Apollonius Against Montanus

The so-called Phrygian heresy was still flourishing at that time in Phrygia, and Apollonius, a church writer, undertook to refute it. He composed a special treatise against them, correcting word for word the prophecies they circulated, which were false, and exposing what sort of life the founders of the heresy had led. Hear him saying this about Montanus in his own words: [a] “But who this new teacher is, his works and his teaching show. This is the man who taught the dissolving of marriages; who laid down laws for fasting; who named Pepuza and Tymion, small towns in Phrygia, Jerusalem, wanting to gather people there from everywhere; who appointed collectors of money; who contrived the taking of gifts under the name of offerings; who pays salaries to those who preach his message, so that its teaching may gain strength through gluttony.” [b]

That is about Montanus. A little further on he writes this about his prophetesses: “We show, then, that these first prophetesses themselves left their husbands from the moment they were filled with the spirit. How false of them, then, to call Priscilla a virgin!” [c] Then he goes on: “Does it seem to you that all Scripture forbids a prophet to take gifts and money? So when I see that the prophetess has taken gold and silver and expensive clothes, how can I not reject her?”

And again a little later he says this about one of their confessors: “Themiso too, who wrapped himself in a respectable-looking greed, who did not bear the sign of confession but got rid of his chains with a large sum of money, and who ought to have been humble on that account, boasted as a martyr. He dared, in imitation of the apostle, to compose a general letter, to instruct those whose faith was better than his own, to fight for words of empty noise, and to blaspheme against the Lord and the apostles and the holy Church.” [d]

And again about another of those honored among them as martyrs, he writes: “But not to speak of many, let the prophetess tell us about Alexander, who calls himself a martyr, with whom she feasts, and to whom many also bow down. We need not speak of his robberies and other reckless acts for which he was punished; the record room holds them. [e] Which of them, then, forgives the other’s sins? Does the prophet forgive the martyr his robberies, or the martyr forgive the prophet his greed? For though the Lord said, ‘Do not acquire gold or silver or two tunics,’ these people have done the very opposite in acquiring the things forbidden. For we will show that those they call prophets and martyrs collect their coins not only from the rich but also from the poor, and orphans, and widows. [f] But if they are confident, let them take their stand on this and settle these questions, so that if they are refuted they may at least stop doing wrong from now on. For a prophet’s fruits must be tested; ‘for the tree is known by its fruit.’ [g]

“And so that those who wish may know about Alexander: he was tried by Aemilius Frontinus, proconsul, at Ephesus, not for the Name but for the robberies he had dared to commit, being already a transgressor. Then, by falsely invoking the name of the Lord, he was released, having deceived the faithful there. His own church, where he came from, would not receive him, because he was a robber. Those who wish to learn about him have the public archives of Asia. And yet the prophet, who has lived with him for many years, knows nothing of him! [h] In exposing him we expose through him what the prophet really is. We could show the same thing in many cases, and if they dare, let them face the test.” [j]

Again, in another place in the treatise, he says this about the prophets they boast of: “If they deny that their prophets have taken gifts, let them admit this much: that if they are proven to have taken them, they are not prophets. And we will bring forward countless proofs of it. But all the fruits of a prophet must be tested. Tell me, does a prophet dye his hair? Does a prophet paint his eyelids? Does a prophet love finery? Does a prophet play at gaming boards and dice? Does a prophet lend money at interest? Let them say whether these things are allowed or not; I will show that they have been done among them.”

This same Apollonius relates in the same treatise that, at the time he was writing it, it was the fortieth year since Montanus had taken up his pretended prophecy. [k] He also says that Zoticus, whom the earlier writer also mentioned, stood up to Maximilla when she was pretending to prophesy at Pepuza and tried to refute the spirit at work in her, but was prevented by those who shared her views. He also mentions a certain Thraseas among the martyrs of that time. He says, moreover, as from tradition, that the Savior commanded his apostles not to leave Jerusalem for twelve years. He also uses testimonies from the Revelation of John, and he relates that a dead man was raised at Ephesus by divine power through John himself. And he says certain other things by which he fully and amply exposed the error of the heresy we have described. So much from Apollonius. [l]