministry

as still in progress and of his tension until it finishes*

It is of interest to note that the authentic core of the sayings of the

'I came' or 'I was sent' kind around which later tradition built concerns

Jesus* ministry to the outcast from religion and society. It was; here

that his consciousness of mission appears to have been moat strongly/

 47

/strongly expressed. Yet it is precisely here that his activities

passed beyond that of a prophet, even on an eschatological prophet,

whose task was to proclaim a salvation that was yet to come. In Jesus,

the salvation is breaking through and its consequences;, breaking out

into his own mission of grace and acceptance. Just as there is a

difference between 'Thus says the Lord', and *1 say unto you* • There

is a corresponding difference bewfeen the prophet who, like John, the

Baptist, looked forward to a greater, than himself, and the more-than—the

prophetic Jesus who affirmed that God's decisive action and revelation

was taking place in himself. -

From the historians' point of view, the working concept which guided

Jesus in the task of his ministry was that of 'prophet'. True also

that as far as the speech-forms, authority, action and attitude are

concerned, we can point to many similarities between Jesus and the Old

Testament prophets as well as the charismatics of his day which are

sufficient to justify his being called a prophet, or 'the prophet' by

his contemporaries. But this 'prophet' was unique in the sense that

his, proclamation and activity were confronting men and women with the

present saving action of God in midst of history, and that his

commitment and obedience to God made him the channel of that gracious
22
and saving action • This- the High Priests, would not accept and hence,

their determination to rid themselves of him.

Having looked at J ohn the Baptist and J esus as inaugurating the new:

era, we can now look at prophecies in the Hew Testament properly*.

Beginning with the Acts of the Apostles.

 48

K M TESTAMENT PROPHECY

ACTSL of apostles

To begin discussion of prophecy in the early Church, our document is

the book of the Acts of the Apostles*

The Old Testament, prophets spoke to the people of Israel* Following the

tradition, the Church as the new. Israel took from the old institution

what was good. So the tradition of the Spirit of God dwelling in

people continued.

From the start it was seen that the Spirit was to inaugurate the new age

(Luke 1 : 35) • The fact that the new age has indeed come is strongly

demonstrated by Luke's emphasis on the presence of the spirit of prophecy

throughout his birth narratives. Concerning John the Baptist and Jesus

(Luke 1 s 159 17» 67); he lays emphasis on the role of the Spirit in the

Christian life.

In the book of Acts, Pentecost holds a place equivalent to that held by

the baptism of Jesus in the gospel and Lukes equivalent affirmation (The

Spirit of the Lord is upon me .....) (Luke 4 • 18).

The account in Acts actually shows; that it is the gift of the spirit that

enpowers: the Church for its universal mission. They were filled with

the Holy Spirit and began to speak, in other tongues, as; the Spirit gave

them utterances; (Acts 2 i 4)•

Quite early, we see Peter and John standing before Anas and Caiaphas.

Now the Apostles like the Old Testament prophets, are fearless, and

speak with as much freedom and conviction as; if they were animated by

the same spirit which had characterised their master. They had been

with him so long that they caught his manner and inherited the/
 49

/the independence, the directness; of his spirit hut, in truth their

boldness was not due so much to their having been long in the company

of J esus as to his. presence to than in the Spirit*

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in

other tongues as the Spirit gave, them utterances (Acts 4 s 8) •

Representatives from every part of the then known world who were

assembled at Jerusalem heard the mighty,; deeds of God each in his own

language. The Spirit or the gift of the Spirit, here is understood

as an endowment which enables the Apostles and: other Christians to

communicate with all people, it makes, possible and effective the

preaching of the word and works, of God. Thus equipped to. be witness.es

of Jesus Christ (Acts 1 : 8), the Apostles interpret what has happened

in the light of scripture. The widespread experience of gifts of prophecy

were foretold by J oel (2 : 28 - 3.2) • The pihrase is drawn from Isaiah

2 i 2 - 4 which speaks of the eschatological pilgrimage of all nations

to Zion* Moreover, the ancient desire of Moses had come to fulfilment

’’Would that all Lord’s people were prophets,, that the Lord would put

his spirit upon them" (Numbers 11 s 29) • Elsewhere in Acts, it is

reflected that all the Lord Christ’s people received the gift of

prophecy. In Acts 4 * 3.1 which says when they (the Church) had

gathered and prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was

shaken and they were filled wi th the Holy Spirit and spoke the word

with boldness. Being filled with the Holy Spirit would in Jewish usage

be tantamount to saying,, becoming prophets;, and in that capacity,, with

the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,, the disciples, testify to their faith

in the face of hostile opposition* Through its possession of the Holy/

 50

/Holy Spirit, the Christian community has the assurance that in the

world in which they live for the time being it is not left to its own

resources but experiences help from above in missionary enterprises.

Another endowment of the Spirit is that of the gentiles recorded in Acts

10 : 44 ff> it has the characteristics of the first one*. While Peter

was speaking, 'the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word', and the

Jewish Christians were amazed that the gift had been poured out on the

gentiles ’for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God’•

The early manifestation of the Spirit provoked after some time, a

counter manifestation of evil. The first outbreak of evil in the Church

of Jerusalem arose out of an excessive zeal which in itself was good.

It would seem as if with the first outburst of Spiritual power recorded

in Acts 4 J 31» the first enthusiasm for this live revived, and

believers who still owned property in lands or houses began to strip

themselves, of it and devote the proceeds to the good of the community.

Among those who did so was one Joseph, a hellenist Levite from Cyprus.

The Apostles gave him the surname Barnabas. His act was the simple

outcome of inner life of the Spirit of unselfish love. But there were

some whose motives were less pure, a man and his wife agreed upon a

plan which seemed to promiae them a high place in the esteem of their

fellow believers without a correaponding sacrifice. The man presented

part of the land which he sold aa if it waa the whole and his wife

when questioned told the same tale (Acts 5 ^ 1 “ ll) • The insincerity

mat with a punishment that once for all vindicated in the eyes of the

Church the awefulness of the gift which it has received. Ananias and

the wife had attempted to deceive the Holy Spirit, to lie, not to men/
 51

/men (Peter, John, or the whole community) but to God. They were

punished. This made a great impression on the community. For the

author of Acts, Luke, the character of the gift of the Spirit is

central, it is the equipment for the gospel proclamation. When the

disciples at Ephesus (who had known only the baptism of John) received

the Spirit, they spoke with tongues and prophesied (Acts 19 s 6). This

means that all believers had received the prophetic Spirit and could

be inspired to prophesy and that for Luke means to proclaim among

Jews and gentiles; the good news of God’s grace and action in Christ.

In Acts 2 : 4 we have the important word 'other* they spoke in other'

tongues, that is to say various languaiges, that would be understood

by the hearers with a view to the proclamation of the works of God

through the diaspora*. It seems as if Luke was using the word synony­

mously for languages spoken in the countries from which the listeners

had come and the audience was amazed that the Galilean Jews could speak

languages foreign to themselves but understandable to the non-Palestinian

pilgrims•

In Acts 10 46 and 19 ! '6 there- is no reference to other tongues. One

has now to ask whether Luke intends these to be reference to glossolalia

as usually understood (ie unintelligible utterance which does not

involve the mind of the speaker) one wonders why it is absent from

those summaries (eg Acts 2 : 42 r- 47) in which he describes the activities

of the primitive Church. While Paul talks of glossolalia as occuring

in the course of worship of the established communities Luke's reference

(Acts 2 : 4) related with initial onset and reception of the Spirit.

This shows that luke is primarily interested in the Spirit and only/
 52

/only as a symbol : calling in the miraculous signs that authenticate its

presence, Luke understands the Holy Spirit in Acts (2, 10 : 46 > 19 *6)

as the power of inspiration to communicate to men singly or collectively

truth from God or about God*s actions* An example of this is when

Peter declined Godfs action in Ghri&t before the Sanhedrin, the Spirit

filled him (Acts 4 • 8} when we read that the wisdom and the Spirit

with which Stephen spole to his adversaries could not be withstood

(Acts 6 : 10) Spirit here denotes inspired speech or prophetic endowment

to utter convincingly proclamation, *Paul a chosen instrument of mine

to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and sons of Israel* is

filled with the Holy Spirit to fulfil his task of evangelism (Acts

9 t 17) • Mention is not made about his speaking with tongues when the

Spirit comes upon him. To cut the long story short, the gift of the

Holy Spirit is primarily concerned with the proclamation of good mews

and glossolalia is not an indispensible part of the gift of the Holy

Spirit. The Spirit to the community of the faithful now means that

they were all equipped to bear witnesses to the events of Christ the

messiah. In the Acts, prophecy as an aschatological power of the

Spirit is a possibility for any Christian fulfilling theprophecy

of Joel (Joel 2 : 28 - 32) it appears that some emerged as havingthe

gift of prophecy in more prominent or continuing measure. Theseare

called the Prophitai (Prophets) not because the ability to prophesy

was confined to them, but because their inspiration aid excercise

of the gift was more regular and more frequent and thus entitled them

to a more recognised position in the community. When Luke talks of

one being full of the Holy Spirit, it implies that one has such

sureness, of insight and conviction of speech as batoken a more/

 53

/more sustained and lasting inspiration which brings about his

conviction of the genuineness of his message. On this account suggests

24
Cothenet , Stephen is to be regarded as one of the prophets in the

primitive community. One of fthe seven men of good repute full of the

Holy Spirit and Wisdom* (Acts 6 : 3) and himself *full of faith and

the Holy Spirit* (Acts 6 : 5) Stephen*s ministry was marked by not only

grace and power but also by miracles and signs and is reminded of

the same association between the action of the signs in the Pauline

letters (cf I tim 1 5 5? I Cor 2 : 4» 2 Cor 12 : 12). Moreover,

Stephen's long speech recounted in Acts 7 * 1 - 53 has a strong

prophetic ring about it. In the manner of some of the prophets of Old

Israel, Stephen utters a passionate indictment of unbelieving Jewry and

denounces its vain confidence in the temple. Stephen's irresistible

and inspired interpretation of the scripture brings vengeance upon

him and, as a prophet (full of Holy Spirit 7 * 55) he receives in his

dying moment a vision of the Son of Man, whose prediction according

to Matthew 23 5 34> he so amply fulfils, *1 send you prophets and

wisemen and scribes : some of whom you will kill and. crucify, and some

you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to

town'•

Another of the seven full of Spirit and Wisdom is Philip. He is the

initiator of the Mission in Samaria and miracles accompany his

preaching (Acts 8 s 5 - 7) • Somehow Philip is presented in a manner

reminscent of the inspired men of Ancient Israel who were objects of

sudden and dramatic interventions of the Spirit (cf I Kings 18 s 12,

2 Kings 2 s 9 - 12, 16, Ezekiel : 12, 14) it is the Spirit which tells/
 54

/tells Ehilip to go and join himself to the Chariot of the Ethiopian

(Acts 8 : 29) a directive which gives him the opportunity of winning

a convert by means of the interpretation of Scripture. Here again

prophetic characteristics are evident. Philip begins from Isaiah 53

and shows how it applies to Jesus of Nazrareth. In a manner similar to

the actualization of prophetic scripture interpretation in Qumran,

the words of Isaiah are applied to the figure of Jesus.

Undoubtedly, this discovery of the meaning of scripture belonged to

the prophetic charisma. At least part of the ministry of the New

Testament prophets was the interpretation of the Old Testament* After

having evangelised Samaria, Philip settled at Gaesaria, (Acts 21 : 8)

and had four daughters who prophesied. Women exercised the gift of

prophecy regularly. The four prophetesses were destined to enjoy

considerable prestige in early Church traditions. (The Montanist in the

Second Century claimed their patronage) • Acts 21 : 9 suggests that

they were attached to a community ( and therefore not wandering prophets)

and that there was a connection between virginity and prophecy (cf Luke

2 : 36) consonant with the esteem in which asceticism was held by

25
Jewish-Christian communities . We are not sure what the contents of

their prophecy was but it may have been a kind of liturgical prophecy

taking the form of prayer (cf I Cor 11 : 4> 5) spiritual songs

(cf Cor 3 : 16, Eph 5 J 19) • Another person full of the Holy Spirit

in the primitive Church is Barnabas (Acts 11 : 24) • He best represents

the figure of a prophet in the earliest decade of the Church. At

Acts 4 » 36 Luke introduces us to a land-owning Levite of Cypriot origin

named Joseph who was called Barnabas by the Apostles, which means Son/
 55

/Son of Earaklesis (exhortation) it is likely that Luke intends; to

represent Barnabas as a son of prophecy on the assumption that

Earaklesis means: exhortation* It is Barnabas who introduces. Paul to

the Apostles at Jerusalem and assured them of the sincerity of the

erstwhile persecutor and the reality of his conversion (Acts J i 27) •

As one who enjoyed the confidence of the mother church at Jerusalem,

Barnabas is sent to Antioch to make enquiries about the entry of the

gentiles into the Church. Being well satisfied with the situation he

exhorted them to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose

(Acts 11 s 23) • At Antioch Paul and Barnabas are invited to give a

word cf Earaklesis to the congregation (Acts 13 : 15) and Paul obliges

with powerful speach recorded in verses 17 - 41* Barnabas is again at

Pauls side at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15 J 2, Gal 2 : 1, 9)

from where emerged the Jerusalem decree given through the inspiration

of the Htoly Spirit and termed (exhortation) Earaklesis (Acts 15 ; 3l) •

This goes to prove that Barnabas is taken as one of the prophets.. In

Luke's thought, says Earle Ellis, exhortation is one way in which the

Christian prophets excercised their ministry and in this context a

27
form of prophecy • In the letter which made known the Jerusalem

decree which resolved a matter of pastoral concern relating to

uncircumcised believers, it is termed Earaklesis (exhortation) issued

under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Acts 15 * 28, 3l) when we

read that the whole Church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was

filled with the Earaklesis (exhortation) of the Hbly Spirit (Acts 19 s

31) we may be confident that the writer is alluding to its. instruction

and encouragment through Spirit inspired prophetic teaching. The/

 56

/The prophetic ministry therefore has characteristics of pastoral

preaching. So according to the book of Acta, the interpretation of

Scripture is an important activity of the New Testament prophets.

A good example is the homily found in Acts 13 s 16 ff. This sermon set

in context of the Synagogue worship is given by Paul in response to the

request for a word of exhortation. Paul is linked with Barnabas among

’prophets and teachers’ in the Antioch Church (Acts. 13 : l) • It is not

very clear from Acts 13 '• 1 that the first three mentioned (Barnabas

Simeon and Lucius) were prophets and the remaining (Manaen, Paul) teachers.

Although didaskein (to teach) is the term regularly used for Paul’s ministry

within Christian communities, (Acts 11 : 26., 15 ! 35 > 20 ; 20 , 28 s 3l)

it is probable that both titles apply to all five. It is not easy

to distinguish the office of teachers, from prophets. In the early

stages; of the Ghris.tian mission* clear distinctions: of office and

function had not been made, we cannot detect an absolute distinction

between prophet and apostle for Barnabas is designated by both terns,

and E C Selwyn's suggestion: (based on Didache 11 : 3 - 5 ) that apostles

were prophets on circuit (ie sent out as missionaries) in contrast to

28
prophets in session will not account for the fact that elsewhere in

the Acts apostles reside in Jerusalem and prophets engage in travel.

The most we can say is that the difference between them lies in the terms

and method by which they build up. the Church's life. The prophet disclosing

the revealed Will of God for and in a certain set of circumstances

and the teacher being more concerned with the exposition of Scripture

and the transmission of tradition concerning Jesus.

Acts 13 5 1 does, not permit us. to say m th certainty that Paul delivered/
 57

/delivered his homily at Antioch in his role as a prophet or as a

teacher or even a a missionary apostle. Concerning the Jerusalem

decree and the speech of James, that precede the deliverance, the

opening words, fit has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us...'

(Acts 15 i 28). This is an acknowledgement of the Spirit-directing

role of the missionary enterprise as well as in the decision-making

regarding its experience. Even if the decree wasj received at Antioch

as a prophetic exhortation, (Paraklesis) the opening phrase does not

necessarily imply that,it had its origin in the prophetic utterances.

If we look at the context of the aermon rather than at its formal

structure, we may discern the utterance of a prophetic spirit, an

exhortation designed to lead to repentance and conversion. Bit if

the address is the utterance of a Christian prophet, (in this cade,

Paul) it is prophetic not because it interprets scripture in the way

it does (or may do) but because of the exhortation to repentance and

obedience, the Paraklesis which it contains. Now we come to one named

prophet of Acts to whom there is attributed the ability to predict

future events.

Agabus Ananias designated fa certain disciple1 (Acts 9 * 10 ) received

a prophetic revelation concerning the newly converted Saul, but this is

not really prediction. Together with a group of prophets from

Jerusalem, rather like the bands of early Israelite prophets - Agabus

comes to Antioch and prophesies through the Spirit that a great famine

would take place over the whole world (Acts 11 : 28)• Luke has certaanly

understood the prediction in a historical senae, but it is possible

that the famine which Agabus prophesies was an established feature/

 58

/feature of eschatalogical preaching, one of the events preceding

the end of the. age (cf Mark 13) s 8, Rev 6. i 5 ff) e The fact: that: a

relief operation followed upon Agabus1 predictions may be due to

Luke’s having combined two quite separate traditions, one about an

itinerant, prophet, the other, about relief brought by Barnabas and

29
Raul from Antioch to Jerusalem * The second prediction by Agabus

concerned the fate of Raul - a prediction: which was not quite fulfilled*
30
a point which some think guarantees Luke’s exact preservation of the

oracle. - and it is accompanied by a symbolic gesture (21 : 1.0 f)

reminiscent of the prophets of the Old Testament* Noteworthy in this

case are the words which form the introduction to the. oracle; * Thus

says the Lord* but insistence on the direct intervention of the Spirit

is a feature not only appropriate to tie book of Acts and its under­

standing of the Spirit, but also to. Christian prophecy as the letters

to the Seven Churches show, as well as the later oracles of Montanist

prophets* In the case of Agabus * one may wonder if he was not actually

trying to cast himself in the role of an Old Testament prophet, but

not quite succeeding* for the fact that his words: did not strictly

come true would have made his prophecy ’false* by Old Testament

standards* It is clear that for the author of Acts prediction is not

the main function of Christian prophets* In several important passages

Christian prophecy, as an eschatological gift or power of the Holy

Spirit is a possibility for any believer but it is primarily identified

with certain leaders (Acts 15 t 22) who excercise it in a continuing

ministry. Among such professional prophets were one group from the

Jerusalem Church visiting Antioch including Agabus (Acts 11 i 27)/

 59

/(Acta 11 i 27) the Antioch Circle (13 : 1) Judas and Silas, who

accompanied the Jerusalem decree to Antioch (15 i 22, 32) and the

daughters of Ehilip (21 : 9) 9 together with some other individuals

better known to us as Apostles (eg Paul and Barnabas)

PAUL:

In this sub-heading, we have two things to investigate*

a) Whether Paul can be called a prophet.

b) What has Paul to say about prophecy.

Most of what Paul has to say about himself as a prophet is to be found

in the chapters 12 and 14 of the first letter to the Corinthians.

Chapters separated by - not at all separable from the famous hymn

in praise of Christian love (agape). Calling to mind our characterisation

of Christian prophet as Christian who functions: within the Church

occassionally or regularly as; a divinely called and inspired speaker,

who receives intelligible and authoritative revelations which he is

impelled to deliver publicly, in oral or written form to Christian

individuals and/or the Christian community. If this definition is:

taken, it will be difficult to deny that Paul might rightly be called

a prophet though nowhere, in the New Testament is he given that ti'tle.

He, himself does not explicitly claim to be a prophet, or the possessor

of prophetic powers,, despite the fact that he obviously held the prophets

of the Old Testament in high esteem (Rom 1 : 2, 3 s 21, 1.6 : 25f, Acts

13 : 27, 24 : 14• 26 : 22. 27) and frequentlyquoted fromthem especially

from Isaiah to support his teaching. The nearestapproach toself­

designation as a prophet may be Raul1s use of the Servant of Christ

(Rom 1. : t, Gal 1 : 10, Phil 1 : 1) with reference to himself. In/

 60

/in certain books of the Old. Testament, (2 Kg 9 s 7* 17 s 13, 23,

Ezra. 9 * 11, Jer 7 * 25. etc) the prophets are refaced to as, Servants,

of the Lord. If we wish to give a comprehensive account of Paul's

31
prophetic characteristics , we could draw attention to the poetic

(and therefore prophetic like) quality of much of his language*. There

is no doubt that Haul was divinely called and commissioned, that he.

received revelations and that he. felt, himself to be under divine

constraint to proclaim in word or letter,, what he had been given* Let

u s take a look at Gal 1 :15. - 1>6 : Paul's own testimony to what is

usually refered to as his conversion experience "When he who set me

apart before I was bora and had called me through his grace was pleased

to reveal his Son to me in order that I might preach him among the

gentiles"* The words about election and call must be interpreted as,

pointing to the moment, in advance, when he experiences that revelation.

The parallel with an important passage from Isaiah 49 * 1 - 6 . concerning

the callings of God's servants* Similar quotations could be found in

a way in Jer 1 : 4 ff • Paul's description of his call and the. commission

revealed to him clearly bear, the impress of the prophetic self under­

standing., The account in Acts which is closest to Pauls own words, is

26 : 12 - 18, where Christ says that he has appeared to Paul 'to appoint

you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have and those

in which I will appear to you1• This is further evidence0*>f continuing

revelation - 'delivering you from the people and from the gentiles' -

hinting at prophetic fate of persecution and suffering (cf Acts 9 * 16)-

to whom I send you to open their eyes...' (Jer 1 j 7, 8, Isaiah 42 : 6,

7* 16)* Further prophetic traits, in Paul could be seen by comparing/

 61

/comparing the Acts account of the Damascus road encounter with Isaiah*s

vision and commissioning in the temple (Isaiah 6) with Ezekiel's call

and commission in a throne theophany (Ezekiel 1 - 2)• Which has

parallel with Enoch's visionary call (l Enoch 14 : 8 - 1 6 i 4 also

Daniel 7 *• 9 f) > as well as with Jeremiah • Prom our knowledge of

Old Testament, prophecy it will be recalled that the true prophet stood

in intimate counsel of the Lord (Sod Yaweh) thus gaining the knowledge

of the divine will, plan, purpose which he had to declare to God's

people. It appears that Paul stood in such relationship with Cbirist.

For instance, he points out to the Galatians that the gospel he

preached was 'not man's gospel for I did not receive it from man, nor

was I taught it, but it came through a revelation in Christ' (Gal 1 : 12)

and in I Corinthians he asks, 'Have I not seen Jesus our Lord' (i Cor

9 5 l); to the Ephesian elders at Miletus Paul speaks of 'my course

and my ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the

grace of God* (Acts 20 s 24, 23 s 11, 27 *• 23) it was by revelation

that he went to Jerusalem after forty years (Gal 2 s If) to present

his case to the ecclesiastical authorities whom he was frequently in a

relationship of tension*

There are many places in his writings which can still be explored to

assert this authority : it is possible that Paul's words in Philippians

3 s 12 'Christ Jesus has made me his own' - possibly refering to the

Damascus road event (ecperience) from a phrae which is open to

interpretation as 'Christ Jesus has seized me'. In a very forceful

way Paul is saying something not unlike Jeremiah's claim 'Thou art

stronger than I and thou has prevailed (Jer 20 : 7)•

 62

Prom all that has been said we can safely say that Paul can be called

a. prophet.. However, this title he never uses for himself, instead

he preferss to use the word apostle, a word which in its New Testament

context is probably derived from the verb (Apostellein) possessing the

underlying meaning of messenger, emissary, delegate or more generally

one who is sent. In short an apostle is a divinely called and inspired

authoritative messenger. It is for this reason that Myers and Preid

conclude their essay by saying that apart from somewhat broader

orientation of the apostles* mission, there may in the final analysis

not very much difference between the Old Testament prophets and the
33
New Testament Apostles • However, the New Testament talks of Apostles,

prophets, teachers:-, it might not be really out of place to believe

that the apostles were the real successors of the Old Testament prophets.

To those called the prophets in the New Testament it is the fulfilling

of the ancient prophecy of Joel (Joel 2 : 28) but as far as those

prophets were concerned they exercised this gift of the Spirit more

often and regularly hence they earned special place in the community.

It follows that those called the prophets in the New Testament primarily

exercise the gift of prophecy, though as in the case of Judas, Silas

and Barnabas;, they may fulfil other tasks as well and indeed in their

case, the name *prophetes* is indebted to the Old Testament understanding

of prophecy but mediated through the interpretation of Joel (2 : 28 Tf)

in Acts into a milieu in which it was understood in somewhat less

rigidly definable fashion, simply because of current usuage and

literature. While the Apostles might be able and certainly in the case

of Paul were able to exercise prophetic function. New Testament prophets/

 63,

/prophets nevertheless were a, meaningful way and in line with our

definition, entitled to he called prophets;.

PAUL AND ERQEHECY

Answer, to Paulfs understanding of prophecy can he found in I Cor 12-14*

However, there are few other references to the phenomenon of prophecy

outside I Cor. Prom Romans 12 s 4 - 6 we learn that prophecy is a

grace gift or charisma given to members of the Church to he used in

such e way as to express and maintain the unity of the one hody that

it was a gift either not given to or not exercised hy all the members

of the. Church, hut hy certain individuals and those who use the gift

of prophecy must do so in proportion to the faith given to or possessed

hy them. In short, for Paul, to use the gift efficiently one must he

very conscious of the fact that he is hedng used hy the Spirit to.

proclaim the message*

Again in'These 5 * 49 ** 24 'Do not quench the spirit, not to despise

prophecy but test everything' • I G,or 1i2 : 28 is a clear, indication

that prophets form a distinct group in Churches* it names the offices

appointed hy God (apostles, prophets and teachers) V 29 confirm this

equally*

Paul like other New Testament writers, notably Luke and the author of

Revelation is. aware that the gift of prophecy belongs potentially to

the whole Church (since inspiration of the Holy Spirit is available

to all), and therefore any Christian (including female ones (I Cor 11 -

15) ) might on occasion? prophesy. This does not mean that all

Christians were prophets* in the narrow sense, the professional prophets^

those who came to hold a recognised and authoritative position in the/

 64

/ the congregation by reason of their prominent and continuing

35
exercise of the spiritual gift and who from evidence of Paulfs

letters, do not seem to have engaged in the itinerant ministry as

the prophets mentioned in Didache did.

To find out Paul's understanding of prophecy in I Corinthians 14, we

have to know that his idea is contrasted with the idea of understanding

of prophecy by the Corinthians it is likely that Paul derived his

idea/view of the phenomenon from Old Testament/Jewish models and

possibly from contact with prophets influenced by such models, (like

those in Acts) whereas the Corinthians understanding seems to reflect

the Greek ecstatic model. Those who practiced according to it were

employed in the mystery cult and their activities were described by

terms which are not used of the New Testament prophets (terms like

^ainomai, Mantis, enthousiasmo).

Paul possessed the Spirit of apostolic ministry of teaching and

preaching and therefore a prophet par excellence, he calls into

question the adequacy of the manifestation of religious ecstasy that

was accepted among C.orinthians as a legitimate sign of Spirit inspired

prophecy. He is attacking the fact that the C.orinthians were regarding

glossolalia as a Sine qua non of prophecy. He tried to show that

glossolalia is not an important or indispensible part of prophecy

and that prophecy was brighter and more edifying to the community.

I Cor 14 : 31 asserts that the purpose of prophecy is that all members

of the congregation may receive 'from speech' with the mind instruction

and exhortation to bring about spiritual growth. It now follows

that the individual is edified by the response to the word by the/

 65

/the outsider.. Prophecy edifies alao because it, serves as a sign,

for the believers; (14 i 22), The Corinthians maintained that

glossolalia serves as. a sign for the believers that is as, a proof

of high pneumatic states and authority, Paul refutes this and with

the help of Isaiah 2 8 : 11 - 1 2 , He said that glossolalia was sign

for the, unbelievers instead. Prophecy can be described as a sign for

the believers. All in all, glossolalia and prophecy are signs,

Glossolalia has no value because it is^ self edifying (1.4 t 4) •

Prophecy builds up or edifies the community because it often came

as a word of revelation. It seems likely from 14 s 26 and 30 that

the possession and the public declaration of a revelation was character­

istic if not exclusive contribution of a prophet to the assembly’s

worship. What then is meant by a revelation in V 26 or a word of

revelation, in V 6. In the light of the spiritual gifts, it may be

related to utterances of wisdom mentione d here, that is, mature,

insightful practical instruction and exhortation but. it could go

/

further, to include the intelligible communication of some supernatural

disclosure of God’s purpose or even of some ecstatic auditory experience

(2 Cor 12 i 1, 7)

Whatever precise content we attempt, to. give to a ’revelation’ the

mere reception of apocalypses does not constitute a prophecy until it

is publicly and intelligibly proclaimed: only then does it build up

the Church; exhort and console, for the word revelation may be a

challenging or comforting word. Now if conviction and conversion

(14 ! 22f) disclosure of revelation as well as encouragement and

comfort are associated with the prophetic speaking in worship* what/

 66

/what kind of utterances can we then call it, it is not simply teaching

(Didache) nor simply preaching (kerygma) to believer and unbeliever

alike, it can be seen that thecategory of Pastoral preachingmay be a

useful designation for a Christian prophet's speech and signs of these

are seen in the Acts.

Two distinguidhed authors, - M A Chevallier and F J Leenhardt had much

to say about these views. Thr former at the end of his examination of

I Corinthians 14> he had this to say "Prophecy has its function, the

illumination by revelation of God life of Christians whether as a

16
community or individuals" , and with reference to Romans 12 : 6

Leenhardt says 'The prophet is not a man of predictions, but of

preaching who implants the word of God into the life of a community
37
who gives words or orders that are concrete and precise •.

These two statements point in the direction of classifying prophetic

utterances as a pastoral preaching which by its very nature offers

guidance and instructions. This view can be supported by the book

of Revelation if not in entirety, then certainly in the circular letters

of Chapters 2 - 3 and also from relevant materials on prophets in

Acts. These aspects of prophecy are also among the characteristics of

Montanism.
Notes;

Malachi 3 * 1 , Exodus 23 : 20, Isaiah 40 s 3

J A T Robinson
The baptism of Jehn and the Q,umran, community
H T R 50 (1957), Eage. 176

I Q,sa published in Discoveries in the Judai desert

(Edited by D Barthelemy op, and J T Milik)
Eage 1 0 8 - 1 1 8

Josephus^BellsJudsH » 1 : 20

C H Kraeling
John the Baptist
London 1951
Eage 24

Josephus Antiquities XX, 8 181 and 9, 2 207

Eesachin 57 a

C H Kraeling
Opus cit
Eage 27

Josephus^Antiquities XX, 5* 1 97 - 9$

10 C IE Kraeling
Opus Cit
Eage 31

11 C C McCown
Gospel Geography fact, fiction, and Truth
J B L LXI (1940)
Eages 9 “ 13
G Dalman
Sacred Sites; and Ways;
W35)
Page 87 - 93

F M Abel
Geograohie
Page 142, 4471 & Pig 7

¥ F Albright
Baser
19 ( 1925)
Page 18

A T Qlmstead
Jesus in the light of History
(1942) Eage 94

David Hill
Hew Testamgi t Prophecy
Londoni (1979)
Page 49

G Yermes
Jeaus and Jew
(London 1973)
Page 2 7 - 2 8

0 Cullman
The Christology of the New Testament
(London 1963)
Page 34 - 35

E Sohnider
Jeauss dec prophet
(Ereibourg/Gottingen 1973)
Page 124 ff

J Wankle
Die Emmauserzahlung
(Leipzig 1973)
Page 60 - 64
E Cails
Jesus, prophete d 1apr.es lea; Evangilea S.ynoptiques
(Louvain 1957)
Page 25 - 30

G Eriedrich
T I) N T Vol VI Page 841

E Schweizer
Eormgeschichtliches zu den S^eligpreisungen Jesu
N T S Vol XIX (1972 - 73)
Page 121'. - 126

G Bornkham
Jesus of Nazareth
(ET# London I960)
Page 60

J P G Dunn
Jesus and the. Spirit:
(london 1975)
Page 83

David Hill
Opus Cit.
Page 68
(I have borrowed largely from him because I am perfectly
in agreement with his views.

J D G Dunn
Opus Cit.
Page 171

E Cothenet
le prophet!sme dans le Nouveau Testament
Col 1281

J Danielou and J Marr.au

Nouvelle Histoire de 1 1eglise
Vol I (Paris 1963)
E Gothenet
Opus, Cit.
Col 1283

E R Ellis
The Role, of the Christian Erophets in Acts
Apostolic history and the gospel

E C Selwyn
The Christian Erophets
(London 190 0)
Eage 24f

E Haenchen
The Acts; of Apostles
(E T Oxford 1971)
Eage 376

Eg«E*Gothenet Opus Cit*. Col 1283 and

T VM% Crone Early Christian Prophecy
Eage 1.98 >

J M Myers and E I) Ereed

Is Eaul amohg the Erophets?
Interpretation Vol XX (1966)
Page 40 - 43

J Munck
Ban! and Salvation of Mankind
( E T London 1959)
Eage 24 - 35

Myers and Freed

Opus Cit
Page 44 — 46

Myers and Ereed

Opus Cit
 71

J Lindbolm
Gesichte imd Qffenbarung
(Gleerup Lund. 1968)
Page 179

H Von Campenhausen
Eccliastical authority and Spiritual power in the Church in
the First three centuries:
(E T London 1969)
Page 61

M A Chevallier
Esprit de Lieu, Paroles d !hommes
(Neuohatel 1966)
Page 198

F J, Leenhardt
L fEpitre au Romains
(Neuohatel 1957)
Page 174
 C H A P T E R III

PROPHECY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION

AND THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS

 72

THE BOOK OF REVELATION M D PROPHECY

Having treated prophecy in the Acts of the Apostles, and what Paul

had to say ahout prophecy, we now come to the Book of Revelation.

The Book of Revelation is the only hook or document in the New Testament

which is written with explicit claim to be prophecy in its entirety

(cf Rev 1 : 3, 22 : 7> 10* 18 f) on the basis of this claim we

proceed to ask what Revelation has to tell us about Christian prophecy.

In the opinion of many, the title of the book and its opening word the

revelation - Apocalypsis of Jesus Christ, as well as its content

decisively locate it in the category of apocalyptic not prophetic.

Before going further, it is good to note that a clearcut distinction

between prophecy and apocalyptic is not easy to come by, and biblical

scholars differ greatly in the identification of the characteristics

which belong to each kind. The commonly held view that apocalyptic

represents a continuation of prophecy'*’ is contested by P Veilhauer

who argues that while it was the intention of apocalyptic writers to

continue prophecy this did not in fact take place and dualism,

determinism and pessimism of apocalyptic form the gulf that separates

2
it from prophecy • G Von Rad declares that the view that apocalyptic.

literature is a child of prophecy is out of the question and claims

that, the decisive factor is the compatibility between the apocalyptic

3
vie?/ of history and that of the prophets. • It is suggested that in

its denunciation of evil and exhortation to pure aid noble living

and its possession of the quality of real inspiration aver, against

the gloomy pedestrianism of much of the Jewish apocalyptic writing,

Revelation stands close in tone to the work of the Old Testament/

 73

/Testament prophet^-•

J Kallas argues that the real touchstone of apocalyptic thought was

its attitude towards nature, purpose and source of suffering • Another

distinguishing factor between revelation and apocalyptic is the absence

of pseudonymity and its. ficticious claim to antiquity for the book. V/e

know that the apocalyptic did not write in his own name but under the

name of an ancient worthy (Elijah, Enoch, Baruch, Ezra) and from the

disguise he borrowed an authority he did not possess. John, whoever he

may be, writes under his own name and his is known to the Churches he is

addressing and he writes under his own authority as one called and

addressed by Christ and who. even dares to claim canonical authority for

his book (cf Rev 22 j If) . As opposed to apocalyptic, the Book of

Revelation is unsealed, open, clear eschatological message and exhortation

which is related to the present and indeed to the future. The writer

insists that his, writing would be understood as an ecumenical letter

not as a secret document (Rev 1 j 4» H > 19 > 22 i 16, 2l). In this

respect the writing stands closer to prophetic tradition than to

apocalyptic.

The opening sentences of the book recall at a number of points, the

first words of prophetic books (cf Isaiah 1 ; 1, Amos 1 : 1 and

especially Amos 3 J 7) and the writer, in his address, to the Churches

casts himself in the role of a prophet through whom the Spirit speaks.

In Chapter 10 John is the recipient of a clear prophetic call, the symbolic

account which recalls the vocation of Ezekiel (cf Ezek 2 ; 8 - 3 : 3) and

the content of the charge to proclaim the oracle of God to the nations,

resembles that of Jeremiah (cf Jer 1:10) J Conblin argues here that the/
 74

/the intention of John was the renewal or the recommencement of prophecy

which relates to all nations and which includes words of promise as well

as judgement (Rev 10 : 7> 14 s 6 f) which begins with him and is committed

by him to the Church for transmission •

The task undertaken by John in his prophetic vocation consists essentially

in the interpretation of history,, more particularly perhaps the

interpretation of present and future history (cf Rev 1 ! 19). John's

starting point is the saving action of God in Christ* Like the prophets

of old he takes his own age and emphasises his contemporaneity with his

readers. He offers no review of past history* The idea of salvation

history is the foundation of the view of history which underlies the

revelation and it is from this perspective that the author can address:

with comfort and challange the Church* Because of John's concern in the

interpretation of history, he is no doubt a prophet* A Feullet has

this to say "The profound originality of the Johannine apocalypse lies

in the fact that whilst making use of style imagery and methods of Jewish

apocalyptics, it remains faithful to that which creates greatness in

7
ancient prophecy • For our defence of the prophetic character of the

book of Revelation, we have these points* Prophecy can be written down

(Rev 1 s 3» H j 19> 2 s 1, 7 etc) and can be included in a letter form

with its overall form, numerous words and phrases as well as other formal

features appear to be characteristic of the prophetic mode of speech

by reason of frequent repetition* They occur at key points in the Book

of Revelation, and are similar to the Old Testament form. The vocabulary

and phrases are that of prophetic utterances. W C Van Unnik suggests

g
that Rev 1 j 19 contains a formula describing prophecy • The same

applies probably to the shorter form 'what must take place1 - a phrase/
 75

/phrase from Daniel 2 : 28 which is used in three key junctures, in

the book (Rev 1 i, 1, 4 f! 1> 22 s 6) to denote impending divine will*

We can also refer to the problem of another audition which is typical

of Old Testament prophets. The formula like 'I heard1 (ekousa) occurs

twenty-seven times in the book refering to the prophetic revelation.

More indicative of the prophetic form speech is the call to hear the
9
inspired utterances . What then have we to say about the messenger

formula characteristic of the Seven Churches letters which begin with

words found nowhere in the New Testament except in Acts 21 i 11 on

the lips of Agabus - which often form the septuagintal rendering of

Hebrew for fThus says the Lord*. The Old Testament prophets had

established this formula as appropriate introduction for Godfs address

to his people. ,fJohnH follows them.

As regards materials used by John,., this has prompted some scholars

notably Dr J M Ford to hold theopinion that the revelation emanated

from a John the Baptist tradition at Ephesus - As far as the Old

Testament prophets were concerned, it is not easy to distinguish between

when they are using a traditional material and fresh original oracle,

that is indeed if any oracle can be regarded as absolutely original

and not a new combination of materials of which the prophet, was in some

sense already aware even if subconsciously. It is obvious that John

was acquainted with older apocalyptic literature or writings, as almost

10
all critical works since R H Charles have assumed. He may have

had some familiarity with the Pauline material though this does not

necessarily presuppose literary dependence. John speaks sentiently to

the issues or the actualities of the Church situations he knows. The/

 76

/The conflict with the God opposing political (as he sees it) power, is

interpreted theologically as the prophet -understands the prophetic

spirit to be instructing him..

HISTORICAL SITUATION AKD BACKGROUND

At the time of the writing of the Revelation,, c 95 AD Christianity was

making many converts or is it easier to say made many converts,. Many

from all walks of life have become Christians. The Roman Empire was

well organised and wealth flowed. With wealth came the evils that it

brought. The Christians were part of the growing affluent society, as

such they did not escape the general ill of the society^ a kind of

wanton extravagance which had invaded Rome. The condemnation of Rome

is not merely the work of a Christian ascetic but it was a condemnation

in which nobles of Rome shared with the Christians^. John not only

attacks Rome but he also attacks idolatry and immorality within the

Church (Rev 2 s. 14 > 20), like the prophets of the Old Te&tamenti proclaims

God's kingdom on earth and to assure the Christians of the final

triumph not only in the individual or within its own borders but

throughout the Kingdom of the world and in their relation to one another.

It was a time of relative peace for the Christians, when they were

getting to terms with the delay of the Earousia which must have seemed

imminent in the upheavals of 66 - 70 AD. There was persecution of

which Antipas (Rev 2 13) and John himself were probably victims, but

it was local and selective rather than systematic. The result

was that overt witness-bearing and non-conformity could be avoided

by not attracting attention. We know that in Roman law any religion

was illicit or unauthorized outside its country of origin,, though/

 77

/though punitive measures were not normally taken unless some anti­

social behaviour was .connected. The Jews who had communities in every

nation were exempted* They practised their national religion outside

Palestine and for some time the Christians were able to shelter under

this umbrella, as a Jewish sect (Tertullian Apol 2 s l) • However

two events, took off this umbrella.

a) Nero's action after- the fire of 64 AD, perhaps influenced by

his wife's favour to the Jewss resulting in action against the

Christians as such formed a deadly precedent.

b) The Jewish war of AD 66 - 70> in which the Christians avoided

identification with the Hews. After the war Judaism closed

its ranks and took steps, to exclude all heretics from the

synagogues especially the Christians who on their part took

the destruction of the temple as God's judgement on Jews

12
for the murder of Jesus •

The letters to the Churches suggest that the chief danger confronting

the Church was not persecution but complacency and compromise. At this

time,, the Christians like the Jews of the Old Testament times were

disposed to forget what was the. actual character of the great city*

They had strayed a good deal by the influence of wealth and apparent good

will of the empire td the converts. Morality had fallen, the Christians

needed reminding of the inherent idolatrous, life of the state and what

she had done to the people of God, whether under Dharoah, Jezebel

or Anthiocus or in the guise of Godom, Niniveh, Babylon,, Jerusalem and

finally Rome. It is generally agreed that John expected persecution

of the Church by the Roman Empire, but like the other apocalyptic/
 78

/apocalyptic, writers, he has, set this against a background of w-orid

history. The Christians were being carried away by world situation

and the prophet had to warn them. What then had Revelation to say to

the Churches.

Chapters three and four are full of biblical symbolism and local

references. Warning is given to Ephesus about false prophets and

Nicolai tans who in the third and fourth letters to Eergamum and Thyatira

are linked with biblical villains, Balaam and Balak and Jezebel who

tries to introduce pagan religion and morals into Israel. The second

and sixth letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia speak of opposition from

false Jews who bear the name of God but do Satan*s work. They attack

the churches' faith while the Nicolaitans adulterate it. The first

Church Sardis is asleep (dead). The seventh Laodicea is lukewarm

(complacent). Christ calls the Churches to repent, to he faithful to

death and to reproduce his witness to his father. Chapters four and

five show that the Churches' chief dangers are internal complacency,

somnolence and compromise with wordly virtues. But there is also a

real danger of external attack and the scene now shifts to heaven where

John is shown things which would have served to strengthen Christians

in the face of slander, for as Professor Frend puts it, 'in the. province

of Asia, the struggle betv/een Jews and Christians was bitter and

incessant, by the end of the first century, it was contributing towards

hostility which the Chrisitans were to encounter soon throughout the

13
Graeco-Roman world'

Chapter thirteen to eighteen looks as if it is against the Roman Empire.

These are also interspersed with warnings to Christians (13 : 9 f> 18/
 79

/ 18, 14 5 12, 16 s 15» 18 : 4)»vshich goes to confirm that really the

object of John's prophecy was to wake up the Churches which were,

slipping into conformity with their witness to it. They must be shown

its true colour (nature) and the destiny under its glamour and power,

the deadliness of compromise inspite of its apparent reward and the

real witness to truth inspite of its apparent suicidal folly (Rev 1 : 5“6)

Like the Old Testament prophets., John attacks the affluence of Rome.

Trade with foreign ties and wealth it brought had in the eyes of the

Old Testament: prophets destroyed the primitive simplicity of Israel.1s

national life. The same had happened to the Christians in the Roman

Empire. This outlook is partly because Christianity was rooted in the

cities which were centres of commerce especially Thyatira and; Laodicea

more deeply perhaps that wealth creates a false sense of security

which prevents men from seeing cruelty, injustice and other evils

in their true light.

Such situations have been created by development of trade and commerce.

Again like the Old Testament prophets, John attacks three groups of

people whose fortune depends on the survival of Rome. The Kings of the

earth (Rev 18 s 9 - 10) , the merchants (18 : 11 -17)and the sea faring

(18 s 17b - 19). These have grown rich due to the political situation.

If we compare John's condemnation of these three groups of people

with what Isaiah had to say in Chapter 23 and what Ezekiel said in

Chapter 27 one would be tempted to think that John might be merely

quoting these prophets;. The truth of this will be seen with slight look

at the social and economic background I have used mostly from

M Rostovtzeff*s book 'the Social and Economic History of the Roman/

 80

/Roman Empire* First Edition# By around the time of the writing of

Revelation, the Roman Empire was affluent;* There were increasing

numbers, of rich men in the empire, wealth was. no longer concentrated

in the hands of few people or places as in the Athenian, republic; or

the Roman senate. Wealthy men were not exceptional among the Senators,

of the Second Century. Rich men were to be found partly in Rome (mostly

among freedmen) but chiefly in the provinces. Rich men were found in

the most unexpected places in all the parts of the Roman Empire. The

fact that Christianity was still more or less based in the urban, area or

built up area made the converts a product of their time. Fortune sprang

from commerce aid along with commerce is the closely connected business

of transportation industry also played a. part*. The Empire, was linked

by commercial relations with all its neighbours who were in territorial

touch with it. From the Second Century we have series of inscriptions

which mention the profession of men of the time. Many of these give

us names of merchants; (Mercatorea and Negotiatores) and even tell us; of

their special line of business.

As a model for lament John uses two dirges found in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel

26 and 27 • The situation as he saw it was real but he had to use tie

solution or message of the Old Testament prophets to adapt to a historical

situation in which he finds himself. So the prophecy of Revelation was

to correct the evil and abuse found in the community ass it is found.

John might have read other prophetic writings. In Chapter 1.8 h e draws

into his service so many phrases: and figures from tant-song and dirges

in Isaiah,. Exekiel and Jeremiah. The song in Revelation is a resounding

echo of passionate faith and exulting in the doom song of the great/
 81

/great prophets. If we read what Isaiah had written about Babylon

(Isaiah 21 s 9 - 14) and all nations immersed in luxury and pride;*

we shall find out that John does.: not only derive certain phrases., from

Isaiah, it was the spirit in which it was. written* If we compare

Isaiah 21 • J££ to 18 i 1 - 3 ; in some places John seemed to have

used the exact words of Isaiah.. If we read how Jeremiah and Ezekiel

denounce the great cities of this, world : Jeremiah 51 * 1 * Ezekiel

Chapters 26 and 27 » we shall find out that John has remembered what

they wrote and his: words, are charged by conscious recollection. In

short Chapter 18 is in line with prophetic doom-songs but it is a new

song altogether because it has passed through the prophetic imagination.

It is also a summary of all the prophetic oracles cn the doom of

unrighteous people. When John read such passages as Ezekiel 27 > the

song heralding the imminent fall of Tyre he discerned a prophecy which

bore resemblance upon his own world, the world of the Roman order.

Tyre is less a city than a symbol. As John sees it, she stands for

complex sea traffic of the empire, she is a part of age long Babylon

and. therefore what Ezekiel wrote about her doom could appropiately

mingle with what Isaiah and Jeremiah said about the doom of Babylon

Concluding, Revelation is a book of prophecy and the author a prophet,

who was; motivated by political , social and ecomonic situation of

his time.

Before going further, we shall have a look at one of the n o w ;

Christian prophets who wrote around the same time, before going over

to the Montanisbs.
 82

THE PROPHET HERMAS

•'Towards the end of the 1st Century, the Christian Church at Rome seems

to have made a convert of whom it was never proud. He was not a. great

man. His; writings were not included in the New Testament, through they

were seriously considered for it" This is a direct quotation from

W J Wilsons article on the Career of the prophet Hennas^. We have

already discussed the John of the book of Revelation and tried to

understand his prophecy from the point of view of the social and

economic background at the time of the prophecy. While it was supposed

or agreed that John wasi writing in Asia minor, Hermas was writing in

Rome. The social and economic conditions were not different throughout

the empire. Who then was Hennas and what was his message in the

situation he found himself?,

Hermas lived in the capital city of the empire but he was not a native

Roman. He had been born somewhere in the provinces perhaps in Greece.

Many guesses have been made about his parentage, but all that is known

is that he was an unwelcome child and had been abandoned by the wayside

for anyone to pick up. The man who picked Hermas up and reared him for
15
trade brought him to Rome and sold him as-a slave to Rhoda, a lady

of some wealth and refinement. Later he escaped from slavery perhaps

by earning his value and paying the money. He set up business for

himself, prospered and was able to marry. He bore seven grown up sons.

Sometime he met some Christians who told him about the Lord who is

about to come to judge the world sending the wicked to torment and

saving the good for a blessed life hereafter. Hermas did not clearly

■understand what the message was or the Lord properly but all that/
 83

/that was clear to him was, that if he were good and repented of his

sins especially sins of pleasure, or self indulgence, he would be

safe on the day of judgement. So he was baptised and was assured

of salvation. Further they told him of the Holy Spirit, whose influence

would help him to be saved. Before now he was only concerned with

making money not always too scrupulously. Suddenly, his interest

widened and womething beyond his life opened to him. As he went to

the meetings of the Church and sang songs and listened to prayers and

exhortations he discovered that there were certain persons called

prophets who saw visions relating to the deep things of life. He

found that he too could have visions and he began occasionally in

the meeting and reported what he had seen and heard. In the course of

time, he learned to cultivate trances- and visions by me&ns of

fasting.

Among the members of the Church in Rome he met Rhoda the lady who

years before had owned him as a slave boy. One day he saw her

bathing in the river Tiber, and, as she was climbing out, reached forth

his hand and helped her up the bank* Sometime Rhoda <&Led. The first

vision that Hermas saw was in connection with Rhoda. This was the

beginning of his ministry.

Thus the first vision "as I was walking along, I fell asleep, and

a,, spirit seized me and carried me away through a pathless region

through which nobody could walk for it was through a piece of a country

all broken into gullies by water* Well, I crossed that river and came

to a level spot and I knelt down and began to pray to the Lord to

confess, my sins, while I was praying, the heavens was opened and 1/
 84

/i saw that woman whom I had admired, she greeted me from heaven and

said 'good morrow Hermas'• I said 'Lady what are youdcanghere'. She

answered 'I ascend to accuse you "before the Lord for your sins,' I

said, to her 'are you making accusations, against me now?' 'No' she

said, 'but hear what I am about to tell you. The God who dwells in

heavens;, and who created out of what was not the things that are and

multiplied and increased them for the sake of his Holy Church is

angry with you because you sinned against m e 1. I answered her, 'Sin

against you? In what way? Lid I speak an unseeming word to you?

Lid I not always regard you as a goddess? Lid I not always respect

you as a sister, how could you falsely charge me with this kind of

impure things?' But Rhoda laughed and explained that it was not a

wicked act but only the thought of his mind. This was the beginning

of Hermas prophecy. This theme occurs, throughout in his work

Hermas could rightly be called a moralist. He starts with the

conviction that for sins committed after baptism,, there can be no

forgiveness. But he presents; himself as charged with special mission

to proclaim that by an exceptional act of grace, one more chance of

salvation is offered to all those #10 will now repent and sin no more.

They must however, clearly understand that sin is not confined to

outward acts of wrong doing. Sins of thought and sins of word are no

less fatal in their consequences than sins of deed. His book is

divided into three parts. First came the five visions, in the last

which appears the Shepherd from which the book has received it's title

'The Shepherd of Hermas'. Then came twelve mandates or aommandments

and lastly ten similitudes or parables. Hermas had been suffearing/

 85

/suffering from reverses. As he says later, his wealth, derived, it may be,

from some retail business perhaps in wine or oil, had been pared down.

He likes to think of himself as someone who had been subjected to the

perils and temptations of great wealth. Now however, he is poor and

wonders what could have so aroused Godfs anger against him, some kind

of business failure having overtaken him, he concludes that he must

have sinned, being especially sensitive on the subject of sex. He at

first imagines that God is charging against him that passing thought

concerning Rhoda as earlier said. This was with reg§p:d to the beginning

of his visions.

HISTORICAL SITUATION

The Shepherd of Hermas reflects Christian life as lived during the

second phase which inaugurated by Trajan was advanced by Hadrian and

continued through the years of Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius. This

was a time of basic changes in the empire as the influence of the

provinces came to be felt more than that of Italy. It was a time of

new organization of the army, the development of great corps of

administrators of the provinces, of growth of the Roman law and of

important reforms, in the collection of internal revenue. Luring the

period, the power of the emperor increased, and the prestige of the

Senate waned. A closely knit nation of provinces emerged over which

the emperor maintained his close persenal supervision. Luring the

period important changes in social order occurred as the rise of position

of the freedmen at once met and furthered the shift in commercial

organization of the empire which was steadily becoming more necessary.

Certain changes in the distribution of wealth operated to effect deep/

 86

/deep seated differences in status, of social groups*

The Shepherd of Hermas tells us the way in which the Christians met

these changes. It is with the purpose of control that the book of

Hermas was written. In other words the purpose of the message of

Hermas was to effect control of the Christian life. While Hermas

enunciated his teaching so as to make it seem directed to himself

and his family, it is obious that his real purpose is to instruct

his fellows. His instruction is quite practical,, he looks back to a

period of persecution from which the communities have emerged and

looks forward to another such rather vaguely expected in the future.

The crux of the matter is his message in view of what has happened

since the last, and what he forsees: may happen in the coming persecution.

For while the time is peaceful the internal development made possible

by this peace impends. The danger is rather that of cessation of

the purifying fire of persecution has permitted certain unhealthy

parasitical bodies to live on within the communities. This was the

case with the lukewarmness in the Christians of the revelation of

John. The central problem is the condition which Hermas calls double

mindedness. The condition implies a variety of aspects it appears not

infrequently as he mentions persecution.

MYou escaped great tribulation through your faith and because you were

not doubleminded when you saw so great a beast'* (Vision 4 *• 2 : 4) •

Other references tend to explain more "Some were apostates to the end

•. • they blasphemed the Lord and denied him and many of them were

double minded" (Sim 8 ; 8 s 3a)• Again the double minded and those/
 87

/ those- 7/ho have, the Lord, on their lips, but do not have him in their

hearts are neither alive nor dead. Therefore, they are like the

double minded when they hear of afflictions become idolators through

their cowardice and they were ashamed of. the Lord” (Sim 9 s 21 : 1 - 4 )

Sometimes double, mindednesa appears frankly an attitude of doubts

eg; He said to me remove from yourself double mindedness and do not at

all be double minded..... For those who have doubt towards God these

are the double minded But they who are perfect in faith This

double; mindedness uproots many from faith and despite this double

mindedness master it in every act*' (Mandate 9) •

For Hermas double mindednesa could even lead to schism# The problem

emerges as follows : of one group it is said 1Those who are double minded

and evil speakers and are never at peace with themselves, but are

always making schisms’ (Sim 8 j 'J i 2). Again he is told ”If any

of them turn again to schism* he shall be cast out from the tower

(ie the Church) and shall loose his life” (Sim 8 s 7 s 5) • Among

the schismatics and law breakers there is death (Sim 8 : 7 s 6)• The

Shepherd pictures, a religious body in which the unity of the group

is broken by differing attitudes by lack of unanimity, which is

exhibited not merely in intellectual matters but more serious also

in the matters of discipline when pressure threatens some individuals

retreat, when it moves to a situation of persecution some deny and

when it pleases, some secede and effect a schism.

 88

CAUSES

The force operative in Hermas message is the influence of wealth.

Here he is in line with both John of the Revelation and the Old

Testament prophets. It was the influence of business and wealth

that had made the Christians of the Revelation of John lukewarm. It

is the same influence of business and wealth which Ezekiel and all the

other prophets of Old Testament accused of being responsible for the

debased morals of Israel. Now Hermas sees the same situation. This

is shown in Hermas vision in the building of the Church. One type of

stone being used symbolises those who have faith but also have riches

of this world. When persecution comes, because of their wealth and

because of their business, they deny their Lord.

“ when their wealth, and because of their business they deny

their Lord when..... their wealth, which leads their souls astray

shall be cut off they shall be useful to the Lord. For just as rounded

stones cannot be useful unless something be cut off and taken away

from it, so too they who have riches in this world cannot be useful

to their Lord unless their wealth be cut away from them” (Vision

3 s 6 i 5, 6). Again a parable in which various sticks are the figures

has this feature : “Those who gave up, the stick half green and half

dry these are those who are concerned with business and do not cleave

to the saints for this, half of them is dead and half alive some

of them were apostates to the end..... because of their business they

blasphemed the Lord and denied him” (Sim 8 j 1 : 2). One effect of

such preoccupation with business is the neglect of the intellectual

aspect of religious life. The mandates naturally present this item as/
 89

/as follows, "But even when they listen., concerning the Godhead and

truth, their mind is taken up with business- and they understand

nothing prcperly (Mandate 10 : 15) • There is a tendency for wealth

to break down the social solidarity. Those who have business connections

or have heathen friends are especially liable to corruption. There

are various degrees of culpability as the force of wealth affected the

churchmen directly. For some, business caused a temporary withdrawal

in certain situations which social disapproval attached to adherence

to Christian group (Sim 9 * t9 * 3)• In such situations there seems

to be a tendency for those primarily interested in business to form

their associations in line with this interest. This of course was;

the case with all the commercial- centres of the empire. The wealthy

were reluctant to share their wealth. The following passage is an

indicative of this.

The rich cleave with difficulty to their fellow Christians (fearing

that they would be asked for something by them) so this type of

sharing is harmful to you who are rich and do not share with the

poor..... let those who have abundant seek out those who are hungry.••

see to it then you who rejoice in your wealth that the destitute do

not groan and their groans go up: to the Lord and you with your goods

be shut outside the doors of the tower (Vis 3 s 9 • 4> 5) • For Hermas

wealth and distinction in social class has: removed the characteris-tics

of the early Church. It looks as if Hermas was an extremist in his

attitude towards wealth and business. Certainly seme groups among

the early Christians: must have been such. With Hermas it is good

to put his attitude towards wealth and business over against the/
 90

/ the social conditions or situations.; known to. have obtained! with

special acuteness in his particular time*

The public buildings of Hennas:1 days were, at the zenith of their beauty

and magnificence and were as a group an unmistakable, index of the empires

wealth if not its prosperity.. Such wealth worked deep changes in the

social standard of the people. It is hardly to he expected that, in

such a changing world, the consistency of. the Church would he unaffected.

It is against such a background as this that the teaching of Hermas

concerning wealth and business, obtain their force.. The evident fact

is that though the religious group is: to a degree becoming socially

and economically integrated into the organization current in its time,,

Hermas represents the point of -view that such integration is brittle, it

is liable at any moment to be uprooted, and Hermas is desirous that

when disturbances, should come, the adherence of the religious group

should be unincumbered with real property. He feared lest the choice

of values, in favour of the Hearthly city” should entail the loss of

allegiance to the. ideal values: due to the attractions of property and

the other economic advantages*. Such a choice would ensure the disruption

of the Community.

The lessons however of Hermas were ethical, namely for the purpose of

self control, it is with the expectation that he can exercise control

that he makes the exhortation. What distresses him is the attention to

the wealth and business leading to private sin on the part of the

guilty individual. He is distressed too at the tendency to permit

integration of the faithful into the economic and social organization

which was tending to break down the unity of the group. He entertains/
 91

/ entertains: the possibility that the matter may be brought to the mind

of the people concerned in such a way that the drift towards breakup

may be prevented. Therefore he recounts his visions, reports his

mandates and details of parables.

He is a messanger of the Church and his messages, are to the Children

of the Church for their direction and welfare.. Hermas had a great

deal to say about keeping the commandments ’living to God* etc and

also much about sin and breaking of the commandment and the possibility

of repentance.

He pictures the Shepherd as an angel who is in charge of repentance

and it is from the Shepherd that he learns, the most significant lessons

which he passes on to his fellow believers. His lessons, come: to him

from common sense observation of people, the crux for him was not the

nature of sin and repentance but the actual difficulties occasioned

the Churches by the behaviour of their members,, namely the task of the

exercise of discipline by the Churches in the interest of control.

In the mandates, Hermas relates, how he is shown that in. view of a

persons weakness and the devil's subtlety it is provided that should

one sin after becoming a Churchman he is allowed one repentance

(Mandate 4 s 3) • The same teaching occurs also in the visions: and

have the connection of the Church in the matter appears;. Repentance as

Hennas sees it, is a process of discipline in which afflictions and

16
punishment play their, part • Hermas1 idea of repentance is that of

a process of discipline covering a period of time and under the

guidance of the Church. The late Professor Lake had this to say about

it 'it is the beginning of the great Catholic system of penance which/

 92

/which is difficult to estimate at its full value because of its

corruption and exploitation in the middle ages*., it has much to do in

producing in the next century a Church which inspite of persecution

17
ultimately won the assent of the best of the Roman World , and

Le Long had also this, to say 1 it is without doubt under the influence

of Hernias that the, ideas cff indulgence made such rapid progress in

the Church during the second half of the Second Century The

Shepherd had thus the good fortune to mark this first and most

important moment in the troubled history of penance. He opened with

the call of rigorism, the breach of which Callistus and Cyprian had
l8
but to enlarge during the following century • At the same time, as

Pierre de Labriolle has seen, the. Shepherd of Hermas is to some extent

19
a forerunner of Montanism especially as connected with Rome. '

Once more, the Shepherd of Hermas is a book of discipline written in

an era of peace between persecutions and it was designed to meet a

situation which experience showed was acute where ever it obtained. With

this we come to the end of this short survey of the prophet Hermas —

We have seen how both Revelation and the Shepherd of Hermas were trying

to make prophetic utterances to keep the Christians on the right

track. We know also from our history that many problems beseiged the

Church s both internal and external. One such internal conflict is

Montanism - We shall in the next chapter see how the prophecy of

Montanus worked and whether it tried at all to exhort the Christians

like all the other prophets. We shall also see what it was and how

it was taken by the Church.

 93)

Notes.

1 H H Rowley
The revelation of apocalyptic
(Lutterworth London 1955)

Russell
The method and message, of Jewish apocalyptic:
S C M Press. London 1964
Page 92 ff

P. Vielhauer
1Apocalyptic1 New Testament Apocrypa Volume 2
(English translation edited by R McL Wilson Lutterworth
London 1965)
Page 595 - 597

G Van Rad
Theology of Old Testament Volume 2
(English translation Oliver and Boyd Edinburgh 1965)
Page 303
Fresh presentation of the case of apocalyptic being an unbroken
development of prophecy* See P L Hanson The Lawn of Apocalyptic
(Fortress Eress Philadelphia 1978)

G E Ladd.
The Revelationi and Jewish Apocalyptic
Evangelical quarterly Vol 29 1957
Page 94 - 100

5 The Apocalypse ; an Apocalyptic book?

(Journal of Biblical literature)
LXXXVT J B L
Page 69 - 81

6 J Comblin
Le Christ dans l 1apocalypse
(Paris 1965)
Page 5 f, 85
A Feuillet
L*apocalypse Etat de la question
(Paris. 1963)
Page 8

What you see, what is;,, and what is to take, place here after

cf Isaiah 32 : 3 Jer 28 : 15, Amos; 7 * 16, David 10 i 11 etc

and the repeated injunction cf. the prophet Moses Deut 4 s 1»
6 : 3? 4 (Hear 0 Israel )

R H Charles
The Revelation of St John
(Clark Edinburgh 1920)
The recent, commentary on the hook in the anchor Bible Series;
Revelation by J M Ford (Double day Hew. York 1575) puts forward
the unusual, but stimulating hypothesis that most of the
revelation emanates, from a John the Baptist school, which
represented a primitive form of Christianity and inherited the
baptist's prophetic and apocalyptic tendencies* Dr Ford assigns
the writing df the book to a period prior to the Gospel of
Mark and emphasises that it does, not fit the apocalyptic
genre*

William Barclay
The Revelation of John
Volume 2
Page 204.

John Sweet
Revelation
Page 31

W H C Frend
The Early Church
(Philadelphia 19 82)
Page 37

W J Wilson
The Career of the Prophet Hermas
Harvard Theological review Volume 20 1927
Page 21
 95

15 I am still indebted to the same article by W J Wilson already

quoted.

16 cf Sim 7 s 4 - 7

17 Lake
Landmarks in the History of Early Christianity
Page 91

18 Le Long
Les Peres. Apostaliques
TV le Pasteur Hermas VII

19 P de Labriolle
La Crisje Montaniste
Page 247 - 256
C H A P T E R IV

PROPHECY OF nONTAIMUS
 96

THE E m OF MONTANISM

Before, discussing Montanism, it is reasonable that we have a look at

the events, which helped the spread of Montanism. What factors gave

rise to them. It may not be necessary to have a review of the whole

history of Christianity up to the time of Montanism,. for not only will

it be impossible to do justice to it in this short chapter, but it will

be stupid for one to claim to get all the facts, and figures. However,

an attempt, will be made to. scratch at what can be remembered for

thousands; of books: have been written on that alone.

It suffices to. know that the prophetic ministry of the apostolic

and immediately sub-apostolic times passed away in the course of the

second century. The transformation was due first to the alteration of

the organization of the Churches especially the institution of the three

fold ministry. The importance of this, development may be illustrated

by two quotations, taken from the writings at the beginning and end of

the second century respectively. "Every prophet" says the oldest

ecclesiastical manual (didache) "Who speaketh in. the Spirit,, ye shall

not try nor Judge for every sin: shall be forgiven but that sin shall

not be forgiven" • That comes from the time when the prophetic ministry

was still the great controllingppower. "Y/retched men" says Irenaeus "who

wish to be false prophets;; holding aloof from the communion of. the

brethren," and the test, of being in communion with the brethren is "to
2
obey the elders who are in the Church." •

The change between the time when the prophet was not to be judged but

to be. obeyed and disobedience to him being an "unpardonable sin", and

the time when the test of true prophecy was obedience to the resident/
 97

/resident office bearers, of the local Church amounted to a revolution*

The overthrown of the supremacy of the prophetic ministry divided the

Church into two* The more close and firm the organization of the

local churches became, the less room remained for the exercise of the

prophetic ministry which claimed for itself freedom and the power of

ruling in some indefinite way over the churches which admitted its

exercise among them*

In St Haul's summary of the gifts which the Holy Spirit bestows which

when made manifest with the community makes a church,., it can be seen

that all these gifts may be divided into two classes* Those which

enable their possessor to edify the brethren by speaking the w.ord of

God and those which fit them for serving the community in more

practical ways* Two of these gifts ''piloting*'(K v(?> ) and

"aids" <11^ for shadow; in the abstract the concrete offices of

the overseer and servant from them the office bearers of the local churches

derive their origin* The task of edifying by speech belonged primarily

to the. first class of gifted persons and the work of edifying by wise

counsel and all manners of brotherly service belonged to the tw.a branches

of the second class out of which the local office bearers developed*

Edification by word of mouth being most inportant need of the Churches

and if the gifted" apostlesprophets and teachers failed any community,

their services had to be supplied somehow*

The Didache or the teaching of twelve apostles^ was a short Christian:

manual of composite character,., containing rules for conduct of individual

men and women, and regulations for guidance of Small Christian

Community, scores of which were scattered over the face of the empire/
 98

/empire in the second century* It is likely that they formed baptismal

instructions, administered to the. Catechumens before baptism* fasstLng

and prayer- and the Eucharist* It may be dated between 1.00 and 1:20

AD «

Three sections are demoted to the injunctions which concern the ’’prophetic

ministry”. There follow the instructions about the Lords’ day services

and the selection of office bearers* It concludes with warnings about

the last days.. It shows us the transition stage between prophetic, and

priestly pre-eminence, and explains how the need for residential clergy

was supplied in an ordinary way when the, extra-ordinary involved in the

presence of a prophet failed, ’’Appoint therefore you yourselves bishops

and deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are meek and are not covetous,

upright and proven; for they also, minister to you for the service of

the -prophets. and teachers* Therefore neglect them not * for they are

your honoured ones, together with the prophets and teachers.” The

underlined words show us at once the point of junction between the

prophetic ministry and the local one, and how. they could fulfil the

duties, of the. latter* This.; also reveals the possibility of the abolition

of the prophetic ministry as a permanent part of the organization of

the local churches.

We can see how, when the wave of the spiritual enthusiasm and the

illumination which came with the earliest proclamation had spent, itself,

there was need to supply through the ordinary office bearers: of the

churches that exhortation and instruction which in the earliest times

had been left to the inspiration of those, gifted with the power of

speaking the word of God. Hence the Didache^ counsels the community/
 99

/community to select men for its office bearers in the knowledge that

they may be called upon ta supply this need.. But when the local churches

began to. have their needs satisfied, within their circle, and the bonds

of association grew; stronger, it is easy to imagine that the power of

the office bearers grew strong enough to withstand the members of the

prophetic class unless the prophets were content to take a secondary

place. The very fact that tie office bearers.: could render the service;

of the “prophets and teachers” inevitably tended to, place them, the

permanent officials of the local churches permanently in the position

of exhort ers, instructors- and the leaders of the public worship of the

communities* Hence while we can trace the presence and the power of

the prophetic ministry during a great part of the second century, we

can also see how complaints against false prophets became more and more

common* There was a tendency to make the test of true prophecy

subordination on the part of the prophet to the office bearers of the

5
churches • This is not quite unexpected because human nature being

what i t is, the office bearers would like to wield their authority or

ability in the presence of their community#

The early second century marks the transition stage* It is also worthy

of note that it is highly probable that some of the office bearers

chosen by the brethren to lead them by their gift; of governing had

also the power of exhortation and instruction* This was probably the

case case from the earliest times* The Up&'lerTK/UWoiof. I Thess 5 ^ 12.

not only laboured but ‘’admonished” and to admonish (Vtfi'-'z&yv/jjl seems

to. imply more than leading* The prophetic gift was to be found among

the office bearers of the local churches before the conflict jurisdiction/
 100

/jurisdiction arose and office bearers; who. possessed it had all the

divine authority which was supposed to belong to the prophetic

order#

We know of how the divine aflatus descended on Ignatius while he was

preaching in Philadelphia (Epistle to the Philidelpha 7) • Erom these*

it is easy to see how, while the overthrow of the prophetic ministry

was sufficient to provoke a disruption of the Church, it would nevertheless

be accepted by a great mass of the Christian people* How then did this

change take place's

The beginning of the change date from the early decades of the second

century. By the end of the century, it was almost complete* The change

was two-fold, and concerned both the prophetic and the local ministry

It can be described thus : the "prophetic" ministry passed away, its

functions being appropriated by the permanent office bearers of the.:

local churches, and every local church came to supplement its organisation

by placing one man at the head of the community, making him the

president of the college of elders# The one part of change which came

about gradually and at different times#. In various parts of the empire

it was affected peacefully and we hear of no disturbances in consequence •

The other change which meant the overthrow of the "prophetic" ministry

of the apostolic and immediately subsequent period was a revolution

provoked a wide spread revolt and rent the Church in two#

To understand the change in the ministry of the local churches it is

to be kept in mind that at the close of the first century every local

church had at its head a college or senate or. session of rulers., who

were called by the technical name elder and were also known by names/
 101

/names which indicated the kind of work they had to do - pastors:, overseers,

episeopoi. This was the ministry of oversight* To each congregation

there were also attached a body of men who rendered "subordinate

services" who were called deacons — but whether they formed part of the

college of elders, or were formed into a separate college of their own,

it is not easy to say. The change made consisted in placing of the

head of this college of rulers one man, who was commonly called either

the. pastor or the bishop,; elders and deacons.. Instead of being as it

has been, two fold of elders and deacons it became three fold - of

pastors or bishops* elders and deacons.

The evolution of the offices is a complicated process.. It suffices to

look at some documents to have an idea of the evolution.. The epistle

of James,., I Be ter, the Book of Revelation and Acts: all mention elders
7
but neither bishops nor deacons* We may not go into details about the

word but it is likely that the system of elders is probably of Judeo-

Christian origin (as Zekenim) just as bishops and deacons were first

at home with the gentile Christians leaving those epistles aside we

come now to our other documents* The Didache which we have already

mentioned: talks cf bishops and deacons* Our remaining documents are :

1. I Clement and Hermas

2. The letters of Ignatius *

3. The pastoral epistles

4* The letters of P.olycarp

g
In I Clement and Hermas the leading, men of the congregation axe termed
9
both bishops and presbyters • Whether the Chinch in Rome was governed

by a bishop or council of presbyters in circa. AD 100 , "when Clement/

 102

/C lem en t wrote to the Corinthians we may never know* Support for this,

view is highlighted by bringing out the two meanings of the Episcopus

(bishop) which had survived in Christianity'^• One meaning was that

of overseer which included in the, synagogue parlance overseers of

scrolls but secondly the term could mean ^jriest” as used regarding

Eleazer in Numbers 4 s 16.

In I Clement the essential work cf the bishop consists in presenting

the gifts as. typified by the priests of the Old Testaments* They are

the leaders of the worship and at the, celebration of the Eucharist, they

offer prayers on behalf of the congregation* One trying to understand

the letters of Clement must bear two things in mind. The legalism of

the Romans and the occasion of the documents* At Oorinth tension between

a section of the Congregation and their leaders had reached the point of

open conflict in which a group, of the leaders had been driven out of

their position of control and stripped of their liturgical functions.

The issues at stake were not mentioned when Clement in the name of

Roman congregation demanded that recognition be given to the ejected

presbyters this in his eyes is an appeal for peace and concord without

which the congregation cannot exist* Clement does, not see himself as

innovating but rather championing the old valid order against wanton

and totally unjustified revolution.

In accordance with this, Clement develops his theory of the apostolic

origin of the presbytery system. In his concern with the concrete,

Clement only works, out more precisely and systematically something

which had been taken more or less for granted where the system of elders

had gained control. It may be that in CLorinth this had not completely/
 103

/completely come about, but in Rome, it must have already done so and

in Syria and Asia Minor too the sysrtem must have virtually taken
11
over .

In the Shepherd of Hermas, we hear of fbishops' looking after hospitality

on behalf of the community and therefore acceptable to the Lord (Sim 9 '• 27) •

Hermas is a prophet who by virtue of his visions and spiritual illuminations

has received authority to speak to the 'saints' that is, to his own

Church and the Churches throughout the world. It is stated that he had

already wished at an earlier stage to give his book to 'the presbyters';

now Clement, on whom such duties fell, is to send it to the Cities

abroad, while Grapte (probably a deaconess) is to instruct the widows and

12
orphans • In the Church of Rome harmonious relationships exist between

the men of the Spirit and the officials. Hermas mentions the apostles,

of the early days, the bishops, the teachers, and the deacons^. In

Hermas, there is no mention of liturgical function as in the epistle of

Clement.

The next document that we have to consider are the letters of Ignatius.

These letters were written on his last hourney to Rome as a martyr. His

letters reveal an advanced stage of the developed hierachical order

which is connected with the fact that they are of the Syrian province

and possible also with the particular circumstances of life in the

metropolis of Antioch. In Ignatius all important matters are in the

hands of the bishop. The Clergy is now sharply divided into grades, the

Spiritual garland! cf the Presbyterate^. These surround the bishop as

15 16
a council and below them the deacons •

Ignatius' concept of the Church is not legal and constitutional like

that of I Clement. He does not attach weight to apostolic origin of/

 10.4

/of the structure of the Church.. Eor him it is a mystery. In its

totality it is united to Christ* who is God*a incarnate 'word' to this

17
world and thereby has become both flesh and spirit (Philad 7 * 1 ?

Pal 1 ! 2, 2 s 2.).

Ignatius’s principle concern is Unity., The Union is Union around Christ

and his genuine passion endured in the flesh. The passion is celebrated

in the sacramental reality of. the Church constituted by the assembly of

the whole congregation around the clergy and the bishop. He uses

various images to describe the Church* Thus the congregation is to

follow their bishop, as Christ followed the father and the presbyters

as they would the apostles and reverence their deacons as. they would the
18
Command of God . Ignatius attempts to invest all important functions

on the bishop. The bishop alone is entitled to lead public worship and
19
to dispense the sacraments • If anyone wishes to do so this is only

permissible by his commission which is to say by the delegation of his

20
episcopal rights • On the other hand it is the duty of the bishop to
21
instruct his congregation and thus to save them from false doctrine •

Ignatius is not concerned with legal axions but: with the essence of

fellowship embodied in the bishop, the clergy and the congregation©. The

bishop is the, apex or the focal point as a ishole. Ho special arguments

are marshalled in support of his authority it is true that the

congregation is subject to him and to those who are over it (Mayn 6 : 2)

22
it is in harmony with the bishop. • Throughout his letters Ignatius

avoids treating the powers., the authority and the ’rights1 of the. bishop

in isolation it is not easy to define the nature of authority in the

Ignation idea of bishop. The congregation is to pay heed to the bishop/

 105

/bishop in order that God will pay heed to them (Pal 6 s 1).

In hiss thought,; it is not a dogmatic tradition which confronts the

bishop with the norms binding upon him but equally it is neither a

specific commission which he had received nor a clearly defined ministry.

Eor Ignatius all Christians are Christ-bearers, like himself and bearers

of Holiness (Eph J % Z ) and they no. longer live in a human way if only

they meet in the Unity of the congregation submitting to., the bishop as
23
to Christ, himself •

Our next documents are the so-called pastoral epistles* These were

supposed to have been written by Paul but this is highly disputed* They

may however,; as Von Campenhausen suggests have been composed in the

first half of the second century in Asia Minor and their author, in all
24
probability may have been a presbyter or a bishop • The pastorals are.

neither occasional pieces, as to a certain extent the Shepherd of Hermas,,.

nor genuine letters, such as: I Clement and the Epistles of Ignatius,

they are systematic works, incorporating older traditions and possibly

even written sources which may be classified as 'writings on the Church

Orders'• They are cast in, epistolary form and contain a number of

passages couched in highly personal terms in which Paul expresses,

himself on the subject of his situation,; his: person,, his apostolic

calling and his anxieties and hopes for the future* In this way the

theological warnings against false teaching and the practical instructions

for running the congregation, which are the major topics:, are given an

air of verisimilitude in a warm and urgent tone©

Ini the pastorals the bishop is always spoken of in singular.* The

epistles no longer take the form of letters to the congregation but/

 106

/but: one directed to individual men* Timothy or Titus figure in them

as, models: of faithful and conscientious-. Church officers.. The. tasks

which they are to handle fall entirely within the, sphere of the individual

congregation and they are however entrusted with functions which can

be exercised only by a governing bishop, and who are beginning to rise

above the level of their fellow elders Tim 5 • 19) •

In the pastorals the apostolic teaching now figures as. sustaining power

and backbone both of the Church life and tha activity of the leaders*

The apostolic teaching is that which the office bearer has- been entrusted
25
with and which they must proclaim, and u p h o l d T h e Church preacher is

also to be her example (I Tim 4 s 12, Tit 2 : 7) her judge (I Tim 5 J 19 >

Tit 3 : lOf) and the corrector of the. recalc etrant. ( 2 Tim 2 : 25)
26
practical and economic affairs also come into the picture and warning
27
had to he given about, coveteousness • At the heart of everything
28
however stands: out a sound doctrine • Elders: who labour, in preaching
29
and. teaching are to be prised above the rest. . In this, way the pastoral

epistles once more, give effect to the prophetic function which Paul

had formerly set at the very centre of the congregations life* However,

preaching convicting and exhorting no longer, appear as direct fruit of

the Holy Spirit* The official preacher holds fast to the undistorted

tradition and to the sacred inspired scriptures, which the apostles have

left behind them*

Moreover responsibility for the trusteeship of this inheritance is now

invested in the bishop and the elders as, the professional holders of

an established office committed to them for the purpose* The pastoral

alongside the description of elders and the virtues which they ought/
/ought to possess, considers: the question of Spiritual relationship

"between the office holder and his office thus presenting a new

approach*. The Spiritual office is no longer for an advantage, it:

could be aspired to (i Tim 3 5 l) • The elders; are installed in their

office and are clearly entitled if they prove satisfactory to material

30
reimbursement * In this way Spiritual Office now becomes a profession*

dould we not see in this nearness to the Jewish office of elder which

called for no Spiritual qualification in the sense of miraculous

endowment of divine grace* Now natural abilities are among the

qualities required*

That the nature of the office is Spiritual is taken for granted because the

early Church knows of no concept of office which is content with secular,

legal or practical consideration* This is doubly clear where the office

is so decidedly understood as a teaching one. On the work of the man

who holds it depends, in view of the pastorals, not only his own salvation
31
but also that of those who listen to him, his congregation • In their

interest he will present himself at every turn, invited or not, to teach

to admonish to rebut and contest false and corrupting ideas (2 Tim 4 s 2).

If anyone would doubt his power to do that reference will be made to his

being called and hands layed on him. The laying on of hands is the source

of his spiritual power. Close to the pastorals is the episrtle of Polycarp

to the Philippians, it reflects much the same stage of development with

the pastorals. The espistle supplies us with the first concrete example

about a cleric, the presbyter Valens of Philippi who failed to understand

the responsibilities of his position and was deposed because of embezzle-

ment4-32•

The documents we have been discussing fall into three different groups/
 108

/groups; from three different: provinces in the empire. In Rome the.

bishop is primarily tha supreme cultic official of his congregation,

as, attested to by I Clement and Hermas^ In Syria he is its Spiritual

example and sacral focus,, as attested to by the letters of Ignatius

and in Asia Minor the bishop is above all the. ordained preacher, of

the apostolic teaching. It is possible that different views could

have arisen in some of these communities.. We must not forget as

indicated in the Didache that the systems already discussed may not

have been the same in every community.

II and III John whose writer was supposed to be an elder, has also shown

us how while organization was taking place in the communities, some

elders regarded themselves as belonging to all communities. Here we

notice how the elder encountered resistance from Diotrepas who was
33
presumably the leader of the community • However from our discussion

it is certain that local environments and probably other non-theological

factors contributed to the different understandings of the the idea of

the hierachy.

Three other factors contributed to the consolidation of the pbwers of

the hierachy. One was the need of an authoritative tradition against

which Gnostic and Marcionite claims and teachings would be tested. We

can see this: in the struggle which Irenaeus and Tertullian waged against

their opponents who asserted the authenticity of the apoerypal gospels.

Detailed study of Gnosticism and the Marcionites. may not, he necessary

here,, it suffices to know that a: good number, of influences were attacking the

’Great Church'*. A lot of things, came into dispute including the Hew

Testament. Marcion had his= own Canon of the Scriptures and various/
 109

/various gnostics; had theirs too^. Confusions arose as to what was to

be believed* amidst this medly of beliefs and assertions,, Irenaeus

assured the faithful that it was; easy to know what the simple verities

of the. faith really were. He goes on to describe what the reply would

be if one is asked about the faith and gives a short string of. sentences
35
resembling the apostles creed •

Irenaeus proposed to, give this old and much used method of finding out

what were the primary and fixed verities of the Christian faith. Here

we meet for the first time, outside the Roman Church,, the thought of

succession from the. apostles in the office bearers of the local churches.

Irenaeus was following Hegeaippus^ a Christian man of letters from the

East who in circa 180 wrote a great work in which to quote Eusebius,, he

presented the undistorted tradition of the apostolic preaching in the

simplest possible form • Arguments about the truths and the falsities

of the work of Hegeaippus cannot be discussed here. On the other hand,

fifteen to twenty years after Hegeaippus, Irenaeus was in Rome and he

became acquainted with the list of the bishops which he then incorporated
37
into his anti-gnostic work • This is just a simple way to find out

what the real faith of the Church is in a time of more than usual

perplexity not the apostolic succession as discussed in bath Anglican

and Roman Church of today. This is evident from the application

Irenaeus makes of his principle,,, and it is also clear from the manner

in which Tertullian who adopts the principles' illustrates, the use made

of it. "Run over the apostolic Churches in which the very chairs

(cathedra) of the apostles- still guard their places; (Sui locis Praesidens)

where their own unmutilated (authentic) writings are read uttering the/
 110

/ tha voice and representing the face of each of them individually. Achaia

is near you,, you find Corinth,; you are not far. from Macedonia,, you have

Ehilippi.,, you have, the Thessolonians, you are able to cross, Asia,,
nO
you find Ephesus,, you are close to Italy,, you have Rome . In all these

churches, they sent epistles which are being read till today." The

argument was that from their days till now, men with gifts of leadership

and of wisdom had been office bearers in these communities and others,
39
founded, if not be the apostles- by "apostolic men" • Each generation

had been carefully trained in the apostolic doctrine by their predecessors

and they were able to judge what the simple verities of the faith were.

Irenaeus proposes, that the office bearers who are in succession are

to be made judges of what wholesome Christian teaching is* ^t is the

fact of an uninterrupted succession of responsible men that it is natural

and historical guarantee that the, doctrines; once, transmitted to the

fathers have, been retained in the memory of the sons*

Both Irenaeus, and Tertullian who wrote twenty years later dwelt much

on these ideas. Their, main thought is that in the churches, various

local churches actual succession go back to the actual times of the,

apostles, can be said to have known men who knew apostles or apostolic

man and who are therefore able to know what the apostles, really meant

to teach. With both Tertullian and Irenaeus^ the. succession they speak

of a a guarantee of correctness; of the Churches* Creed. There is;

also an addition somewhat indefinitely formulated that these men who.

are office bearers in the succession have a charisma veritatis;. Because

of this it is evident that this new official task guaranteeing the. true

apostolic teaching which is laid upon the office bearers in general,/

 111

/general, and in pastors or bishops, in particular, must have had a very

restraining effect upon the prophetic ministry and on the unlimited

freedom of exhortation which characterized the churches, in the first

century and in many decades of the second century* The office bearers

who were now in succession were now made t he, judges; of what ought to be

taught to the people in the exhortation and instruction* They were

therefore set in the position of judging all who undertook the function

which was peculiar work of prophetic ministry. Besides, it was, suggested

that the peculiar verita.tis charisma, the 11gifts’* which gave them their

unique position belonged to office bearers of the churches as well

as the ’’gifts*’ of government. The need to express the dogmatic unity

of the Church, and the idea that this authority lay in the office

bearers of the churches must have placed the prophetic ministry in an

inferior position and tended to destroy it altogether. The office

bearers, and especially the bishops would inevitably become instructors

as well as judges of the instructions, that were given.

Development of the Eucharist also helped the consolidation of the

hierachy.

In our treatment of the letters of Ignatius we show tha bishop as; tha

uniting force in the community and thus he presides at the Eucharist*

One can see also that by Justin’s time circa 160 it is assumed that the

liturgy is,, the. same in all communities and the liturgy was by no means

celebrated by a chairman. In Justin’s I apology chapters, 61 - 7 is

devoted to the description of Christian worship. He took time to

explain the Eucharist and to define the bishop as the president of the

brethren* He said that the president offered the Eucharist prayer/

 112

/prayer according to his ability. He said that the bishop (president)

sends up praise and glory to the father of ’all through the name of the

son and the Holy Spirit and offers thanks giving at some length that
40
we have been deemed worthy to receive these things at his hands

The third factor was the development of the intellectual defence of

Christianity through the apologists. With the rescript of the

emperor Hadrian to Minucius Fundanus the proconsul of Asia sometime

about 124/5 AD which the Christians regarded as the beginning of the

era of toleration, the writings of the apologists began to appear.

They demanded on behalf of their brethren to be treated like fellow

subjects, free to live, so long as they did not transgress against

the laws of morality under the wide spreading pax-Romana. Christianity

demanded to be heard pleading for toleration which was granted to all

other religions. The earliest of these writers were probably,

♦
Quadratus, Aristides, Justin Martyr, Melito, Athenagoras, and others

followed in succession. Tertullian alone seemed to be an apologist

for all time.

By the middle of the second eentury the Christian faith was attracting

people drawn from all classes and ranks in the society. Imperial

officials, merchants, lawyers, men of culture and leisure; a question

of utmost gravity faced the leaders of Christian societies; would the

Church accept the new condition of things, and begin to adapt itself

to forms and conditions of the world around it, or would it remain

what it had hitherto been - communion of persons who hoped for nothing

from existing society and who lived altogether apart from it looking

only to the coming. There were two ways to the question. On the one

hand it could be urged that Christianity held a world wide mission and/
 113

/and if it could lay hold on the organization of the empire and use it

for its expansion, it was only taking thepart which providence had

plainly marked out for its progress. This was the feeling that made

possible the writing of the apologies. On the other hand, many Christians

especially those who thought of the Church as a gathered community, the

successor of the Israeli remnant, discerned the temptation which lay in

accepting this view of the Churches' duty*

Except under the stress of persecution much of the early enthusiasm had

passed away, for the great majority of Christians unimpassioned

conviction took the place of the earlier almost unrestricted passioni of

faith. Even Tertullian in 197 points to "ordinariness of Chrisiian

lives" (Apol 42). The change of moral and intellectual atmosphere did

not suit the prophetic ministry which had been the enthusiastic element

of asceticism. It was therefore unavoidable that it would lose its

old and its ancient power. Pleasant things continued to be said about

prophets, provided only they accepted a position under the office

bearers of the local churches. Curious regulations appear in some

ancient canons enjoining the people to respect their utterances. In

41
the Syrian Collection 'Testamentum Jesu Chrisii' those who despise

prophecy were debarred from coming to the holy supper, but prophets

were no longer the superior ministry in the churches;. False prophecy

also contributed in no small way to the degeneration of prophecy.

Warnings against such persons are found within the New Testament
42
writings and they occur with increasing strength in the writers of
43
the second century. We see them in the Didache . Justin cites thear

presence in the Church as prodf that Christianity is a true development/

 114

/development, of Judaism because Christians, have among them false prophets;

44
as well as true ones like the ancient Israel • Hermas has; given
45
expressive pictures of true and false prophets' • These various influences

combined to help, towards; the revolution which excluded the prophetic

ministry from its earlier position of supremacy and installed the local

ministry in the supreme plane of rule. They worked slowly and surely

during the second century and especially during the first half. Erom

our discussion on the documents it is clear that in different areas?

office bearers were to understand their duty differently. If the pastoral

epistles as we have argued originated in Asia Minor and if we are

reasonably sure that the view they protray represents the general attitude

or understanding of the Church and its; office bearers, we need not be

surprized that the first major conflict between the prophets; and

the official ministry was likely to occur in Asia Minor* The idea

of the second coming gave life and impetus to the ministry of the

prophets with the recession of the second coming into distant future

(2 Peter 3 j 3 - 4 ) the organized ministry was to have more effect than

the prophetic ministry.

We can also be reasonably sure that whether in Rome, Syria or Asia

Minor the idea of the organized ministry did not kill the prophetic

Spirit. We have already said that in Rome there was harmony between

the prophets and the office holders. Any wonder then the Christians in

Lyons could not quite understand why there should be misunderstanding

when the conflict eventually came to open; in Asia Minor*

 115

Events; in Asia Minor 170 - 200

The conflict which came to open: in Asia Minor between the official

ministry and the prophetic ministry cannot in all sincerety be said

to be unexpected. Expectations of Parousia were fading (2 Peter 3.)

the office bearers in the urbanized cities of Asia, Minor had become

conscious of their authority and power. They are now recognised

officers whose duties are to teach, exhort and correct. Yet the

prophetic ministry had not completely disappeared. This is. the

understanding of the office bearers and their urbanized Christians. But

did the rural communities share the view, or were, they exposed to the

same influence as, their urban counterparts. This is difficult to

know.*

Why should the conflict arise from a remote village of Phrygia?

The answer may not be simple but it could not be far removed from the

fact, that the urban and the rural Christians were, acting from different

awareness, nevertheless all in good faith and to the best of their,

under standing. Why did the bishops run crazy over the issue? The

answer may lie in better understanding of the development of the Church

in Asia Minor, and the relationship between the urban Christians and

their rural counterparts?

In all, it may not be easy to give objective judgement because, the

documents, available are one sided.

What precipitated the Montanist movement in Phrygia in 157 or more

likely 172 in unknown. A great deal of darkness has: been supposed

to hang over the chronology chiefly arising in the attempt, to reconcile

with the chronology of Eusebius that of Epiphanius who is not even

4-6 /
consistent with himself • Eusebius in his chronology assigns 172/
 116

/172 for the beginning of the prophesying of Montanus. However, Montanism

must have originated betweeen 172 when Montanus had his vision and 179 >
47
when prophetess Maximilla is said to have died .

The story of the Montanist movement in eastern province of the empire

can be pieced together from three different sets of authorities. First

there are five anti-Montanist writers, fragments of whose works, are

48
preserved in Eusebius. Three, Miltiades , Claudius Apollinaris, bishop
r

of Hierapolis Phrygia and Melito of Sardis wrote in the reign of Marcus

Aurelius and were contemporary with the outbreak of the movement.

Two, the Anonymous and Apollonius wrote towards the end of the century.

Secondly Tertullian after 207 and his Carthaginian colleagues including

the editor of Passio Perpetuae C 203 illustrate the expansion of the

"New prophecy" into a western Latin environment far removed from

Phrygia. Thirdly there is Epiphanius1 Panarion composed c 375 but

provided with excellent sources of information going back to the

origins of the movement.

49
According to Lidymus Montanus had been originally an idle priest.
50
Jerome may also have believed him to be a priest of Cybele • Montanus

taught that there was no reason to believe that God's supernatural

revelations came to end with the apostles, but on the contrary, even

more wonderful manifestations of divine energy might be expected under

the dispensation of the paraclete whom Christ had promised to send to

his Church. He claimed to have a prophetic calling the same way as

Agabus, Judas,. Silas, the daughters-of Philip, Quadratus and Ammia or

as Hermas of Rome. His idea seems to have been that he had been

commissioned by God to gather all true Christians into a community

which would be ready by its renunciation of the claim that social life/
 117

/life presented and by abs.olute self surrender to the requirements of r

right Christian life, to meet the Lord who was. about to come to inaugurate

his millennial Kingdom in the immediate future. He believed that the

Church had reached its final term of existence in the world. He and

his fellow prophets therefore represent the last stage of prophecy. He

claimed that his utterances were those of God himself "I am come”, he

cried out "neither as a s angel, nor as an emissary but I am indeed

the Lord God and father" and as an explanation perhaps ,*behold a man

is like a plectrum, man sleeps while I awake, behold it is; the Lord

who. makes mans heart ecstatic.*

Montanus.. held that the relationship between a prophet and the divine

being was the same as between a. musical instrument, and that which played

upon it, thus the inspired word of the prophet was not to he regarded

as. that of the human speaker. In a fragment of his prophecy preserved

by Epiphanius he says "I have some not as an angel or ambassador, but

52 53
God the father" • Here Montanus was soon out done by two female

disciples; Prisca (+ 175) and Maximilla (+ 179)^«

The two women who had been married left their husbands and were given.

ranks of virgins by Montanus. The burden of the new prophecy seemed

to have been a new standard of moral obligation especially with regard

to marriage, fasting, martyrdom.

Montanus wished to organize a. special community of Christians; to await.

55
the Coming of the Lord. They claimed that the new Jerusalem v,*would be

descending in the Phrygian villages of Tymion and Pepuza (probably east

of Philadelphia) Prisca asserted that this, has been revealed to her by

Christ himself. In preparation for this event, Christians must embrace

an entirely spiritual life, marriages are to be dissolved continence to/

 118

/to "be observed, a, rigorous: fast to be undertaken and the name of Christ

confessed openly to the point that martyrdom should be. courted. Ass

Professor Frend puts: it, it was a revival of the Wilderness theory of’

the Coming and it. was heralded gladly. People summoned by the prophets:

to attend the inauguration of the Millenium, abandoned homes.,; families

56
and work to stream into the countryside • Funds were raised for the

new organization and from these, the leaders, and the missionaries who

were to have nothing to do with worldly life drew, their pay.

All or most recent authors like K Aland, F Blanche-tiere, B J Kidd and

a host of ethers.: agree that the Phrygian Montanism with its doctrine of

the paraclete and its.: belief in the approach of the great persecution,,

followed by the second advent, its claim that the age of apostolic

revelation had not ended or the fountains of prophecy run dry, its

appeal to the revelation of its own prophets, as. the completion of the

Old and the New Testament revelation, its rigorist discipline,

stem, attitude to the lapsed and its insistence on the duty of . »

confession even at the risk of martyrdom. All agree that in these

respects Ehrygian Montanism in the early siage represented tendencies,

which were widely prevalent in tie Church as a whole. It is equally

clear that an organised group holding such view or opinion was. bound to

come into, conflict with a; church which on one hand was beginning to

regard the Canon of the New Testament as. closed and on the other hand

lay under the rule of life which would ensure its survival and growth

in the midst of pagan society and under a hostile pagan government. In

doctrine, the Montanists were rigidly orthodox and in practice they

made no great changes. They accepted the historical traditions: of the

Church as they found it. Late authors charge them of heresy and foul/
 119

/foul immoralities, but the heresies: are on questions which were unsettled

in their times.. In short the churches had too much in common with the

Montanists to oppose them very zealously. It was not at firsi doubted

that prophecy might come at any time even to women. The old Israel

knew of prophetesses extending back to Deborah and Hulda, and sanctified

in the New Testament by Anna (Luke 2 : 36) • We know of the daughters, of

Philip and Ammia. Nor did it seem of itself unlikely that the Holy

Spirit should extend the laudable custom of fasting or impose a sterner

punishment on gross offenders or forbid the more or less discredited

practice of second marriages. No-body doubted that Christ’s Coming might

be literal. Even the defiant spirit preached by the Montanists would

have an enthusiastic admirer in Ignatius. At first because of the

decline of prophecy, it seemed answer enough to say that these particular

prophets were false prophets. The question of principles only came

later and were never fully understood in the early times. The

Montanists had a good deal to say about their view of the world. They

may have been piessimists, but events of the time couldn’t have dictated

otherwise. The social condition and events made it look to them &s if

the end was near.

57
Eusebius’ source tells us that Montanus appeared in Ardabau whatever

is the real name, it could be a local place on the borders of Phrygia

and Mysia from Philadelphia to Dorylaeum. Other local names mentioned

Pepuza and Eumenia make it highly possible that Ardabau is in the

neighbourhood of Philadelphia. It was here that the Montanis.t awaited

the descent of the hew Jerusalem. Eumenia, Otrous and Hierapolis all

lie in the region between Philadelphian and Laodicean road to the plateau.

We know that Ignatius passed through Philadelphia between 110 and 118./
 120

/ll8. A group of martyrs; have suffered with Polycarp of Symra in 155*

Ammia the prophetess must have prophesied between 100 and 150 AD*

Philadelphia was singled out by the author of Revelation as worthy of

praise for its seal and steadfastness (Rev 3 : 7 - 8) • For this

58
W M Calder has suggested that Montanism may have something to do

with the letter to the Philadelphian Church as named by the seer in

Revelation* Prom his work one might believe that the letter is a sort

of magna carta of Montanism* This view looks interesting but I am

tempted to believe that it is a narrow view. No Montanist opponent or

proponent talks of the letter to the Church of Philadelphia. To accept

such view would be reading the meaning of the twentieth century into

the events of the second century. Rather one would say that apolcalypticism

was a common phenomenon in the early Christian centuries. The Christians

mostly in the remote areas interpreted Christianity literally.

At first it does not appear that any offence was taken at the substance

of Montanist prophesying, it caught the bishops off balance. The

message spread out from Phrygia into Bitynia and Galatia and then

to the coastal towns of the Black Sea. Something like panic set in.

The first reaction of the clergy was to exorcise the women. Sotas a
59
bishop of Anchialus in Thrace on the V/estern Shore of the Black Sea

attempted to treat the prophetess Prisca as possessed and tried to cast

out the demon from her byexcorcism* while Zoticus bishop of Comana in
60
Pamphylia resisted Maximilla • These attempts at exorcism failed and

merely produced a vigorous defence by their supporters. Then it was

argued that whatever truth the prophets might be uttering, they should

not be uttering in ecstasy* Then their way of life did not accord
6l
with what was expected of genuine prophets - ? The bishops however/
 121 -

/however knew they were, on thin ice, the tradition of Israel had been a.

tradition handed on through the. prophets:. There had been prophets: in the

New Testament times. Paul had not condemned speaking in tongues in

itself. -Na one willed to be branded as a. slayer of. the prophets: and the

gain-sayer of the Spirit. Yet the movement spelt, danger. In particular

one notices: that the principal anti-Mon tan iat leaders were men of position

and relative, means, such as: traveller and bishop of Hierapolis Abercius:

Marcellus. They believed in the accommodation so far. as: possible, with

the empire. Such men had much to lose by conflict, and open profession

of the name of Christian leading to. persecution and martyrdom was

abhorent. to then. The bishops, then took concerted measures, and by

62
synodical action dealt with the situation. Councils: of bishops were

called, the first evidence for the concerted action by the leaders of

the Great Church since the apostolic couhcil of 48. Their weapon was;

probably effective for all the leading bishops of Asia Minor took part.

Maximilla. complained 'I am driven away from the sheep like a wolf,

though I am no wolf, but Spirit and power1 • The bishops condemned

the Montanists,. with the. exception of Thyatira singled out by Epiphanius.

the cities of central and southern Phrygia went back to orthodoxy.

For twenty years, the. agitation seems to have confined itself in

Ehrygia. But after 177? a persecution of Christians broke out in many

parts of the empire.. Like every persecution,, it, was seen as; a sign of

the end. It. would also seem that before this time,. Montanus had

disappeared from the scene but Maximilla and probably Prisca were

working with redoubled effort. Amidst the raging of persecution,,

attention was attracted towards this, movemeit. The desire for a sharper

discipline, and a. more decided renunciation of the world combined with/

 122

/with, the craving for some, plain indication of divine will in these

last critical times, had prepared many minds; for an. acceptance of

the findings from Phrygia. As the persecution raged,, news; reached

the Gallic churches of Lyon and Vienne^ about the events; in

Phrygia#

From their prison the confessors wrote both to the churches of Asia

and Phrygia and also to bishop; Eleutherus of Rome;;, before whom it

seemed the case of the Montanis/ts. in Asia Minor had come. Irenaeus

conveyed the view of the confessors to Rome. The confessors tried to

arrive at their own answers as one sees under, stress and attempting to

pass on their experience to their fellow Christians in far away Asia

and Phrygia.# Eusebius describes, the contents; as prudent and most:

orthodox. However, they could hardly have been unfriendly to prophecy.

The resources and liberality of the Roman Church made its. friendship

a matter of importance to every provincial church:. We know of the

mediation of Rome in the Corinthian discussion at the end of the first

century. An extreme party (the Alogi) arose in Asia minor rejecting all

prophecy and the revelation of John, and opposing the prophetic

movement.

The story of Montanism in Asia minor after the death of Montanus; and

the prophetesses and its., condemnation by the orthodox party is not very

consistent# P he Labriolle in his book La Crise Montanist has said

that we know nothing of them after the end of the second century#

However from other sources we are told that a community of the Montanists;

existed in the rustic and the backward part of Phrygia, that they

organized themselves and had a notable financial system. With the failure

of the coming of the New Jerusalem, the community had their, own/
 123

/own hierachy which was open to both men and women. That such a

community did exist was made highly probable be evidence collected by

Ramsay and Anderson which bears on the Christianity of the region at a

65
later stage • The movement became a religion of the countryside where

the message of Christianity was interpreted literarly. Archeological

evidence has helped to clarify these matters.. The important article

66
published bb W M Calder called ^Philadelphia and Montanism *- , here,

he set up fifteen previously published Christian monuments from Phrygia

eleven are from the upper Tembris Valley. These are of "Christians for

Christians" inscriptions. The space here does not permit us to go into

details in these monuments and discussion about sepulchral customs of

Asia minor but it suffices to say the Calder believed that those

inscriptions were Montanist in character. He based his arguments on

the letter to the Philadelphia (Rev 3 J 7)> the martyrdom of Polycarp

and Tertullianfs writing after he had gone over to the Montanists and

the presumed character of the upper Tembris valley where rigorist

Novatianism flourished in the 4th century. W M Ramsay in his book s

Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia had considered the open profession of

faith an expression of Montanism but had abandoned this opinion

(Page 491> 537) J G C Anderson had agreed with Ramsay's earlier opinion
67
that these epitaphs were Montanist • However, P He Labriolle considered

them as merely an indication of the vitality of Christianity in Asia

68
minor during the 3rd century • W Schepelem also expressed that fact

that these monuments were not Montanist^, H Leclercq followed Calder^.

Though arguments still rage today especially since the publication of

71
Hr E Gibsnns book of 1978 many authors believe, that the inscriptions/
 124

/inscriptions were Montanist. Whatever is the truth may he difficult to

prove or disprove for there are arguments for and against either sida.

Howaver one thing certain is that after the controversy which broke

out batween the orthodox and the Montanist in Phrygia,., the Montanists,.

having been worsted in the hellenised educated cities of central

Phrygia, found a more permanent homeJin the heart of old Phrygian

Kindgdom where Phrygian customs were still untouched by Greek Civilisation -

could one see the evidence of the social and economic conditions?

So the upper Tembris Valley which formed part of the imperial state was

a porus ground for Montanism. Evidence has shown that organized

Christianity in line with the Montanist existed in Asia minor as late

72
as 545 &D and beyond. The historian S<ozomen talks of their existence
I
as., a. sect of the Kataphrygians in the 5th century, and how they were

marked out by their use of Solar Calendar for their calculation of

73
Easter. As Professor Ford pointed out, they were following the Johannine

tradition that used the Solar Calendar and kep:t the passover on Nisan 14•

By this time Montanism has clearly become a regional interpretation

of Christianity like the Bonatisrt in Africa in the 4th century.

 125

MONTANISM IN THE WEST

The earliest notice which we possess of any appearance of Montanism

in the W.est was that of 177* In that year, Christians of Gaul acting

as ambassadors for the peace of the Churches in Asia minor wrote

letters to Pope Eleutherus of Rome and to the Churches of Asia and

Phrygia. It cannot be completely ruled out that Rome being the capital

of the empire there must have been Montanist propaganda there. It is

likely that such propaganda must have also been followed by an orthodox

representative in Phrygia and it may be conjectured that Aviricius

Marcellus of Hierapolis in the Pentapolis the chief figure in the

74
resistance to Montanism in the later part of the second century was

among those representatives. He certainly visited Rome with a purpose

in some way connected with the welfare of the Church and a passage from

Irenaeus recalls the labours, of the Gallican Christians for the peace
75
of the Churches and a treatise dedicated to Aviricius almost at the
76
time when his famous epitaph recording a visit to Rome was recorded.

The popes took no immediate action,. except to lend a deaf ear to

Montanism.

Twenty five years later under Pope Zephrinus, 197 - + 217 a fresh
77
attempt was made to introduce Montanism into Rome. Proclus the

leader of one section of the disciples, of Montanus arrived in Rome,

and began to publish their doctrines. Proclus was orthodox in respect

of the doctrine of the Trinity; though there was another section of the
7ft
Montanists headed by Aeschines who inclined to Modalism • Zephyrinus

himself had tendencies towards an undiscriminating emphasis on the

79
Unity of God • Proclus held a disputation there with Gaius a/
 126

/a learned. Roman Presbyter which was. after all published and a

80
fragment of which Eusebius retains; •

The Pope actually favoured the new prophecy and had actually put forth

letters: of peace to the. Churches of Asia and Phrygia but in the end
at
under the influence of Praxeas these letters, were withdrawn .*• There

were doubtless later attempts of the same kind, one Is referred to by

82' •
Jerome * Proclus seems to have urged on behalf of Phrygian prophecy

that Philip and his daughters who had prophesied had lived and died
83.■
at Hierapolis where they had their tombs But Gaius used Peter and
84
Paul to push his own argument Gaius also appealed to Christian

Scriptures. He alleged that the Canon of the Hew Testament was closed •

Thus according to Eusebius he curbed the rashness and boldness of his

85-
opponents in setting forth new scriptures • Montanism however was

never strong in Rome and was not heard, of again until after the

beginning of the fifth century. It made a foothold in Spain but no

serious progress.. All we know is that it had some adherents there in

86
the fourth century according to Bacianus' . In Asia after the Montanists

had separated from the Church, it fell into the hands of lesser men,

and under the leadership of Themiso, and according to the anonymous

07.
writer who was a. strong opponent degenerated into laxity . The

opponents taunted them with professional prophecy as found from the days
88 89
of Balaam and Gehazi •

In Africa it had more success. By the end of the second century knowledge

of the new prophecy had reached (Carthage perhaps from Rome and less

probably direct from Phrygia* In contrast with its growing disrepute

in Phrygia, it redeemed its credit and acquired a nama for devotion/

 127

/devotion and austerity due to its martyrs, Eerpetua and Pelicitas

90
with their companions and Tertullian.

The martyrs perished at Carthage 7 March 203, and their story belongs

to the persecution under Septimius Severus, 193 - + 211. Yibis Eerpetua

91 92
who had a liberal education and spoke Greek, wrote with her own
93
hand in Latin the record of her visions and suffering . up to the
94
day before her martyrdom • This Eassio Eerpetuae was supplemented
95
with visions seen and related by Saturus the priest. He may have
96
been one of the two deacons of the church of Carthage appointed to

attend on Eerpetua, but he was certainly known to her and wrote by her
97
last request • The editor gives for his reason for the publication of

her passion that, the new 'prophecies1 and visions were promised at
98
Eentecost and that these 'we receive with recognition and reverence

equal to that paid to ancient examples of Divine Eower. Prom the indication

we may conclude that the Martyrs were Montanists. They were however

not separated from the Church.

In Carthage the breach between the Catholic Church and the Montanist:.

conveticles was caused by a disagreement on the question of whether

or not virgins ought to be veiled. Por nearly five years. 203 - 207

the Garthagian Montanists strove to remain in the Church which was as

dear to them as it was to their opponents. But at last they quitted

and formed a congregation: of their own. It was at this juncture that

Tertullian who has upheld the cause of the Church against pagans and

heretics left the Church.

Montanism as presented by Tertullian differs so much from the Montanism

of Ehrygia. His knowledge of their tenets must have been derived from/
 128

/from books including a collection^ of Montanus and Pris-ca (he never

quotes Maximilla by name) which was incomplete. Tertullian accepted

the claim of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (the paraclete) •

Though he speaks of ecstasy"^ there is no hint in his writing of

strange phenomena which were normal concomitant of Montanist Prophecy

101
in the East., He tells us of a sister who fell into ecstasy during a

church service but she was not permitted to communicate the revelation

she had received till the congregation had departed. None of the
102
anti-Montanist arguments would have any force against ecstasy so

well controlled as; this. Tertullian identifies ecstasy with amentia

but with such qualification cf the meaning of amentia"^^ as i'0 bring him

very close to the standpoint of Eastern orthodox writers.

Tertullian seems to betray no consciousness of the doctrine of the

succession of the prophets from the days of apostles to Montanus. In

105
his view prophecy ended with John the Baptist ^ till it was restored

in the prophets of the paraclete. He never mentions Pepuza, he expected

the Parousia in the near future but he believed that it would take place
106
in the near future in Jerusalem which indicated that he could not

have read the oracles which declare that the new Jerusalem will be

in Pepuza. Dr Rendel Harris and Professor Gifford in the introduction

107
to their edition of the acts of Martyrdom of Perpetua and Pelicitas

direct attention to the difficulty with which any of his writings

except a very few tracts, can satisfactorily be labelled non Montanist.

They have transferred what previous writers had regarded as probably

100
Tertullianfs earliest existing writings to the Montanist period of

his life. The fact is that the unquestionably Montanist treatise/

 129

/treatise recognised merely by more or less explicit allusions to

the revelations of the paraclete* The doctrines, and the practices.

advocated in his latest works,for ihe most part j essentially the same

as those upheld by in the earliest now extant. If there is any

difference between them, it is amply accounted for by the development

of opinion which would inevitably take place in a man of Tertullianfs

character. They are presented, from new points of view and under new

sanctions, but in their main substance they are unchanged* Of this

fact it is superfluous to give a, proof and the inference from it is

irresistable. Tertullian brought far more to Montanism than he found

in it is an inference which might have been drawn if we knew nothing

more of the man than his writings reveal of his masterful personality.

In Africa Montanism was largely made by Tertullian.

He agreed with the Phrygians in allowing to the prophets authority

to absolve from sin though he has some difficulty in reconciling

109
his own opinion that certain sins are unpardonable • He is indignant
110
with those who held that martyrs have a like perogative • On the

question of women speaking in the Church, he is in conflict with the

Phrygians here we shall consider the influence of the local environment:

- He will not permit a woman to speak in the Church nor to teach, nor
111
to assume any function which belongs to a man • He added much in the

direction of rigorism of acute opposition to paganism and of avidity to

Martyrdom. It whould not be assumed that when his later views differ

from his earlier views and when he proclaims them taught by the paraclete

they were really derived from primitive Montanism. Thus in his 'De

Fuga in Persecutione1 he denounces flight in persecution as sinful/

 130

/sinful though in his ad uxorem (l : 3) he counts it as lawful. In

his pudicitia, forsaking the milder teaching of de paenitentia he

denies the power of the Church to forgive grosser sins, but in

the former case he quotes oracles which make no reference to the

flight and in the later which flatly contradicts his thesis (he fuga 9*

he pudicitia 2l)• In both the oracles are more in harmony with his

earlier than with his later opinion. Visions also enable him to add

now a new doctrine (he Anima 9) now a fresh rule of discipline (he Virg

Vel 17) to official teaching of the new prophecy. Even on subjects: in

which he was in entire accord with eastern Montanism we find no

essential difference between his earlier and later teaching eg he

expressed disapproval of second marriage in his pre-Montanist treatise

Ah UXOREM, the arguments used are identical with those of his 'he

exhortatione Gastitatis' and 'he Monogamia' including that founded on

the nearness of the end, which is more strongly stated in an earlier

112
work. His description of second marriage as a form of fornication

occurs in all three. The result of his adoption of Montanist principles

is seen merely in the fact that an absolute prohibition takes the place

of a strong expression of disapproval or in other words that he draws

the logical conclusions from his argument. Here as elsewhere he found

in oracles or visions only a new sanction for opinions already formed.

Thus we can see that if the form of Asiatic Montanism was determined

by environment and by possibly the influence of individual leaders.,

the’ foim of African Montanism or Tertullianism was determined by

personal force of Tertullian himself and doubtless in some degree/

 131

/degree by the environment which moulded his character. The home of

Tertullianism was later to become the home of Novatianism and

Donatism. It must be remembered that Tertullian was unaware of most

of the features of Eastern Montanism which to eastern opponents caused

scandal. There remained the proclamation of the inspiration of the

living church burdened with a few corollaries mos,t of which had been

anticipated by his own thinking. We accept the answer of Swete^^.

For tertullian the interest in Montanism lay chiefly in assurance

which the new prophecy seemed to give that the Holy Spirit was still

teaching the Ghurch.

His acceptance of Montanist oracle as: embodying the teaching of the

paraclete was made easier for him by the support which they seem to

give opinions which he maintained in opposition to the other Christians.

Tertullian the representative of African Montanism asserted his identity

of belief with the Church and took the field against the Modalist

Praxeas. In Adversus Praxean written in 213, he charges him with

patripassianism. Tertullian had already made similar profession of

loyalty to common faith of the Church in I)e Virginibus Velandis of

209 - 211"^ and both of these protestations are of value as witness

115
to the creed of the Church of Africa as it stood at the beginning

of the third century. But Tertullian did more than accept the
ll6
current orthodoxy. Hfe shaped all subsequent latin theology • He

contributed indirectly to the moulding of the phrase 'Of one substance

117
with the father1 into its final meaning in the Easii *and owing to

the accident that, while Zwingli was promoting the reformation in

Zurich, one of the earliest patristic texts to issue from the press/
 132

/press, of ffohann Freben at Basel was. the works of Tertullian, edited

11 O
by Beatus Rhenanus in 1521.

Montanism may have gone beyond, but it did not abandon, the belief of

the Church and so it was no heresy..

However in the matter of order relations were not so happy. Montanism

was the firsbt schism on record. After its repudiation by the bishops

of Asia and Rome and by the martyrs of Gaul, it came into conflict with

the Church in three points -

As regards the manner of revelation, it was agreed by the Churchmen

and Montanists alike that prophecy* was a gift which should continue
119
in the whole Church to the end of time . But according to her

conception of prophecy, the Church held it in objection to Montanism (in

Lumine) that Montanist prophets spoke either in ecstasy or in para-

120
ecstasy . There seemed to have been seme division of opinion among

Catholics as to the mode in which inspiration should operate s nor to this

day has the Church any theory on that point; she is only comitted to
121
believe in the fact that the Holy Spirit.... spoke by the prophets

The test would seem to be in accordance with the distinction observable

in Holy Scripture between prophecy and divination. The prophets

whether of Old or New covenant remained conscious under inspiration

and the spirit of the prophets was as St Raul reminded the

122
Corinthians, 'subject to the prophets.' Balaam, on the other hand,
123 124
who prophesied in trance was a soothsayer’' . But Tertullian

defended trance and urged in reply that St Peter on the mount of

125
transfiguration spoke as in a trance not knowing what he said and

certainly. St Paul, when caught up in the paradise, had revelations/

 133

/revelations made to him under the condition of trance^"^. The Church

therefore fell back upon the contention that what was wrong was: frenzy

and Montanism was no true prophecy but heathen divination.

In regard to the completeness of the Christian revelation,, the

opponents of Montanism were on much safer ground, for the test of true

prophecy lay not merely in the mode of the inspiration but its
127
conformity with the apostolic truth as well • The closing of the

Canon of the New Testament., already in process enabled Churchmen to

refuse a place to the effusions of Montanist prophets on the score

that the prophetic succession had ceased. Quadratus and Ammia in

128
Philadelphia were the lant of their kind , and now the Shepherd had

been rejected because it was recognised that 'prophets were complete in

129
number{ • No addition to the subject matter of Revelation, therefore

could be entertained. Montanism stood for the legitimacy of accretive

developments. But the Church admitted explanatory developments

n 130
alone •

The third point of collision between Montanism and the Church was in

regard to the contents, of Revelation. The Montanist development

were all in the direction of rigorism; and this, no doubt was what

attracted Tertullian to it.

The significance of Montanism has sometimes been sought in the sup­

position that it represents a reaction in favour of an originally

131
enthusiastic Christianity untrammelled by organization , this has

been regarded as begging the question of the character of the primitive

Christianity s. and there is no evidence to show that Montanism/

 134

/Montanism was consciously an attempt to recover the past.

The strength of Montanism lay in its grasp of the idea of Christianity

as a progressive revelation. Montanism gradually disappeared, after

its condemnation by the Churches of East and West C 180. About

132
230 Synod of Iconium decreed that converts from 1those who receive

the new prophets but appear to adore the same father, and the same son
133
as ourselves1 should not be received into the Church without rebaptism

in spite of their orthodoxy. In the fourth century, Cyril, bishop of

Jerusalem'*'^’ 350 - + 86, and Epipphanius^^^ make vile and baseless

charges against them and Basil Archbishop: of Caesarea in Cappadocia,

370 - + 9» accuses them of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit s

Epiphanius, on the other hand pronounces them orthodox on the doctrine

1^6
of the Holy Trinity • The seventh Canon of the council of Constantinople,
137 m
381, refused to regard them as Christians . The Code of Theodosius
-1 o Q

testifies to their continuance , while providing for their extinction

by its penal laws^^* By the time of Optatus, bishop of Milevis^^

c 370 in Africa they have disappeared, and elsewhere by the sixth

centuryk^.
Didache XI : 7

Irenaeus : Contra Haereses

111: X1 s 9
and IV XXVI s 2

The manuscript of the didache was discovered in 1873 in the

library of the Monaatry of Holy Sepulchre in the Phanar or
Greek quarter of Constantinople by Philotheus Briennois,;
Patriarch of Nicomedia, it was.: published by him in 1883

The didache reveals to us the moments of transition. The

underlined sentence explains why permanent officials- of the
Christian Churches did not possess at first- all the functions
they possessed later. They did not possess them because the
more prosiac duties; v/hich they themselves discharged were
supplemented by that extra-ordinary wave of Spiritual
exaltation which swept over the whole primitive Church. In
that age the wish of Moses was well nigh fulfilment, ’’that
all the Lords people were prophets.” The difficulty was
not to incite to the attainment of Church gifts but to regulate
and control them. One by one they became rarer and disappeared.
Then prophecy which lasted a little further.

Perhaps the earliest trace of this is to be found in Clement

1 epistle XLVIII 5 ”Let a man be faithful, let him be able to
expound a deep saying, let him be wise in the discernment
the words, let him be pure, so much the more ought to be lowly
in mind in proportion: as he seemeih to he greater, and he
ought to seek the common advantage of all and not his.

Ritschl’s idea that the dissensions in the Church of Rome

witnessed to in the Pastor of Hermaa arose from the attempt
to force on this change finds little acceptance.
Compare Ritschl Lie Entstehun® der alt«Katholishen Kirche (1857)
Page 403, 535

Hans Von Campenhauaen

Ecclesiastical authority and Spiritual in the Church of the
First three centuries
Page 78
 136

8 I Clement 1 s 3; 21 : 6
Hermaa, Vision II, 2, 6; III, 9,7•
cf Acts. 15 : 22;
Hebrew 13 : 1

Bishops. I C.lem 42 i 4P
Hermaa Vision III 5,1; Sim IX
Eresbyters I Clem 1 s 3 21 : 6 44 : 5 47 : 6; 54 : 2
Hermaa Vis II 4,3; III 1, 8

10 I H C Frend
The. Early Church
Page 40
Here Professor Frend is contrasting Old Israel with the new

11 As letters ofIgnatius,;Polycarp and the pastoral epistles

indicate

12 Via II, 4,. 2f

13 Vis III* 5
In Sim VII 1, 7, 4
the apostles and teachers appear as ideal figures of the past.

1,4 Magn 13 : 1

15 Magn 6 : 1

16 Trail 2.3

17 Magn 8 s 2.

18 S y m m a 8 : 1 Magn 6 s 1 , 7 : 1 also Trail 2

19 Magn 3 : 1 , Trail 1 2 : 2
Symrna 8

Pal 1, : 2,. 5 : 1

Eph 4 : 1 , Magn 2; 3 : 1 13 : 2 Pal 6 s 1

Trail 2 j 1

Hans Von C ampenhausen

opus cit page 107

I Tim 1 s 11 Titus 1 : 3

I Tim 3 : 2, 8, 5 : %6l£ Tit 1 : 8

I Tim 6 s5 - 10, 17;

Tit 1 i11

I Tim 1;: 10, 6 : 3;, II Tim 1 s 13 4 : 3, Tit 1 i 9, 13,- 2 j

I Tim 5 : 17

I Tim 3 : 15, 5 : 17

I Tim 4 j 16

Polycarp, Phil 1 1 : 1

III John 91

Tertullian Adv Marcion i . 1

He praeseriptione Haereticorum, 42; Irenaus; against Heresies,
III xi 3
 13,8

35 Against Heresies I . X .I

3.6 Eusebius H E IV, 8 , 1

37 Irenaeus Adv Haer III 3, 3

38 Tertullian.
He Praeacriptione Haeratiaorum XXXVI

39 Ibid xxxii

40 Justin I Apology 65

41 . Testamentum Jesu Christi

Edited by Rahman
( )
1899
Page 17
Among the, proclamations; made by the deacon before the
Eucharist Service is : - Si quis despicit semet segregate It
also says, in page 79 Si quis autem verfea prophatica licit*
mercedem hababit.

42 Mt 7 s 15, 24 J 11, 24,. Mk 13 s 22, Acts 13 s 6,* 2 Peter 2 s 1,;

I John 4 : 1, 3 Rev 2 s 2, 14, 15, 20
Didache XI, 1, 2, 8
EFustin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 82.. Irenaeus against
Heresies,, 1 xiii 3; III XI 9; Eusebius Hist Eccles V XVII 1-4
apostolic constitution VII XXXII VII : ii

Dialogue with Trypho Lxxxii

MEor the prophetical gifts remain with us even to the present
time hence you ought to understand that the gifts formerly
among your nation have been transf ered to us and just as they
were false prophets contenporaneous with your holy prophets,
S.0 there are many false prophets among us* of whom our Lord
foretold us to beware.

Shepherd of Hermaa
Mandate 9

The statement which probably expresses the real opinion of

Epiphanius is (Haer 48) that Montanism began in the 19th year
of Antoninus pius (ie A3) 157) • But in the next section fixing
the date of his own writing at 374* H e says that Montanism
had arisen 190 years before. It is natural to suspect
corruption of reading and the editors have altered the text
accordingly.

Be De Labriolle
L a crise Montaniste and lea sources de l ’histoire du
Montanisme (Baris 19131
Bage 12

0 Bardenhewer Batrology 61
Didymus
De Trin iii 4

Jer ome Ep and Marcellam

Vol 1,. 86

Epiphanius
Panarion XLviii 4 « 1« 11 . 1 > and 11 « 9 Grants reconstruction

P G XLI 872 D

Anon ap
Eus H E V XVI 9

For the. date of MaximillaJs death see : Anon, ap Eus H E V

XVI 19

Apollonius ap Eus^H E^V xviii 2

Epiphanius Haer XLViii 14

P G XLI 877 A

f H C Frend
The Early Church
(Fortress Press 1982)
Page 6

Anon ap Eus H E Y XVI 7

W M C alder
Philadelphia and Montanism**
B J E L 7(1923)
Page 320 - 328

Now Ankiolu in Bulgaria

Apollinius ap Eus H E V xviii 13

For this Zeticus see also V XVI 17
I have deliberately put the question mark because what we know
about the Montanists. was from their opponents. So anything
can be said to discredit them.

Anon An Eus H E XVI 10

On this passage no doubt, are based the statements, of the
libellus Sybodicus as to anti-Montanist Synods ap Labbe
and Cossant Concilia 1 * 599* They are accepted by C J Hefele
councils 1* 77f but doubted by Mc/Siffert (Eus H E V XVI 16)
and G Salmon ap 3) C B 1 938

Anon ap Eus H E V XVI 17

Profess.or Prend in his Martyrdom and Persecution in the early

Church treated the events in Lyons in 177* So for this account,
see W H C Frend, Martyrdom and persecution in the Early Church
Baker Book 1981 Chap 1

W M Ramsay
Espositor
3rd Series
1888 page 241

B J R L 7(1922 - 23) 309 - 354

Paganism and Christianity in Upper Tembris Valley

Page 201

La Crise Montaniste 489

Per Montanismus und die Phrygische Kulte

Tubingen Mohr (Siebeck)
1929 80-82

Montaniste (Epigraphie)
V A C L 11 2 (I934) 2529 - 2544
E Gibson
The Christians for Christians Inscriptions cf Phrygia
Scholars Press
Missoula. Montana
1978

Sozomen H E 2 s 32

J M Ford
Was Montanism a Jewish Christian heresy?
J E H xviii (1966)
Page 145 - 159

Rajnsay Cities and Bishoprics

page 709

Irenaeus Haer IV xxxiii 7

Eusebius H E V iii 4

Compare Irenaeus Haer IV xxxiii 6 with Eusebius H E XVI 7f

Rams .y Page 7^9 722 ff

This, proclus is probably to be identified with the anti-gnostic

writer Proclus Roster, Virginia Senectae et Christianae
clQquantiae dignitas, Ter.tullian Adv Valentinmanos CV

cf Psudo Tert Adv Omn haer C vii

Bidymus: d© trintate III XLI para 1
 143

79 Sed post nos. omnes etiam Praxeas quidam haeresim introduxit

quam Victorinus corroborate curavit Pseudo Tert Adv Oran
Haer C, viii

T H Bindley thinks that Victorinus is, perhaps, a combination of

Victor and Zephyrinus :
Tert de Paescr 167

80 Eusebius H E 11 xxv 6f
VI xx 3

81 Tertullian Adv Prax I

82 St Jerome Ep XLI

83 Proclus ap Eusebius H E iii

XXXI paragraph 4

84 Gaius ap Eusebius H E 11 XXV 7

85 Gaius ap H E VI XX 3

86 Pacianus Ep 1. Iff
1

87 Anon ap Eusebius H E V XVI 17

88 2 Peter 15 Jude 11
cf alao W. Lock : uThe Bibleand Christian Life1*, Page 145* 149

89 2 Kings V 20

90 The passio, perpetua in the original Latin and Greek

translation is edited by J A Robinson in Texts and Studies
Vol I No 2 (Cambridge 1891) Rendering in English by
A J Mason in his Historic Martyrs Page 87 - 105

91 Passio 2
".92 ibid 3

.9,3 Ibid 2

94 Ibid 3-10

:95 • Ibid 11 - 13,

96 cf C Biggs
Origins of Christianity
i 293 n 3

97 Passio 16

98 Acts 2 : 1 7

99 be fuga 9

\ .,
100 be ieiunio adversus Efrychicos 3

101* be Anima 9

i’02 See Epiphanius Haer XL viii3 - 8

103- Adv Marc IV 22 V 8

104- be Anima 45

105 De Anima 9 De ieiunixr) 12

106 Adv Marc iii 24

107, Cambridge 1890. Page 28ff

Dictionary of Christian Biography IV 822

De pudicitia 19, 21
De pudicitia is a violent attack on what Tertullian considers
the laxity of the Roman Church under Pope Callistus 217 - + 22,
in remitting sins against the seventh commandment after penance

Ibid 22

De Birginibus Velandis 9

Non aliud dicendum erit secundum matrimonium quam species

stupri
De exhort Cast C: IX

H B Swete
Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church
Page 79

Tert De Virg Vel C 1;

A Hahn, Symbole 7

A Hahn opus cit 44

Athanasius Select Works

edited by A Robertson (N & P N F Valiv)
Page 24

J F Bethune - Baker
The Meaning of Homoousios in the Texts and Studies Vol vii
No 1, Page 23f (Cambridge 1905)

Of Schlettstadt, 1485 + 1547, whose'family came from

the Rheinau in the Canton of Zurich, He was a correspondent
of Zwingli and a fellow (humanist) cf B J Kidd. Documents;
of the continental reformation No 180*
 146

119 MilitiacLes op Eus H E V XVIII 4

120 Anon ap Eus H E V XVI 7.9

121 2 Peter 1 . 21, and the*Nicene'Creed

122 I Cor 14 • 32 see also Verse 19

123 Numbers XXIV 3, 4, 15, 16

124 Joshua xiii 22; cf Num xxiii 3XXIV 1 he ’divined for money*
Micah iii 11, and what he wanted but did not know how to get
it, without forcing his conscience, was 'rewards of divination’
(Numb xxii : 7)

125 Luke IX 33 "Nesciens quid dicerit” • Quododo nesciens? Utrurane

simplici errore, an ratione qua defendimus in causa nova
prophetiae gratia exstasin, id est amentiam convenire? In
Spiritu enim homo constitutus, praesertim cum gloriam Lei
conspicit, vel sum per ipsum Leus loquitur, necesse est
excidat sensu, obumbratus scilicet virtute divina, de quo
inter nos (Montanists) et Psychicos (Catholics) questio est,
Tert Adv Marcionem
IV C 22

126 2 Cor xii 1 - 3

127 Jerome Ep XLI 2(op 1. 189; PI cii 475) Locument No 207

128 Miltiades ap Eus H E V xvii 2 - 4 Justin, Lial C Tryph,

C L xxxii andIrenaeus, Adv Haer V VI 1 ap Eus H E V VI 6,
Origen on the other hand denies altogether that there were
'in the days of Celsus' as that opponent of Christianity
affirmed, 'any prophets like those of old times' Origen, Contra
Celsum vii ll(op i 702 P G XI 1437)

129 Muratorian Canon 11 77-80

 147

130 See H P Liddon

The divinity of Our Lord 435 sq

131 A Harnack as Summarized by G N Bonwetsch, Die Geschichte des

Montanismus 14

132 cf Hefele Council 1 89

133 Firmilian bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, 232 - + 64 in

his letter to Cyprian Cyprian Ep LXXV 19
(ed G Hartel C S E L iii 822 sq)

134 Viz the chargeof ritual child-murder once made, as Cyril

notes, against Christians
Catech I U XVI 8 (op 247 P G xxxiii 929 A)

135 Epiphanius Haer XL viii 14 (op 1 • 416 P G XLI 878 C)

136 Epiphanius Haer XL vii 14 (op 1 . 402; P G xli : 856B)

137 W Bright
Canons and Gouncils
XXIV 121 f

138 See Epiphanius, Haer xlviii 14(0p I 416 : P G XLI 877 A)

and Sozomen H E ii xxxii 6 who, writing about 430 says,
that though reduced by persecution elsewhere, under Constantine
there were still plenty in Phrygia and neighbourhood

139 eg Omnes Omnino of Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I

(Cod Theod XVI V 10 of 20 June 383)
Eunomianae of Arcadius and Honorius (Cod Theod XVI V 34 of 4 March
398)
Quid de Donatistis of the same (ed Theod XVI V 40 of 22 Feb 407
Montanistas of Honorius and Theodosius 11(Cod Theod XVI V 48
of 21 February 410 and Montanistas, of same (Cod Theod XVI V 57
of 31 October 4 15)
 148

140 Optatus, De Schismate Donatistarum

1 9 (ed Ziiusa C S E L XX\VI 11)

141 G l\l Bonuetsch

Die Geschichte des Montanismus 173
 C H A P T E R 5V

PRESENT APPROACH TO MONTANISM

 149

Por some time now, -attempts have been made by various scholars to

understand the nature of Montanism.. In the later decades of the 19th

Century German scholars like Hilgenfeld, Bonw.etsch, Voig^t and Zahn

led the way in the attempt to understand and explore the causes and

the development, of the movement-

In 1913, La Crise Montaniste and its; accompanying book Le^ Source-;

d'histoire du Montanisme published by P Be Labriolle became a classic

in the study of the movement.

P Be Labriolle saw Montanism as a general movement directed against

institutional Christianity. Por him it was a general movement of

protest that had its counterparts in other parts of the empire including

Rome, Lyon and North Africa- Por him the Shepherd of Hennas written
-j
in Rome c 120 AD was a prototype of Montanism • He, saw Tertullian the

father of African Montanism as one who defended Montanus. He saw

African Montanism as directly derived from that of Phrygia.

Earlier W M Ramsay had made important discoveries in Asia Minor which

helped to understand the social background of the Phrygian movement.

His journeys from 1885 onwards in Asia Minor in truest of proof of the

Book of Acts resulted in a number of pre-Constantine Christian funeral

inscriptions being discovered- These discoveries and others are

contained in Volume I and II of his book ’’Cities and Bishoprics of

Phrygia”. Ramsay drew attention in particular to a group of inscriptions

whose dedication confessed openly to Christianity but which were dated

by the Conversion of Constantine - These Christian for Christian

inscriptions have intensified research about Montanism. Ramsay's

study formed a background to the understanding of Montanism as a social/

 150

/social. movement* He showed the reality of; Montanism in Phrygia and

its firm root in the provincial religious consciousness - a clue to

its long survival.

J ;

Further w.ork on the discoveries were to tie continued by W H Buckiier,

J G C Anderson, and above all W M Calder- The study of. the inscriptions

had. led to varying arguments about-Montanism- In his article

2
'Philadelphia and Montanism 1 Galder concluded that the "Christians

•for Christians" inscriptions elevem of which were found in upper Tembris

Valley were Montanist in character- This article sparked off a lot of

debates and a year later H Gregoire adopted Galdera opinion confirming

it, he thought, by adding as "argument decisif" an epitah from nearby

Porylaion which is surely and clearly Montanist^; ~f~ n A 0 V 7rU<^Vo^

M.0JVTo?vv} ervvfinj) o^A-u"p ujjj /u.Vy/J.yS •

Y/hen in 1929 C.alder reiterate! his arguments with seven more "Christians

for Christians" inscriptions, W Schepelem disagreed with him saying

4
that the inscriptions were not. Montanist * He was convinced of the

non-Montanistness of the inscriptions from the same Montanist

inscriptions from Porylaion which Gregoire had used to assent its being

Montanist. P Pe Labriolle in his review of Schepelern's book speaks of

5 6
the "fragilite" of Gadder.1s arguments , H Leclercqa followed Galder.*

C Cecchelli in 1944 in Rome declared that the Cross and the Christian

for Christian formula was Montanist, remarking that orthodox Christians

called themselves Catholics in order to separate themselves from the

7
heretics • A Ferrua disagreed with G; Cecchelli in the long review of
g
Cecchelli's book * He denied the. Montanist character of the "Christians,

for Christians" inscriptions on the grounds that the picture of/

 151

/of Montanism reduced to Northern Ehrygia is contrary to the history

of the movemen it showing Montanism flourishing throughout Ehrygia*

In 1$51 H Gregoire #10 had once agreed with Galder on the inscriptions

changed his mind and argued that the ‘'Christians for Christians"

inscriptions were orthodox because "La guerre au Chretiens ne fut

9
nullement,, au 111 me siecle, la regie niais seulement 1 1expectation" •

Por Galder, the uniqueness of these inscriptions is an .‘argument for

10
net calling them orthodox • In 1964 Gregoire in his book Les
11
persecutions dans 1 1empire Romain maintained his position in

1951 •

Worthy of note also is the visit of many scholars to Ehrygia in search

of archeological evidence*. In 1954 Professor I E C Frend was in

Ehrygia where he met villagers who showed him seme of the inscriptions

recovered for Galder. Some of these inscriptions were, published in

1959 and it included an epitaph of a Montanist leader dated to AD 515

12
who was described as "a moistes"and a'koinonQs" •

Discussions., on the Christians for Christians inscriptions and its

relationship to Montanism cannot be complete without the mention of

a recent work by E Gibson* In her book "The Christians for Christians

13
inscriptions of Ehrygia" '\ she surveyed and codified existing

materials and from her research she arrived at her own conclusions*

Por her whether the "Christians for Christians" inscriptions are

14
Montanist is difficult to accept • She however, does not douhtithe

fact that the Montaniste after, their expulsion from the Church may have

retreated to the upper Tembris Valley*

Much work had gone into understanding the nature of Montanism, especially/
 152

/especially that of Ehrygia, not least its possible connections with

Judaism. In her article *’Was Montanism a Jewish Christian heresy?*1

Erofess.or J M Pord of Notre Name argued in favour of Montanism being a

15
Jewish Christian heresy • Her first premise was, the large Jewish

population in Ehrygia ass attested to by W M Ramsay, and the Reinach in

the first two centuries M L it seemed that from literary and epigraphic

evidence they and the Christians tended to share some belief and practice.

Her arguments are apparently convincing because she cited the fact

that the Montanists seem to have followed a Johannine tradition, which

used the Solar Calendar of Judaism and kept the passover on the 14th
16
Niaan., She also argued from the, fact that Paggi'otto and others had

concluded that Montanist prophecy more or less breathes; the same

atmosphere as the apocalypse of. John and Schepelern says that it seems
17
but an exaggeration of that found in the Hook of Revelation » He

ascribed the prominent position of women in the Phrygian movement to the

influence, of Judaism* Indeed, much of the Montanist ethics and practice

seem either that of the Essen,es .or Covenanting J u d a i s m y e t the fact

remains that Judaism was not among the accusations levelled at the new

prophets by their opponents, nor by Epiphanius whose background was

Jewish, one does not find the sect carrying out other1Jewish practices*

Yet the links with the apocalyptic as well as prophecy is an area, where

Judaism was strong and obvious and cannot be explained away easily*

Judaism one would suggest made its contribution to the Phrygian sect

just as; it did to Christianity as., a whole, to label Montanism as a.

Jewish-Christian heresy is more or less an aberration.

About Montanism in North Africa, D. Powell in his article fertullianist/

 153

18
/Tertullianist and. Gaiaphrygians: said that in Tertullians time, the

Montanists formed an "ecclesiola in ecclesia** a ginger group in the

Church of Carthage* They -regarded others as the pe:ople of the flesh

while they saw themselves as the people of the Spirit.. Tertullian's

interest, in the universal episcopal council as a means of settling

4
dispute would he strange from one who. had thrown away allegiance to the

bishop. It is certain that until things got worse he was still within

the Church* In the article in Revue Res Sciences Raligienses,

19
'Be Montanisme origins!1 Francois. Blanchetiere accused his predecessors

of being too concerned with dogmatic and literary studies* He. indicated

the fact that the literature of the anti-Montanist arose only after'

the phase of oral dispute with the prophets between 180-210.

The actual date remains u n d e c i d e d T I) Barnes argues in favour of 172,

others prefer. Epiphanius' date of 157$ however.,, only a dated inscription

mentioning Grains will settle the matter*

Finally, scholars have concentrated on the character' of Montanist

21
prophecies, thus Von Campenhausen has pointed out the fact that at

the time of the Montanist controversy the debates between them and

their opponents over.- prophetic succession and ecstasy ranged over,

passages of scripture whose Canon was still not closed. For him

Montanism. hastened the definition of the New Testament Canon* Kurt Aland„

on the other hand, sees the Montaniste as heirs to Asian theological

tradition that had a high place for Millenarium and for close

relationship to the Confessors of the Lord* Research on Montanism is

still a long way from being complete* It is likely to yield fruit

only if scholars will approach Montanism with an open mind*

 154

In conclusion I have traced the history of the prophetic movement from

the Old Testament. Efforts have been made to understand the social

and environmental background and other factors that have contributed to

the prophetic movement from the earliest times. Was Montanism then

a prophetic movement in line of the prophetic movements that we have

been discussing? Or was it a heretical movement as branded by the

Church.

There is no easy answer to these questions. Por me, as heresy seems to

be far from the original Montanist movement, a reproach labelled by an

institutional Church in its original home, Montanism is nothing other

than the continuity of the prophetic mysticism of the early Christians, -

In other words in its earliest form until its condemnation by the Bishops

c 180, showed most features of the prophetic movement which was alive

in many Christian communities - condemnation led to conflict between

the Church of the Spirit as Montanists came to call themselves and the

institutional Church.

The questions posed at the beginning of the thesis are difficult

to answer. Whatever views anyone holds depends upon ones understanding

of the influence of the environment, social and economic factors in

the development of early Christianity as well as the long tradition of

prophecy in Judaism which was continued in the life and teaching of

the primitive church. And if one is to agree with St Basil’s

22
definition of heresy and schism. , then it is obvious that Montanism in

the early stage was not a heresy though at the time Basil was writing

in 374 it had taken a different turn.

The schism hardens and persists until it becomes the heresy of the

l!Kataphrygians;M •
 155

Eotes

P De Labriolle.
La Crise Montaniste
Page 247 — 256

W M Calder
Philadelphia and Montanism
B J E L 7(1922 - 23)
309 - 354

H Gregoire
EpijScraphic Chretienne
(Lea inscriptions; heretique d !Asie mineure) Byzanticn 1 1924
Page 70S

Per. Montanismua and die. Phrygisbhe Kulte

Tubigen Mohr (Siebeck) 1929
Page 80 - 82

Rev Phil 6 1932 391 note 1

MMontaniffne ,(epigraphe)n
D A C L II, 2 (1934)
2529 - 2544

Monumenti Cxistiana — ereticl di Roma

(Rome palombi 1944)
Page 87 ff

Qneationi di epi^rafia eretica Romana

Riv orch Grist 21 (1945)
218 - 221

H Gregoire, with the collaboration of P Orgela, J Moreau,

and A Maricq
Les persecutions, dans l 1empire Romain, memoire de 1 1academie
royale Beligique
2nd Series 48
1 (1951) 18
Early Christian eritaih from Phrygia
Anot St (5) 1955
27, 30

Lea •persecution dans 1 !empire Romain.

2nd Edition
Page 16

W H C Frend
Montanism. Research and problem- paper read at the Colloquium of
comparative church history
Strasbourg Sept 1983

E Gibsen
The Christians for Christians inscriptions, of Phrygia
Scholars Press
Missoula, Montana 1978
This book is very useful for the general survey of, archeological
discoveries from the time of Ramsay to. the present day*

E Gibson
Opus Git page 144 “ 145-

J M Fordc
V/aS: Montanism a Jewish-Christian Heresy?
J E H xviii (1966)
Page 145 - 158
Here Professor Ford1s argument favour calling Montanism a
Jewish-Christian heresy. However, at the end of the article
she still left it an open question.

A Faggiotto
L feresia dei Frigi
Rome 1924
Eage 17/ ff

W, Schepelem
Opus Cit 159 ~ 162
D Powell
Tertullianiats. and Cataphrygians
Vigiliae Christianae 29 (1975)
Bage 37 - 54

Francois Blanchetiere
Le Montanisme Qriginel
Revue des Sciences Religieuses
52 No 2 1978
Page 118 - 134
als:o
53 - No 1 1979
Page 1 - 2 2

T D Barnes^
The Chronology of Montanismi
j u s (21) 1970

Hans Von Campenhausen

The Formation of the Christian Bible
London 1972
Page 222 - 235

Letter of Basil to ^mphilochius

N - P N Fathers
Volume III
St Basil (letters and select work)
Oxford and New York
1895
 158

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANLERSJON j G G ........
Tembris Valley*1
Studies in the history and Art, of the
Eastern Roman Provinces, Aberdeen University
Studies 20
Aberdeen (1906)
183 - 227

BAKER JOHN.
Genius of Hebrew Religion
Sjt Andrews Press.
Edinburgh
1980

BARCLAY WILLIAM.......
Volume 2
St Andrews. Press
Edinburgh 1965

BARLY G....
R B 1911

BARNES T L.
J T S (21) 1970

BISHOE ERIC, EF........

Lutterworth Press
London 1955

BLENKINSOPE JOSEPH.... .
A Contrion to the Study of Jewish Origin
London 1977

BQNWETSCH G N ......... .
Lie Geschichsquellen das We sen des
Montanismus
Lis Lorpat 1881

Geschichte des Montanismus

Erlagen
1881
 159

BORKMAN G ............... Early Christian Experience

(E T S C M" Press)
London
1961

BOYD WILLLAM K ........ . The Ecclesiastical edicts of the Theodosian Code

in the studies in history,, economics, and public
law.
Edited by the Faculty cf Political Science of
Colombia University

BROWN RAYMOND ESS•••••••• The Jerome Biblical Commentary

and Others London
1968

BRUCE F F ...... ........ The Nev/ Testament History

Oliphant Press
London
1969

Is Paul of Acts the. Real Paul?

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CAIRD B ................. Commentary on the Revelation of St John the

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CALDER W M .............. Philadelphia and Montanism

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Early Ch.ris.tian Epitahs from Phrygia

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 160

CAMPENHAUSEN H VON....... Ecclesiastical Power and th& Spiritual

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The Formation of the Christian Bible

London
1972

CHADWICK J W ............ Tertullian and Montanism

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CHAIN J ................. Introduction a la Lecture;,; des Prophetess

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CHARLES R H ............. The Revelation of John

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1920

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Revelation
Volume I
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1971

CULLMAN 0• •• ..... The Christology of the New Testament

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1959
Quite useful on Jesus as a prophet and eschato-
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DONALDSON S A Church Life and Thousht in Africa A D 200

Cambridge Press
1909
 161

DOOD C H...*.......... Founder of Christianity

Collins Press 1971

DUNN J D G....... .....Jesus and the Spirit

S C d Press
London 1975

ELLIS E E .............The Role of the Christian Prophet in Acts

Poternoster Press
Exeter 1970

■-- « Spiritual Gifts in the PaulineCommunity

N T S.Volume 20 (1973 - 74)

EHRHARDT A............ The Apostolic Succession in the first two

centuries of the Church

ERHARD GERSTENBERGER.>.The Woe Oracles of the Prophets

J B L 81 (1962)
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FAGGIOTTO A L*eresia dei Frige Framenti

Rome 1924

FORRER GEORGE......... History of Israelite Religion

Translated by David Green
Abigdon Press 1972

— :------- — — Remarks on the Modern Interpretation of the Prophets

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FORD 3 M Was Montanism a Jewish-Christian Heresy?

J EH xviii (1966)
Page 145 - 159
 162

MffiND W H C Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church

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Philadelphia
1982

A Note on the Chronology of the Martyrdom of

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Oikouumene, studi Palescristiani pubblicati,
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1964
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Montanism Research and Problem

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Town and Countryside in Early Christianity

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Religion Popular and unpopular - the Early

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1976

GIBSON E The Christian for Christian Inscriptions: of

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Greek texts, translations and commentary
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GRAHAM W C, The Prophets and Israels Culture

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 163

GAROBEL K Shepherd of Hermas Parable II in Vandervult

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GUILLAUME A Prophecy and Divination

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HARNACK A. The Expansion of Christianity in the First

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HESCHEL A J The Prophets:

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 164

HILL DAVID............ Meu Testament Prophecy

Marshall Morgan and Scott
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1979

---------- Prophecy and Prophets in the Rev/elation of

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M T S Volume XVII
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KASEMAM E............. Ministry and Community in the Meu Testament

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KRAELIMG CARL H ..John the Baptist

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1911
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 166

MACRAE G W .............. Apocalypse as Christian Prophecy

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1974
Volume 2
Misaoula Montana

MCKEATING HENRY......... Studying the Old. Testament

Epworth Press
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1979

MERIVALE CHARLES........ History of the Romans, under the Empire

Volume VII
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1881

MINEAS P S.............. I Saw a New Earth

Corpus Books
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1968

MGNWINCKEL S ............ Prophecy and Tradition

Oslo
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MORRIS LEON............. Revelation

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PEDERSON J. ........ . The Role Played by InspiredPersons Among

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1950

PERIN NOBMAN............ The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Christ

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PFEIFFER ROBERT H Religion in Old Testament.
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RAMSAY W M •••• .......... Early Christian Monuments in Phrygia

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1897

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1907
 168

REILING J ............... Hermas; and Christian Prophecy

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1900

RIDDLE D W........ .......The Message of the Shepherd of Hermas

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ROBINSON J ARMITAGE.... •. Barnabas, Hermas and the. Didache

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
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1920

ROBINSON. T .H.......... • Prophecy and the Prophets

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SALMON GEORGE........... Montanus

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SCHEEELERN W Per Montanismus und die Phrygischen Kulte

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? S C M Press
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1968

SWEET J M P .............. A Sign for Unbelievers

Paul’s attitude to Glossololia
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SWETE H B. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

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1931

TURNER C H. ............ Is Hermas also Among the Prophets?

J T S 1913
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UNNIK W C VAN........... A Formula Describing Prophecy

N T S Volume IX
1962 - 63
Page 8 6 - 9 4

VERMES. G ................ Jesus and Jew

Fontana Books
London
1973

VRIEZE. T H C ........... The Religion ofAncient Israel

London
1967

WEBER MAX....... . Ancient Judaism

Illoinois
1952

WINK WALTER............. John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition

Cambridge
1968