Charismatics, Pentecostals, and Montanists - dispelling a myth

When I was studying for the ministry in the Assemblies of God, the course of Church History, one of the study questions was "Although the text doesn't say it, this group was the result of an early Charismatic revival".  The answer was Montanists, and the thought that they looked at an early heresy as a precursor was one factor in my leaving the Assemblies of God. Of late, I've had occasion to do some research into the Montanists, and I've decided to do a comparison between them, Catholic Charismatics, and the Assemblies of God.

I’m taking the information from the Wikipedia article, which itself contains copious footnotes. By “Charismatics”, I refer to Catholic Charismatics, faithful to the Magisterium.The Assemblies of God is a Trinitarian Pentecostal denomination.  Other Trinitarian Pentecostal denominations would differ from it on the basis of issues which divide various non-Trinitarian Protestant denominations (church governance, free will vs. predestination, historic white vs. historic African-American, etc), and thus, the observations would equally apply.

It must be remembered that prophecy was not frowned upon in the early Church: Jerome 385, Letter 41.2: "we tell them [Montanists] that we do not so much reject prophecy—for this is attested by the passion of the Lord—as refuse to receive prophets whose utterances fail to accord with the Scriptures old and new".

Montanists: One source reports that Montanists claimed their revelation direct from the Holy Spirit could supersede the authority of Jesus or Paul or anyone else.
Charismatics: Faithful to the Magisterium
Assemblies: No.  The Assemblies (and all Pentecostals I've ever met) hold the Bible above Charismata.

Montanists: The Montanist prophets did not speak as messengers of God but were described as possessed by God while being unable to resist.
Charismatics: One is able to resist.
Assemblies: One is able to resist.

Montanists: A prophetic utterance by Montanus described this possessed state: "Lo, the man is as a lyre, and I fly over him as a pick. The man sleepeth, while I watch." Thus, the Phrygians were seen as false prophets because they acted irrationally and were not in control of their senses
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: again, no.

Montanists: In On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Tertullian wrote that the Holy Spirit through the New Prophecy cleared up the ambiguities of scripture. The new prophecies did not contain new doctrinal content, but mandated strict ethical standards. To the mainstream church, Montanists appeared to believe that the new prophecies superseded and fulfilled the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies:  lacking tradition, the assemblies only look to scripture.  And, again, the charismata take second place to scripture.

Montanists: The power of apostles and prophets to forgive sins. Adherents also believed, as did other Christians, that martyrs and confessors also possessed this power.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: Like all protestants, the Assemblies look only to God for the forgiveness of sins.

Montanists: They recognized female bishops and presbyters.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: The understanding of the ministry is different than the Catholic - non sacramental - therefore most arguments against female clergy would not apply.  The Assemblies do have some (few) female clergy.  I know of no women as district superintendent (the administratively functional equivalent of a bishop)

Montanists: Women and girls were forbidden to wear ornaments, and virgins were required to wear veils.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies:  In the first half of the 20th century, Pentecostals tended to be quite puritanical in regards makeup and jewelry.  This is no longer the case.  Virgins have never been required to wear veils.

Montanists: Their prophets dyed their hair, stained their eyelids, and were allowed to play with tables and dice and lend on usury. At that time, dyed hair and eye make-up was used by harlots; the mainstream Church forbade it. The Church also forbade usury.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: Nope

So, it would seem that comparing Charismatics to Montanists is, at best, mistaken. Any comparison between the Assemblies (and Pentecostals in general) and the Montanists is a bit of a stretch, and the similarities are not specific to Pentecostals, but to Protestants and/or Fundamentalists in general.

When I was studying for the ministry in the Assemblies of God, the course of Church History, one of the study questions was "Although the text doesn't say it, this group was the result of an early Charismatic revival".  The answer was Montanists, and the thought that they looked at an early heresy as a precursor was one factor in my leaving the Assemblies of God.Of late, I've had occasion to do some research into the Montanists, and I've decided to do a comparison between them, Catholic Charismatics, and the Assemblies of God.

I’m taking the information from the Wikipedia article, which itself contains copious footnotes. By “Charismatics”, I refer to Catholic Charismatics, faithful to the Magisterium.The Assemblies of God is a Trinitarian Pentecostal denomination.  Other Trinitarian Pentecostal denominations would differ from it on the basis of issues which divide various non-Trinitarian Protestant denominations (church governance, free will vs. predestination, historic white vs. historic African-American, etc), and thus, the observations would equally apply.

It must be remembered that prophecy was not frowned upon in the early Church: Jerome 385, Letter 41.2: "we tell them [Montanists] that we do not so much reject prophecy—for this is attested by the passion of the Lord—as refuse to receive prophets whose utterances fail to accord with the Scriptures old and new".

Montanists: One source reports that Montanists claimed their revelation direct from the Holy Spirit could supersede the authority of Jesus or Paul or anyone else.
Charismatics: Faithful to the Magisterium
Assemblies: No.  The Assemblies (and all Pentecostals I've ever met) hold the Bible above Charismata.

Montanists: The Montanist prophets did not speak as messengers of God but were described as possessed by God while being unable to resist.
Charismatics: One is able to resist.
Assemblies: One is able to resist.

Montanists: A prophetic utterance by Montanus described this possessed state: "Lo, the man is as a lyre, and I fly over him as a pick. The man sleepeth, while I watch." Thus, the Phrygians were seen as false prophets because they acted irrationally and were not in control of their senses
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: again, no.

Montanists: In On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Tertullian wrote that the Holy Spirit through the New Prophecy cleared up the ambiguities of scripture. The new prophecies did not contain new doctrinal content, but mandated strict ethical standards. To the mainstream church, Montanists appeared to believe that the new prophecies superseded and fulfilled the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies:  lacking tradition, the assemblies only look to scripture.  And, again, the charismata take second place to scripture.

Montanists: The power of apostles and prophets to forgive sins. Adherents also believed, as did other Christians, that martyrs and confessors also possessed this power.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: Like all protestants, the Assemblies look only to God for the forgiveness of sins.

Montanists: They recognized female bishops and presbyters.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: The understanding of the ministry is different than the Catholic - non sacramental - therefore most arguments against female clergy would not apply.  The Assemblies do have some (few) female clergy.  I know of no women as district superintendent (the administratively functional equivalent of a bishop)

Montanists: Women and girls were forbidden to wear ornaments, and virgins were required to wear veils.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies:  In the first half of the 20th century, Pentecostals tended to be quite puritanical in regards makeup and jewelry.  This is no longer the case.  Virgins have never been required to wear veils.

Montanists: Their prophets dyed their hair, stained their eyelids, and were allowed to play with tables and dice and lend on usury. At that time, dyed hair and eye make-up was used by harlots; the mainstream Church forbade it. The Church also forbade usury.
Charismatics: Nope
Assemblies: Nope

So, it would seem that comparing Charismatics to Montanists is, at best, mistaken. Any comparison between the Assemblies (and Pentecostals in general) and the Montanists is a bit of a stretch, and the similarities are not specific to Pentecostals, but to Protestants and/or Fundamentalists in general.

Charismata and the Four Pillars

Ask any Dominican about the Four Pillars, and they'll tell you that the Four Pillars are the aspects of a Christian life which a Dominican must nurture and balance. They are

• Community
• Study
• Apostolate
• Contemplation

So, how do the Charismatic gifts fit into this paradigm?

As Roger Stronsand points out in "The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke", Luke and Acts present the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (or Filling with the Holy Spirit) as an empowering for service. So the Charismata are the tools of that service.

To put it another way, just as God will give a Ministerial Priest Sacramental Grace to perform those works proper to his ministry (i.e., the Sacraments), so He gives the Royal Priest (i.e, all Christians) Charismatic Grace to perform the work proper to his ministry. The Gifts of the Spirit are, first and foremost, meant for ministry - for Apostolate.

In the Gospel of John, we see Jesus talking to the Samaritan. How did he know that she had had 5 husbands and was now living with another man? Because He was God? When He walked this earth, prior to His resurrection, He was like us in all ways except sin (Gaudium et Spes, 22). So, no, this was not a manifestation of His divinity. It was the Word of Knowledge (1 Cor 12:8), one of the Gifts of the Spirit.

Likewise, every healing which He performed was a manifestation of the Gift of Healing.
And Jesus said that we would do greater things than Him.

My Brothers and Sisters, the primary Apostolate of ALL DOMINICANS is preaching the Gospel to the lost. And with the Gifts of the Spirit, we are equipped to minister to the needs of the people, show the Love of Christ to people, which opens the door for the preaching of the Gospel.

On Charismata and the Charismatic movement

Nineteen years ago, I left the Assemblies of God and began exploring the catholic tradition, the first step of which was an Eastern Orthodox Church.  Partially out of desire to leave the past behind, and perhaps a little bit under the sway of Fr. Seraphim Rose's Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, I distanced myself from any possibility of charismatic expression or theology.  Although I eventually rejected the narrow (and, frankly, ignorant) view expressed in Fr. Seraphim's book, I generally avoided the Charismatic Movement when I became Catholic in 1995.

A few months ago, however, an interesting thing happened.  I was in a Facebook debate with a traditional leaning Catholic who was attacking the Charismatic Movement, and much of what he said echoed the false sentiments of Fr. Seraphim.  I was forced to defend the movement from which I had distanced myself.  And it made me start thinking.

What was it, really, that made me avoid the Charismatics.  Yes, maybe there was an element of Been there, Done that.  But it was deeper.

I hadn't ever denied the reality of the Charismata.  But, to be honest, my observation was that Catholic Charismatics tended to be more Charismatic than Catholic.  There was little grounding, or desire for grounding, in the 2000 year Tradition of the Church.  It was almost like they were your typical Protestant Pentecostals, except for an acceptance of the Sacraments. 

This week, I began reading A Key to Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church, by Msgr Vincent M. Walsh, and some works by Fr. Robert DeGrandis, and I saw that there was indeed a strong biblical basis - and Christian Initiation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Evidence from the First Eight Centuries certainly shows there is a strong patristic basis as well.

So, I did something I haven't done since 1992.  I prayed in tongues.  And the effect was immediate.

I received a measure of Inner Healing.

So I've continued to do it.  And praying the Rosary, and the Office?  It's been a long time since I've wanted to pray them.  I have prayed them, to be sure.  As a Dominican, I am obliged to do so.  And the practice has not been without edification, and yes, enjoyment.  But it was done out of obligation, not out of joyful anticipation.

Now, it's joyful anticipation.
I could say the same about study.  Joyful anticipation.

I foresee a deepening of the Charismatic Dimension in my life, enriching my participation in the Dominican Pillar of Contemplation.

And the Pillar of Apostolate?  More on that later.