ter the middle of the second century the Church began to be
troubled by a heresy in some respects very different from Gnosticism. At
that time the persecuting spirit displayed by Marcus Aurelius filled the
Christians throughout the Empire with alarm, and those of them who were
given to despondency began to entertain the most gloomy anticipations.
An individual, named Montanus, who laid claim to prophetic endowments,
now appeared in a village on the borders of Phrygia; and though he seems
to have possessed a rather mean capacity, his discipline was so suited
to the taste of many, and the predictions which he uttered so accorded
with prevailing apprehensions, that he soon created a deep impression.
When he first came forward in the character of a Divine Instructor he
had been recently converted to Christianity; and he seems to have
strangely misapprehended the nature of the gospel. When he delivered his
pretended communications from heaven, he is said to have wrought himself
up into a state of frenzied excitement. His countrymen, who had been
accustomed to witness the ecstasies of the priests of Bacchus and
Cybele, saw proofs of a divine impulse in his bodily contortions; and
some of them at once acknowledged his extraordinary mission. By means of
two wealthy female associates, named Priscilla and Maximilla, who also
professed to utter prophecies, Montanus was enabled rapidly to extend
his influence. His fame spread abroad on all sides; and, in a few years,
he had followers in Europe and in Africa, as well as in Asia.

It cannot be said that this heresiarch attempted to overturn the creed
of the Church. He was neither a profound thinker nor a logical reasoner;
and he certainly had not maturely studied the science of theology. But
he possessed an ardent temperament, and he seems to have mistaken the
suggestions of his own fanaticism for the dictates of inspiration. The
doctrine of the personal reign of Christ during the millennium appears
to have formed a prominent topic in his ministrations. [437:1] He
maintained that the discipline of the Church had been left incomplete by
the apostles, and that he was empowered to supply a better code of
regulations. According to some he proclaimed himself the _Paraclete_;
but, if so, he most grievously belied his assumed name, for his system
was far better fitted to induce despondency than to inspire comfort. All
his precepts were conceived in the sour and contracted spirit of mere
ritu