Ad Avircium Marcellum contra Cataphrygas

From the Preface of the Work. For a very long and most sufficient time, beloved Avircius Marcellus, having been charged by you to compose some discourse against the heresy of those called after Miltiades, I have somehow remained rather hesitant until now—not from inability to refute falsehood and bear witness to the truth, but fearing and being cautious lest I might seem to some to be adding to or supplementing the word of the new covenant of the Gospel, to which it is impossible to add or subtract for one who has chosen to live according to the Gospel itself. But having recently been in Ancyra of Galatia, and finding the local church disturbed by this new—not, as they claim, prophecy, but, as will be shown, false prophecy—as far as possible, with the Lord’s help, we discoursed concerning these very matters and the propositions put forward by them on several days in the church, so that the church rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, while the opponents were for the present repelled and the adversaries grieved. Therefore, when the local presbyters requested that we leave some memorandum of what was said against those who oppose the word of truth, with our fellow presbyter Zoticus of Otrus also present, we did not do this, but promised, writing here and with the Lord’s permission, to send it to them promptly.

Likewise from the beginning of the first book. Their resistance, then, and the recent heresy of the schism against the church had the following cause. There is said to be a village in the part of Phrygia called Mysia, named Ardabau, where, they say, a certain recent convert, Montanus by name, in the time of Gratus, proconsul of Asia, having given entry to the adversary through an immoderate desire of the soul for preeminence, was borne by a spirit and suddenly, being in a kind of possession and ecstasy, began to rave; and he began to speak and utter strange sounds, prophesying, as it were, contrary to the custom handed down and transmitted from above by succession in the church. Of those who were present at that time at the hearing of these spurious utterances, some, vexed as at one who was possessed and demoniac and in a spirit of error, and who was disturbing the crowds, rebuked him and prevented him from speaking, remembering the Lord's distinction and threat for guarding vigilantly against the presence of false prophets. But others, elated as by a holy spirit and prophetic gift, and not least puffed up, and forgetting the Lord's distinction, summoned the mind-damaging, flattering, and people-deceiving spirit, being charmed and led astray by him, so that he was no longer prevented from speaking and kept silent. And by some art, or rather by such a method of evil craft, the devil, having contrived the destruction of the disobedient, and being honored by them beyond his worth, stirred up and further inflamed their mind, which had fallen asleep from the true faith.

as also to rouse up two other women, and to fill them with the bastard spirit; so that they spoke frantically, unseasonably, and in a manner alien to the norm, like the aforementioned. And the spirit, blessing those who rejoiced and boasted in it, and puffing them up through the magnitude of its promises, would also at times condemn them in a conjectural and credible manner directly, so as to appear reproachful; but these were few, the deceived among the Phrygians. And the presumptuous spirit taught them to blaspheme the universal church and the whole church under heaven, because the false-prophetic spirit received neither honor nor entry into it. For the faithful throughout Asia, having often and in many places in Asia assembled for this purpose, examined the recent teachings, declared them profane, and rejected the heresy; thus they were expelled from the church and excluded from communion.

From the second book of this work. Since, then, they called us prophet-slayers because we did not accept their immoderate-voiced prophets—for they claim these are the ones the Lord promised to send to the people—let them answer us: Is there any, O best of men, among those who began to speak from Montanus and the women, who was persecuted by Jews, or was put to death by lawless men? No one. Nor was any of them seized and crucified for the name? Certainly not. Nor was any of the women ever scourged or stoned in Jewish synagogues? Nowhere, not at all. Montanus and Maximilla are said to have died by a different death. For it is reported that, both of them being incited by a spirit of madness, they hanged themselves—not together, but at the time of each one's death, there is much rumor; and thus they ended their lives, like the traitor Judas. Likewise, that remarkable one, the first, as it were, overseer of what they call prophecy, a certain Theodotus, a widespread account holds that, being once lifted up and taken up into the heavens, he became deranged and entrusted himself to the spirit of deceit, and, being tossed about, died miserably. At any rate, they say this happened thus. But we do not think we know such things without having seen them, O blessed one. Perhaps, then, Montanus and Theodotus and the aforementioned woman died in this way, perhaps not.

From the same book of this work. And let him not say in the same discourse against Asterius Urbanus that the spirit through Maximilla says, "I am driven away as a wolf from sheep; I am not a wolf; I am a word and spirit and power." But let him clearly show and refute the power in the spirit; and let him compel through the spirit those then present to confess, in order to test and converse with the speaking spirit, men of repute and bishops, Zoticus from the village of Comana, and Julian from Apamea. Those around Themison, having muzzled their mouths, did not allow the false and people-deceiving spirit to be refuted by them. And in the same work again, having said other things in between for the refutation of the false prophecies of Maximilla, he indicates at once the time in which he wrote these things, and mentions her predictions, through which she foretold that there would be wars and disturbances; and he censures their falsehood, speaking thus. And how has this falsehood not already become evident? For it is more than thirteen years up to this day since the woman died; and neither a partial nor a universal war has occurred in the world; but rather, for Christians, there has been lasting peace by the mercy of God.

From the third book of the same work. When, therefore, having been refuted in all that has been said, they are at a loss, they attempt to take refuge in the martyrs, saying that they have many martyrs, and that this is a trustworthy proof of the power of the prophetic spirit spoken of among them. But this, as it seems, is far from being true. For some of the other heresies also have very many martyrs; and we shall not on this account, I suppose, agree with them, nor shall we acknowledge that they possess the truth. And first of all, those from the heresy of Marcion, called Marcionists, say that they have very many martyrs of Christ; but they do not acknowledge Christ himself according to truth. And shortly after this he adds, saying: Hence it is that when those who are called to the martyrdom of the true faith happen to be with some of the so-called martyrs from the heresy of the Phrygians, they differ from them, and are perfected without having communion with them, because they do not wish to assent to the spirit through Montanus and the women. And that this is true, and that it happened in our own times in Apamea on the Maeander, in the case of Gaius and Alexander from Eumeneia who suffered martyrdom, is evident.

From the same book of this work. Having found these things (certain phrases) in some treatise of theirs, in which they opposed the treatise of our brother Miltiades, wherein he demonstrates that a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy, I abridged it.

From the same book of this work. But the false prophet is in ecstasy, to which are attached license and fearlessness; beginning from voluntary ignorance, it ends in involuntary madness of the soul, as has been said before. And in this manner, they will not be able to show that any of the prophets inspired in the Old or the New Testament were such—neither Agabus, nor Judas, nor Silas, nor the daughters of Philip, nor Ammia of Philadelphia, nor Quadratus, nor indeed any others, even if they boast of those not belonging to them. And a little later, he says this: For if after Quadratus and Ammia of Philadelphia, as they say, the women around Montanus succeeded to the prophetic gift, let them show who among them succeeded Montanus and his women; for the apostle requires that the prophetic gift be in the whole church until the final coming; but they could not show that it is now the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla. From the preface of the work. For a very long and sufficient time, beloved Avircius Marcellus, having been charged by you to compose some treatise against the so-called heresy of Miltiades, I have been somewhat hesitant until now; not from inability to refute falsehood and bear witness to the truth, but fearing and being cautious lest I seem to some to be adding to or supplementing the word of the new covenant of the gospel, to which it is not possible to add or subtract for one who has chosen to live according to the gospel itself. Recently, being in Ancyra of Galatia,

And having found the local church agitated by this new—not, as they claim, prophecy, but rather, as will be shown, false prophecy—to the best of our ability, with the Lord's help, we debated in the church over several days concerning these very matters and the arguments they put forward on each occasion; so that the church rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, while the opponents were for the moment repelled, and the adversaries grieved. Therefore, when the local presbyters requested that we leave some record of what was said against those who oppose the word of truth, in the presence also of our fellow presbyter Zoticus of Otrus, we did not do this; but we promised, with the Lord's consent, to write here and send it to them promptly.

Likewise from the beginning of the first book. Their opposition and the recent heresy of the schism against the church had the following cause: there is said to be a certain village in Mysia near Phrygia, called Ardabau by name, where they say that one of the newly baptized, Montanus by name, for the first time, in the time of Gratus, proconsul of Asia, having given passage to the adversary through an immoderate desire of the soul for preeminence, was borne by the spirit and suddenly, being in a certain possession and ecstasy, began to be inspired; and began to speak and utter strange sounds, prophesying contrary to the custom according to tradition and succession from above of the church. Of those who were present at that time at the hearing of the spurious utterances, some, being distressed as at one who was possessed and demoniac and in a spirit of error, and who was disturbing the crowds, rebuked him and prevented him from speaking, remembering the Lord's distinction and threat concerning the vigilant guarding against the presence of false prophets; but others, being puffed up as by a holy spirit and prophetic gift, and not least being inflated, and forgetting the Lord's distinction, summoned the spirit that is mind-damaging, flattering, and people-deceiving, being charmed and led astray by it, so that he was no longer prevented from speaking and keeping silent. And by a certain art, or rather by such a method of evil craft, the devil, having contrived the destruction of the disobedient, and being honored by them beyond his worth, stirred up and further kindled their mind, which had fallen asleep from the true faith.

and also to rouse up two other women, and to fill them with the bastard spirit; so that they spoke insanely, unseasonably, and in a manner alien to the norm, just like the aforementioned. And the spirit, blessing those who rejoiced and boasted in him, and inflating them through the magnitude of the promises; but sometimes also condemning them conjecturally and plausibly to their face, so that it might seem to be refutative; but these were few of the Phrygians who had been deceived; and the spirit, having become arrogant, taught to blaspheme the universal church and the whole church under heaven, because the false-prophetic spirit received neither honor nor entry into it. For the faithful throughout Asia, having assembled often and in many places in Asia for this purpose, and having examined the recent teachings and declared them profane and rejected the heresy, were thus expelled from the church and excluded from communion. From the Proem of the Work. For a very long and most sufficient time, beloved Avircius Marcellus, having been charged by you to compose some discourse against the heresy of those called after Miltiades, I have somehow remained rather hesitant until now; not from inability to refute falsehood and bear witness to the truth; but fearing and being cautious, lest I seem to some to be adding to or supplementing the word of the new covenant of the gospel; to which it is not possible to add or subtract for one who has chosen to live according to the gospel itself. But recently, having been in Ancyra of Galatia, and having found the local church disturbed by this new so-called prophecy, as they themselves call it;

Much more, as will be shown, it was a false prophecy noised abroad, and as far as possible, with the Lord's help, we discussed these matters and those proposed by them on each occasion over several days in the church, so that the church rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, while the opponents were for the present repelled and the adversaries grieved. Therefore, when the local presbyters asked that we leave some memorandum of what was said against those who oppose the word of truth, with our fellow presbyter Zoticus of Otrous present, we did not do this, but we promised, writing here, that if the Lord grants, we would send it to them with haste. Likewise from the beginning of the first book. Their opposition, then, and the recent heresy of the schism against the church had this cause: there is said to be a village in Mysia near Phrygia, called Ardabau by name, where they say that one of the newly baptized, Montanus by name, first, in the proconsulship of Gratus of Asia, having given entry to the adversary through an immoderate desire of the soul for preeminence, was inspired and suddenly, being in a kind of possession and ecstasy, began to rave, and to speak and utter strange sounds, prophesying contrary to the custom according to tradition and succession from above of the church. And of those who were present at that time at the hearing of these bastard utterances, some, vexed as at one who was possessed and demon-ridden and in a spirit of error and disturbing the crowds, rebuked him and prevented him from speaking.

mindful of the Lord's distinction and threat, to guard vigilantly against the presence of false prophets; but they, puffed up as if by the Holy Spirit and a prophetic gift, and not least swollen with pride, and forgetting the Lord's distinction, provoked the spirit that is injurious, hypocritical, and people-deceiving, being charmed and led astray by it, so that they could no longer be restrained from speaking and from silence. By some art, or rather by such a method of evil craft, the devil, having contrived the ruin of the disobedient, and being honored by them beyond his worth, roused and further inflamed their mind, which had fallen asleep from true faith, so as also to stir up two other women and fill them with the bastard spirit, so that they too spoke in a frenzied, untimely, and alien manner, like the one mentioned before. And the spirit, blessing those who rejoiced and boasted over it, and inflating them through the magnitude of its promises, but sometimes also condemning them in a conjectural and plausible manner directly, so as to seem reproachful—these were few, the deceived among the Phrygians—while the presumptuous spirit taught them to blaspheme the whole church under heaven, because the false-prophetic spirit received neither honor nor entry into it.

For the faithful throughout Asia often and in many places in Asia came together for this purpose, and examined the recent teachings, declaring them profane and rejecting the heresy, and thus they were expelled from the church and excluded from communion. From the second book of this work. Since, then, they called us prophet-killers, because we did not accept their immoderate prophets—for they claim these are the ones whom the Lord promised to send to the people—let them answer us, in God's name: Is there any, O best of men, among those who began to speak from Montanus and the women, who was persecuted by Jews, or put to death by lawless men? No one. Nor was any of them seized and crucified for the Name? Certainly not. Nor was any of the women ever scourged or stoned in Jewish synagogues? Nowhere, not at all. Montanus and Maximilla are said to have died by another death. For a report says that both, incited by a spirit of madness, hanged themselves—not together, but at the time of each one's death, there is much rumor; and thus they ended their lives and finished their existence, like the traitor Judas. And as for that marvelous one, the first, so to speak, overseer of their so-called prophecy, a certain Theodotus, a strong account holds that, once being lifted up and taken up into the heavens, he became ecstatic and entrusted himself to the spirit of deceit, and, being tossed about, died miserably. At least they say this happened thus. But we do not think we know such things without having seen them, O blessed one.

Perhaps they died in this way, perhaps not—Montanus, Theodotus, and the aforementioned woman.

From the same book of this work. And let him not say in the same discourse against Asterius Urbanus that the spirit through Maximilla, "I am pursued as a wolf from the sheep; I am not a wolf; I am word and spirit and power." But let him clearly show and refute the power in the spirit; and let him compel through the spirit those then present to confess; to test and converse with the speaking spirit, let him bring forward reputable men and bishops, Zoticus from the village of Comana, and Julian from Apamea. Whose mouths those around Themison muzzled, they did not allow the false and people-deceiving spirit to be refuted by them. And in the same work again, having said other things in between for the refutation of the false prophecies of Maximilla, he indicates both the time in which he wrote these things and mentions her predictions, through which she foretold that there would be wars and disturbances; and he censures their falsehood, saying as follows. And how has this falsehood not already become evident? For it is more than thirteen years up to this day since the woman died; and neither a partial nor a universal war has occurred in the world; but rather, for Christians there has been more lasting peace by the mercy of God. From the second book of this work. Since, then, they also called us prophet-killers, because we did not accept their immoderate-voiced prophets—for they say that these are the ones whom the Lord promised to send to the people—let them answer us: Is there anyone, O best of men, among those who began to speak from Montanus and the women, who was persecuted by Jews or was killed by lawless men? No one.

Nor has any one of them been arrested and crucified for the Name? Certainly not. Nor has any one of their women ever been scourged or stoned in Jewish synagogues? Nowhere, in no way. And Montanus and Maximilla are said to have died by a different death. For it is reported that, each of them being incited by a spirit of madness, they hanged themselves—not together, but at the time of each one's death, there is much rumor; and that they ended their lives in this way, like the traitor Judas. Just as that marvelous one, the first of what they call their prophecy, a certain Theodotus, who was like a steward among them, a strong report holds that, being once lifted up and taken up into the heavens, he became deranged and entrusted himself to the spirit of deceit, and, being tossed about, died miserably. At any rate, they say this happened thus. But we do not think we know such things without having seen them, O blessed one. For perhaps Montanus and Theodotus and the aforementioned woman died in this way, perhaps not. From the same book of this work. And let him not say in the same discourse against Asterius Urbanus that the spirit through Maximilla, "I am pursued as a wolf from the sheep; I am not a wolf; I am word and spirit and power." But let him clearly show and demonstrate the power in the spirit, and let him compel those then present to confess through the spirit, so that approved men and bishops, Zoticus from the village of Comana and Julian from Apamea, might test and converse with the speaking spirit.

of whom the followers of Themison, having muzzled their mouths, did not allow the false and people-deceiving spirit to be refuted by them. And at the same time, again saying other things in between for the refutation of the false prophecies of Maximilla, he indicates both the time at which he wrote these things and mentions her predictions, by which she foretold that there would be wars and disturbances; and he censures their falsehood, speaking thus: And how has this falsehood not already become evident? For more than thirteen years up to this day, since the woman died; and neither a partial nor a general war has occurred in the world; but rather, for Christians, there has been continuous peace by the mercy of God. From the third book of the same work. When, therefore, having been refuted in all that has been said, they are at a loss, they try to take refuge in the martyrs, saying that they have many martyrs, and that this is a reliable proof of the power of the prophetic spirit spoken of among them. But this, as it seems, is more than anything else not true. For some of the other heresies also have very many martyrs; and we will not for this reason, I suppose, agree with them, nor will we confess that they have the truth. And first of all, those from the heresy of Marcion, called Marcionites, say that they have very many martyrs of Christ; but they do not confess Christ himself according to truth. And shortly after this he adds, saying:

Hence, whenever those summoned from the church to the testimony of the true faith happen to be with some of those called martyrs from the Phrygian heresy, they differ with them and, not having shared communion with them, are perfected, because they do not wish to consent to the spirit through Montanus and the women. And that this is true, and that it occurred in our own times in Apamea on the Maeander, in the case of Gaius and Alexander from Eumeneia who bore witness, is evident.

From the same book of this work. Having found these things (certain phrases) in some treatise of theirs, in which they opposed the treatise of the brother Miltiades, wherein he demonstrates that a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy, I abridged them.

From the same book of this work. But the false prophet is in ecstasy, to which are attached license and fearlessness; beginning from voluntary ignorance, he ends in involuntary madness of the soul, as has been said before. And in this manner, they will not be able to show that any of the prophets inspired by the Spirit in the Old Testament or the New Testament were such; neither Agabus, nor Judas, nor Silas, nor the daughters of Philip, nor Ammia in Philadelphia, nor Quadratus, nor indeed any others who are not related to them will they boast of. And again, after a short while, he says this: For if after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they say, the women around Montanus succeeded to the prophetic gift, let them show who among them succeeded Montanus and the women; for the apostle requires that the prophetic gift be in the whole church until the final coming; but they would not be able to show that this is already the fourteenth year from the death of Maximilla. From the third book of the same work. When, therefore, having been refuted in all that has been said, they are at a loss, they try to take refuge in the martyrs, saying that they have many martyrs, and that this is a reliable proof of the power of the prophetic spirit spoken of among them. But this is, as it seems, more than anything else not true. For some of the other heresies have very many martyrs; and we will not for this reason, I suppose, agree with them, nor will we confess that they have the truth. And first, those from the heresy of Marcion, called Marcionites, say that they have very many martyrs of Christ.

But they do not truly confess Christ himself. And shortly after this he adds, saying: Hence, when those summoned to the testimony of true faith from the church happen to be with some of the so-called martyrs from the Phrygian heresy, they differ with them, and are perfected without having communion with them, because they do not wish to assent to the spirit through Montanus and the women. And that this is true, and that it happened in our own time in Apamea near the Maeander, in the case of Gaius and Alexander from Eumeneia who bore witness, is evident. From the same book of this work. Having found these things (some words) in a certain treatise of theirs opposing the treatise of the brother Miltiades, in which he demonstrates that a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy, I excerpted them. From the same book of this work. But the false prophet is in ecstasy, to which are attached license and fearlessness; beginning from voluntary ignorance, he ends in involuntary madness of the soul, as has been said before. In this manner, they will not be able to show any prophet inspired among those of the old or the new covenant—neither Agabus, nor Judas, nor Silas, nor the daughters of Philip, nor Ammia in Philadelphia, nor Quadratus, nor indeed will they boast of any others not belonging to them. And again shortly after, he says these things:

For if, after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they say, the women around Montanus succeeded to the prophetic gift, let them show whom among them succeeded Montanus and the women; for the apostle deems it necessary that the prophetic gift be in the whole church until the final coming. But they could not show that this is already the fourteenth year from the death of Maximilla.