Montanus
A convert in Phrygia who began to prophesy in ecstasy in the second half of the second century and, with the prophetesses Priscilla and Maximilla, started the movement its followers called the New Prophecy and its opponents Montanism.
Montanus is known only through writers who opposed him. One, an unnamed author quoted by Eusebius, calls him a recent convert who began to prophesy in a trance at Ardabau, on the border of Mysia and Phrygia, when Gratus was proconsul of Asia (Eusebius, Church History 5.16.7). Another opponent, Apollonius, says that he regulated fasts, organised the collection of money, and gave the name Jerusalem to Pepuza and Tymion (Eusebius, Church History 5.18.2). One saying attributed to him by Epiphanius, paraphrased here from the Greek, likens a man to a lyre and the one who speaks through him to the plectrum (Epiphanius, Panarion 48.4.1).
The unnamed writer passes on a rumour that he hanged himself, and says that he cannot vouch for it (Eusebius, Church History 5.16.13–15). See the New Prophecy of Montanus.
In the timeline
- c. AD 157–172, estimated dateThe New Prophecy of Montanus
In Phrygia a convert named Montanus and two women, Priscilla and Maximilla, begin to prophesy in ecstasy and announce a new outpouring of the Spirit. The bishops of Asia reject the movement, which spreads none the less as far as Rome and Africa.
Primary sources
Church History
- Eusebius, Church History 5.16.7newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 5.18.2newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 5.16.13–15newadvent.org
Panarion
- Epiphanius, Panarion 48.4.1archive.org