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self he says, that he composed his work forty years after Montanus began to prophesy.

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The account given by Epiphanius of the Montanists is, that they received both the Old and New Testament, believed in the Resurrection of the Dead, and maintained the Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity. Their error consisted in supposing that Montanus, Maximilla, and Priscilla were divinely inspired, and maintaining that the recognition of the Charismata, or Spiritual Gifts, announced by Montanus, was of absolute necessity. The larger portion of the account of Epiphanius is taken up in refuting the notions of Montanus respecting inspiration, and proving that the prophets both of the Old and New Testament, at the time when they delivered their predictions, were in a state of complete self-possession, and perfectly understood what they said. "He gives some specimens of the prophecies of Montanus and his female associates, which are of the most extravagant character. In one of them Montanus says, "I am the Lord God who dwell in man." In another, "I am no angel or embassador: I myself, God the

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25 Hær. 28 or 48.

26 Sect. 4, 10, 11, 12, 13.
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Father, am come." Yet Epiphanius seems not to have understood these expressions as designed to convey the idea, that Montanus represented himself to be God the Father. Otherwise, he would scarcely have said that the Montanists agreed with the Catholic Church respecting the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. According to the anonymous author quoted by Eusebius, Maximilla predicted that wars and tumults-according to Epiphanius, that the end of the world would closely follow her decease. The former observes, in confutation of her predictions, that in the interval of thirteen years, which had elapsed between her death and the time at which he wrote, the world and the Church had enjoyed profound peace: the latter that, although she had been dead 220 years, the world still continued to exist. Epiphanius mentions also the respect entertained by the Montanists in his day for a desolate spot in Phrygia, called Pepuza, once the site of a town, which had been levelled with the ground, and adds that they expected the heavenly Jerusalem to descend there. To the general head of Cataphrygians 27 he refers a number of minor sects, called Quintilliani, Pepuziani, Priscilliani, Artoturitæ, and Tasco

27 Hær. 29 or 49.

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drugitæ. The three first were so called in consequence of a vision seen by a female of the name of Quintilla or Priscilla at Pepuza. The Artoturitæ derived their name from using bread and cheese in the celebration of the Eucharist; and the Tascodrugitæ from their custom of putting the fore-finger on the nose in the act of prayer, Taσko's in the Phrygian language signifying a stake, and Spoyos a nose or beak.

The foregoing statements respecting the doctrines and opinions of Montanus are in great measure confirmed by the notices scattered over Tertullian's works. We find him, on the authority of the New Prophecy, enforcing the necessity of frequent fasts-if not actually condemning marriage, yet on all occasions giving a decided preference to a life of celibacy, and positively pronouncing second marriages un

28 Tertullian wrote his Treatise de Baptismo against a female named Quintilla, who denied the necessity and efficacy of baptism: he describes her as belonging to the sect of Cainites (Caiani), wild and profligate fanatics, who called Cain their father, and regarded with particular veneration Esau, Corah, Judas, and all the characters noted in Scripture for their opposition to the will of God. Perhaps, therefore, Tertullian called Quintilla a Cainite, from analogy only, because she set herself against a divine ordinance, not because she was actually a member of the

sect.

lawful—maintaining that favorite notion of enthusiasts in all ages, that the heavenly 29 Jerusalem would descend on earth, and that the saints would reign there for a thousand years. We find him also uniformly asserting the orthodoxy of the Montanists upon the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, though with respect to the Trinity they appear to have 30 introduced certain novel illustrations of the generation of the Son from the Father. We learn further from Tertullian, that Montanus denied to the Church the power of granting absolution to persons guilty of flagrant offences-particularly to adulterers and fornicators and maintained that Christians were not at liberty to avoid persecution by flight, or to purchase their safety with money.

31 Mosheim asserts, on the authority of the work already quoted under the title of Prædestinatus, that among his other doctrines Mon

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In confirmation of this notion, Tertullian narrates a prodigy which occurred in Judea, and was witnessed by the army then on its march into the east. For forty successive days, early in the morning, a city was seen suspended from heaven. Adv. Marcionem, L. iii. c. 24.

30 Protulit enim Deus Sermonem, quemadmodum etiam Paracletus docet, sicut radix fruticem, et fons fluvium, et Sol radium. Adv. Praxeam, c. 8.

31 De rebus Christianis ante Constantinum. Sæculum secundum. c. 67.

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tanus taught the approaching downfal of the Roman Empire, which would be followed by the appearance of Antichrist, and the second coming of our Lord to avenge the persecutions inflicted on his saints. The more judicious and soberminded Christians would naturally take alarm at the open avowal of tenets, the necessary effect of which must be to render their religion obnoxious to the ruling powers, and to bring upon them fresh hardships and sufferings. We have seen that Maximilla predicted the speedy approach of those wars and tumults which were to precede the end of the world; and there are passages in "Tertullian's works which lead to the suspicion that he entertained similar sentiments. He appears, however, to have felt the necessity of concealing them, and is betrayed by the struggle between his conviction and his prudence into occasional inconsistency of language. 33 He sometimes speaks as if Christians ought, at others as if they ought not to pray for the speedy consummation of all things.

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32 See particularly the concluding chapter of the Tract de Spectaculis, where Tertullian's exultation at the prospect of the approaching triumph of the Christians, and of the punishment of their adversaries, nearly gets the better of his discretion. Quale autem spectaculum in proximo est adventus Domini jam indubitati, jam superbi, jam triumphantis? See also de Oratione, c. 5.

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Compare Apology, c. 32. 39. ad Scapulam, c. 2, with de Oratione, c. 5. de Res. Carnis, c. 22, sub in.

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