Mt. Zion United Methodist Church

This Sunday, the pastor continues the Lenten preaching series on the great heresies of the faith – those mistaken beliefs that threatened the integrity – and even the existence of the Early Church and that continue to cause havoc in churches today. This morning’s message is “Hearing, Heeding, Doing;” and it will examine the heresy of Montanism – and how that heresy gets lived out in today’s church

Montanism, named after its primary founder Montanus, appeared in northern Africa and Asia Minor sometime between 135 and 157. Montanism was known for its ecstatic forms of expression in worship where both the worship leaders and those in attendance would be transported to physically exhausting and often unintelligible emotional heights.

Basing their authority in part on Genesis 2: 21 (“the Lord sent Adam into a deep sleep”) and Acts 10:10 (“Peter fell into a trance”),  Montanus and his two female assistants Prisca and Maximilla would routinely undergo a public spiritual trance, claiming to be God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Montanus would often say that he was “possessed by God,” claiming in these trances, “I am the Father, the Word, and the Spirit.” Montanists often claimed that the revelations that they received in these ecstatic experiences were the “newer” New Testament, more authoritative than the Scriptures or the words of Christ.

Montanists were particularly rigid, judgmental, and unforgiving regarding many forms of human behavior. They forbid remarriage and saw chastity as the best preparation for a person to have religious visions. Montanists also believed that a sinner could neither be redeemed nor forgiven and could only be returned to the Montanist church after severe acts of penance. Equally severe were their methods of fasting and their strong avoidance of anything from the outside world. This severity in church practice was directly linked to their belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the total destruction of the material world.

Montanism grew very popular in the first two centuries of the church, mostly in the rural villagers of Africa and Asia Minor. The emotionality of the worship events and their strict, even severe church discipline created a large, fervent and loyal group of believers. While Montanism was declared a heresy around 177, it continued as a sect well into the 5^th century.