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The Church History of Eusebius
Chapter XVIII.--The Manner in which Apollonius refuted the Phrygians, and the Persons 1 whom he Mentions.
1. As the so-called Phrygian heresy 2 was still flourishing in Phrygia in his time, Apollonius 3 also, an ecclesiastical writer, undertook its refutation, and wrote a special work against it, correcting in detail the false prophecies current among them and reproving the life of the founders of the heresy. But hear his own words respecting Montanus:
2. "His actions and his teaching show who this new teacher is. This is he who taught the dissolution of marriage; 4 who made laws for fasting; 5 who named Pepuza and Tymion, 6 small towns in Phrygia, Jerusalem, wishing to gather people to them from all directions; who appointed collectors of money; 7 who contrived the receiving of gifts under the name of offerings; who provided salaries for those who preached his doctrine, that its teaching might prevail through gluttony." 8
3. He writes thus concerning Montanus; and a little farther on he writes as follows concerning his prophetesses: "We show that these first prophetesses themselves, as soon as they were filled with the Spirit, abandoned their husbands. How falsely therefore they speak who call Prisca a virgin." 9
4. Afterwards he says: "Does not all Scripture seem to you to forbid a prophet to receive gifts and money? 10 When therefore I see the prophetess receiving gold and silver and costly garments, how can I avoid reproving her?"
5. And again a little farther on he speaks thus concerning one of their confessors:
"So also Themiso, 11 who was clothed with plausible covetousness, could not endure the sign of confession, but threw aside bonds for an abundance of possessions. Yet, though he should have been humble on this account, he dared to boast as a martyr, and in imitation of the apostle, he wrote a certain catholic 12 epistle, to instruct those whose faith was better than his own, contending for words of empty sound, and blaspheming against the Lord and the apostles and the holy Church."
6. And again concerning others of those honored among them as martyrs, he writes as follows:
"Not to speak of many, let the prophetess herself tell us of Alexander, 13 who called himself a martyr, with whom she is in the habit of banqueting, and who is worshiped 14 by many. We need not mention his robberies and other daring deeds for which he was punished, but the archives 15 contain them.
7. Which of these forgives the sins of the other? Does the prophet the robberies of the martyr, or the martyr the covetousness of the prophet? For although the Lord said, Provide neither gold, nor silver, neither two coats,' 16 these men, in complete opposition, transgress in respect to the possession of the forbidden things. For we will show that those whom they call prophets and martyrs gather their gain not only from rich men, but also from the poor, and orphans, and widows.
8. But if they are confident, let them stand up and discuss these matters, that if convicted they may hereafter cease transgressing. For the fruits of the prophet must be tried; for the tree is known by its fruit.' 17
9. But that those who wish may know concerning Alexander, he was tried by Æmilius Frontinus, 18 proconsul at Ephesus; not on account of the Name, 19 but for the robberies which he had committed, being already an apostate. 20 Afterwards, having falsely declared for the name of the Lord, he was released, having deceived the faithful that were there. 21 And his own parish, from which he came, did not receive him, because he was a robber. 22 Those who wish to learn about him have the public records 23 of Asia. And yet the prophet with whom he spent many years knows nothing about him! 24
10. Exposing him, through him we expose also the pretense 25 of the prophet. We could show the same thing of many others. But if they are confident, let them endure the test."
11. Again, in another part of his work he speaks as follows of the prophets of whom they boast:
"If they deny that their prophets have received gifts, let them acknowledge this: that if they are convicted of receiving them, they are not prophets. And we will bring a multitude of proofs of this. But it is necessary that all the fruits of a prophet should be examined. Tell me, does a prophet dye his hair? 26 Does a prophet stain his eyelids? 27 Does a prophet delight in adornment? Does a prophet play with tables and dice? Does a prophet lend on usury? Let them confess whether these things are lawful or not; but I will show that they have been done by them." 28
12. This same Apollonius states in the same work that, at the time of his writing, it was the fortieth year since Montanus had begun his pretended prophecy. 29
13. And he says also that Zoticus, who was mentioned by the former writer, 30 when Maximilla was pretending to prophesy in Pepuza, resisted her and endeavored to refute the spirit that was working in her; but was prevented by those who agreed with her. He mentions also a certain Thraseas 31 among the martyrs of that time.
He speaks, moreover, of a tradition that the Saviour commanded his apostles not to depart from Jerusalem for twelve years. 32 He uses testimonies also from the Revelation of John, 33 and he relates that a dead man had, through the Divine power, been raised by John himself in Ephesus. 34 He also adds other things by which he fully and abundantly exposes the error of the heresy of which we have been speaking. These are the matters recorded by Apollonius.
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Or events (tinon). ↩
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On the name, see chap. 16, note 2. ↩
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Of this Apollonius we know little more than what Eusebius tells us in this chapter. The author of Praedestinatus (in the fifth century) calls him bishop of Ephesus, but his authority is of no weight. Jerome devotes chap. 40 of his de vir. ill. to Apollonius, but it is clear that he derives his knowledge almost exclusively from Eusebius. He adds the notice, however, that Tertullian replied to Apollonius' work in the seventh book of his own work, de Ecstasi (now lost). The character of Apollonius' work may be gathered from the fragments preserved by Eusebius in this chapter. It was of the same nature as the work of the anonymous writer quoted in chap. 16, very bitter in tone and not over-scrupulous in its statements. Apollonius states (see in §12, below) that he wrote the work forty years after the rise of Montanism. If we accepted the Eusebian date for its beginning (172), this would bring us down to 212, but (as remarked above, in chap. 16, note 12) Montanism had probably begun in a quiet way sometime before this, and so Apollonius' forty years are perhaps to be reckoned from a somewhat earlier date. His mention of "the prophetess" as still living (in §6, below) might lead us to think that Maximilia was still alive when he wrote; but when the anonymous wrote she was already dead, and the reasons for assigning the latter to a date as early as 192 are too strong to be set aside. We must therefore suppose Apollonius to be referring to some other prophetess well known in his time. That there were many such prophetesses in the early part of the third century is clear from the works of Tertullian. Jerome (ibid.) states that an account of the death of Montanus and his prophetesses by hanging was contained in Apollonius' work, but it has been justly suspected that he is confusing the work of the anonymous, quoted in chap. 16, above, with the work of Apollonius, quoted in this chapter. The fragments of Apollonius' work, preserved by Eusebius, are given, with a commentary, in Routh's Rel. Sac. I. p. 467 sq., and an English translation in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, VIII. p. 775 sq. ↩
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We are not to gather from this that the Montanists forbade marriage. They were, to be sure, decidedly ascetic in their tendencies, and they did teach the unlawfulness of second marriages,--which had long been looked upon with disfavor in many quarters, but whose lawfulness the Church had never denied,--and magnified the blessedness of the single state; but beyond this they did not go, so far as we are able to judge. Our chief sources for the Montanistic view of marriage are Tertullian's works ad Uxorem, de Pudicit., de Monogamia, de Exhort. ad castitat., and Epiphanius' Haer. XLVIII. 9. ↩
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One great point of dispute between the Montanists and the Catholics was the subject of fasts (cf. Hippolytus, VIII. 12, X. 21, who makes it almost the only ground of complaint against the Montanists). The Montanist prophetesses ordained two new fasts of a week each in addition to the annual paschal fast of the Church; and the regulations for these two weeks were made very severe. Still further they extended the duration of the regular weekly (Wednesday and Friday) fasts, making them cover the whole instead of only a part of the day. The Catholics very strenuously opposed these ordinances, not because they were opposed to fasting (many of them indulged extensively in the practice), but because they objected to the imposition of such extra fasts as binding upon the Church. They were satisfied with the traditional customs in this matter, and did not care to have heavier burdens imposed upon the Christians in general than their fathers had borne. Our principal sources for a knowledge of the dispute between the Montanists and Catholics on this subject are Tertullian's de Jejuniis; Epiphanius, Haer. XLVIII. 8; Jerome, Ep. ad Marcellam (Migne, Ep. XLI. 3), Comment. in Matt. c. 9, vers. 15; and Theodoret, Haer. Fab. III. 2. ↩
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Pepuza was an obscure town in the western part of Phrygia; Tymion, otherwise unknown, was probably situated in the same neighborhood. Pepuza was early made, and long continued, the chief center--the Jerusalem--of the sect, and even gave its name to the sect in many quarters. Harnack has rightly emphasized the significance of this statement of Apollonius, and has called attention to the fact that Montanus' original idea must have been the gathering of the chosen people from all the world into one region, that they might form one fold, and freed from all the political and social relations in which they had hitherto lived might await the coming of the Lord, who would speedily descend, and set up his kingdom in this new Jerusalem. Only after this idea had been proved impracticable did Montanism adapt itself to circumstances and proceed to establish itself in the midst of society as it existed in the outside world. That Montanus built upon the Gospel of John, and especially upon chaps. x. and xvii., in this original attempt of his, is perfectly plain (cf. Harnack's Dogmengeschichte, I. p. 319 and 323. With this passage from Apollonius, compare also Epiphanius, Haer. XLVIII. 14 and XLIX. 1., and Jerome Ep. ad Marcellam). ↩
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This appointment of economic officers and the formation of a compact organization were a part of the one general plan, referred to in the previous note, and must have marked the earliest years of the sect. Later, when it was endeavoring to adapt itself to the catholic Church, and to compromise matters in such a way as still to secure recognition from the Church, this organization must have been looked upon as a matter of less importance, and indeed probably never went far beyond the confines of Phrygia. That it continued long in that region, however, is clear from Jerome's words in his Epistle to Marcella already referred to. Compare also chap 16, note 25. ↩
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There can be little doubt that the Church teachers and other officers were still supported by voluntary contributions, and hence Apollonius was really scandalized at what he considered making merchandise of spiritual things (cf. the Didache, chaps. XI. and XII.; but even in the Didache we find already a sort of stated salary provided for the prophets; cf. chap. XII.). For him to conclude, however, from the practice instituted by the Montanists in accordance with their other provisions for the formation of a compact organization, that they were avaricious and gluttonous, is quite unjustifiable, just as much so as if our salaried clergy to-day should be accused, as a class, of such sins. ↩
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See chap. 16, note 18. ↩
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See note 8. ↩
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On Themiso, see chap. 16, note 31. ↩
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katholiken epistolen. Catholic in the sense in which the word is used of the epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude; that is, general, addressed to no particular church. The epistle is no longer extant. Its "blasphemy" against the Lord and his apostles lay undoubtedly in its statement of the fundamental doctrine of the Montanists, that the age of revelation had not ceased, but that through the promised Paraclete revelations were still given, which supplemented or superseded those granted the apostles by Christ. ↩
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This fragment gives us our only information in regard to this Alexander. That there may be some truth in the story told by Apollonius cannot be denied. It is possible that Alexander was a bad man, and that the Montanists had been deceived in him, as often happens in all religious bodies. Such a thing might much more easily happen after the sect had been for a number of years in a flourishing condition than in its earlier years; and the exactness of the account, and the challenge to disprove it, would seem to lend it some weight. At the same time Apollonius is clearly as unprincipled and dishonest a writer as the anonymous, and hence little reliance can be placed upon any of his reports to the discredit of the Montanists. If the anonymous made so many accusations out of whole cloth, Apollonius may have done the same in the present instance; and the fact that many still "worshiped" him would seem to show that Apollonius' accusations, if they possessed any foundation, were at any rate not proven. ↩
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A very common accusation brought against various sects. Upon the significance of it, see Harnack, Dogmengeschichte, I. p. 82, note 2. ↩
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opisthodomos, originally the back chamber of the old temple of Athenae on the Acropolis at Athens, where the public treasure was kept. It then came to be used of the inner chamber of any temple where the public treasure was kept, and in the present instance is used of the apartment which contained the public records or archives. Just below, Apollonius uses the phrase demosion archeion, in referring to the same thing. ↩
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Matt. x. 9, 10. ↩
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Matt. xii. 33. ↩
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We know, unfortunately, nothing about this proconsul, and hence have no means of fixing the date of this occurrence. ↩
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i.e. of Christ. ↩
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parab?tes ↩
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eita epipseus?menos to onomati tou kuriou apolelutai planesas tous ekei pistous. The meaning seems to be that while in prison he pretended to be a Christian, and thus obtained the favor of the brethren, who procured his release by using their influence with the judge. ↩
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We have no means of controlling the truth of this statement. ↩
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demosion archeion. ↩
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hon ho prophetes sunonta pollois ?tesin agnoei, as is read by all the mss., followed by the majority of the editors. Heinichen reads ho ho prophetes sunon pollois ?tesin agnoei, but the emendation is quite unnecessary. The agnoei implies ignorance of the man's true character; although with him so many years, he knows nothing about him, is ignorant of his true character! The sentence is evidently ironical. ↩
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ten hupostasin ↩
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b?ptetai ↩
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stibizetai ↩
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Knowing what we do of the asceticism and the severe morality of the Montanists, we can look upon the implications of this passage as nothing better than baseless slanders. That there might have been an individual here and there whose conduct justified this attack cannot be denied, but to bring such accusations against the Montanists in general was both unwarranted and absurd, and Apollonius cannot but have been aware of the fact. His language is rather that of a bully or braggadocio who knows the untruthfulness of his statements, than of a man conscious of his own honesty and of the reliability of his account. ↩
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On the date of Apollonius' work, see above, note 3. ↩
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See chap. 16, §17. ↩
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This Thraseas is undoubtedly to be identified with Thraseas, "bishop and martyr of Eumenia," mentioned by Polycrates, as quoted in chap. 24, below. We know no more about him than is told us there. ↩
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Clement (Strom. VI. 5) records the same tradition, quoting it from the Preaching of Peter, upon which work, see Bk. III. chap. 3, note 8, above. ↩
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Compare Eusebius' promise in Bk. III. chap. 24, §18, and see note 21 on that chapter. ↩
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No one else, so far as I am aware, records this tradition, but it is of a piece with many others in regard to John which were afloat in the early Church. ↩
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Kirchengeschichte (BKV)
18. Kap. Apollonius widerlegt die Irrlehre der Phrygier und erwähnt einige ihrer Führer.
Die sog. kataphrygische Häresie, welche damals noch S. 244 in Phrygien blühte, widerlegte der Kirchenschriftsteller Apollonius. Er verfaßte gegen sie eine eigene Schrift, worin er ihre vorgeblichen Weissagungen Wort für Wort als falsch erklärte und das Leben der häretischen Führer wahrheitsgemäß schilderte. Vernimm seine eigenen Worte über Montanus! „Doch wer dieser neue Lehrer ist, zeigen seine Taten und seine Lehre. Er ist es, der die Trennung der Ehen lehrte, Fastengesetze erließ, Pepuza und Tymion, kleine Städte Phrygiens, als Jerusalem bezeichnete, in der Absicht, daselbst Leute aller Gegenden zu vereinen. Er ist es, der Steuereinnehmer aufstellte, unter dem Titel Opfer Geschenke anzunehmen verstand und den Verkündigern seiner Lehre Lohn auszahlte, auf daß die Predigt seiner Lehre durch Schlemmerei an Kraft gewänne.“ Dies ist sein Urteil über Montanus. Über seine Prophetinnen schreibt er später also: „Wir beweisen nun, daß eben diese Prophetinnen die ersten gewesen sind, die ihre Männer verlassen haben, nachdem sie vom Geiste erfüllt worden waren. Wie sehr haben sie also gelogen, wenn sie Priscilla als Jungfrau bezeichneten!“ Sodann fährt der Schriftsteller fort: „Glaubst du nicht, daß die ganze Schrift es einem Propheten verbietet, Geschenke und Geld anzunehmen? Wenn ich nun sehe, daß die Prophetin Gold, Silber und kostbare Gewänder angenommen hat, soll ich sie da nicht verachten?“ Im weiteren Verlaufe seines Berichtes erzählt er von einem ihrer Bekenner folgendes: „Ferner hat Themison, mit täuschender1 Habsucht angetan, das Zeichen des Bekenntnisses2 nicht ertragen, sich vielmehr mit einer großen Geldsumme vom Kerker losgekauft. Während er doch deswegen hätte Buße tun sollen, wagte er es, sich als Märtyrer zu rühmen, in Nachahmung des Apostels einen katholischen Brief zu verfassen, diejenigen, welche mehr als er selbst den Namen von Gläubigen verdienten, zu belehren, mit nichtssagenden Worten zu fechten und den S. 245 Herrn, die Apostel und die heilige Kirche zu schmähen.“ Über einen anderen Mann wieder, den sie unter die Zahl der von ihnen verehrten Märtyrer rechnen, schreibt er: „Um nicht von mehreren zu sprechen, gebe uns die Prophetin Auskunft über Alexander, der sich als Märtyrer bezeichnet und mit dem sie Schmausereien sich hingibt und den noch viele verehren! Über seine Räubereien und anderen Verbrechen, derentwegen er bestraft worden ist, brauchen wir nicht zu reden; im Archiv sind sie aufbewahrt. Wer nun vergibt dem andern die Sünden? Vergibt der Prophet dem Märtyrer seine Räubereien oder der Märtyrer dem Propheten seine Habsucht? Denn obwohl der Herr gesagt hat3 ‚Ihr sollt weder Gold noch Silber noch zwei Röcke besitzen’, haben sich diese Leute ganz im Gegensatz dazu durch den Erwerb dieser verbotenen Dinge versündigt. Wie wir zeigen werden, haben ihre sog. Propheten und Märtyrer nicht nur von den Reichen, sondern sogar von den Armen, den Waisen und Witwen Schätze gesammelt. Und wenn sie ein gutes Gewissen haben, dann mögen sie vortreten und Rede und Antwort stehen, damit sie, im Falle sie überführt werden, wenigstens für die Zukunft von ihren Sünden ablassen. Es ist notwendig, die Früchte des Propheten zu prüfen; denn an der Frucht wird der Baum erkannt. Damit jedoch die Wißbegierigen die Geschichte Alexanders kennen lernen, so bemerke ich: er wurde von dem Prokonsul Ämilius Frontinus in Ephesus nicht wegen seines Glaubens verurteilt, sondern wegen der Räubereien, die er als bereits Abtrünniger verübt hatte. Die Lüge, er sei um des Namens des Herrn willen verurteilt worden, täuschte die dortigen Gläubigen und erwirkte seine Loskaufung. Doch die eigene Heimatgemeinde nahm ihn nicht auf, weil er Räuber war. Wer über ihn Genaueres erfahren will, dem steht das öffentliche Archiv Asiens zur Verfügung. Auch der Prophet, mit dem er doch viele Jahre verbunden war, will ihn nicht S. 246 mehr kennen. Dadurch daß wir Alexander entlarven, enthüllen wir auch das Wesen des Propheten. Ähnliches könnten wir an vielen zeigen, und wenn sie Mut haben, mögen sie sich der Prüfung unterziehen!“ An einer anderen Stelle seiner Schrift sagt er über die Propheten, auf welche sie stolz sind, noch folgendes: „Wenn sie die Tatsache leugnen, daß ihre Propheten Geschenke angenommen haben, so mögen sie doch wenigstens so viel zugeben, daß, wenn ihnen die Annahme von Geschenken nachgewiesen ist, sie keine Propheten sind! Und hierfür könnten wir tausend Beweise erbringen. Es ist übrigens notwendig, alle Früchte eines Propheten zu prüfen. Sage mir: Färbt sich ein Prophet? Schminkt sich ein Prophet? Liebt ein Prophet den Schmuck? Spielt ein Prophet Brett und Würfel? Leiht ein Prophet auf Zinsen aus? Sie mögen klar es aussprechen, ob so etwas erlaubt ist oder nicht! Ich aber will zeigen, daß es bei ihnen vorgekommen ist.“ Der gleiche Apollonius erzählt in derselben Schrift, daß es zur Zeit der Abfassung seines Werkes gerade vierzig Jahre waren, daß Montanus seine angebliche Prophezeiung begonnen hat. Ferner berichtet er, daß Zoticus, dessen auch der vorerwähnte Schriftsteller gedachte,4 gegen Maximilla sich erhob, die sich in Pepuza als Prophetin ausgab, und den in ihr wirkenden Geist zu widerlegen versuchte, woran er jedoch von ihren Gesinnungsgenossen verhindert wurde. Auch gedenkt Apollonius unter den damaligen Märtyrern eines gewissen Thraseas. Ferner teilt er als Überlieferung mit, der Heiland habe seinen Aposteln befohlen, sie sollten zwölf Jahre Jerusalem nicht verlassen. Er benützt auch Zeugnisse aus der Offenbarung des Johannes und erzählt, derselbe Johannes habe in Ephesus einen Toten in göttlicher Kraft zum Leben erweckt. Noch manches andere erwähnt er, um die Unwahrheit der genannten Sekte treffend und vollständig darzutun. Soweit Apollonius.5 S. 247