Prophecy

Lore & Background

Definitions vary across traditions: Maimonides described prophecy as an emanation from the Divine Being through the Active Intellect to the rational and imaginative faculties. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines it as foreknowledge of future events, though it may also apply to past or hidden things. A skeptical view notes the Latin maxim 'prophecy written after the fact' (vaticinium ex eventu).

Reader's Guide

Prophecy holds significance across many religions and cultures as a means of conveying divine will or knowledge. In the Baháʼí Faith, Bahá'u'lláh claimed to be a Manifestation of God after a vision of the Maid of Heaven. In Buddhism, the Haedong Kosung-jon records Ichadon's prophecy of a miracle at his execution, which led to Buddhism becoming the state religion in Silla. In Christianity, views range from Walter Brueggemann's concept of prophetic ministry as nurturing an alternative consciousness to the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement's definition of prophecy as a word delivered under inspiration. The Latter Day Saint movement holds that Joseph Smith was visited by God and Jesus Christ and translated the Book of Mormon under divine inspiration. The article notes that the gift of prophecy was acknowledged in early church history, with figures like Montanus being controversial due to his manner and doctrines, not the gift itself. The Azusa Street Revival is associated with claims of prophecy and speaking in tongues. The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes Ellen G. White to be a prophet. The article preserves disputes, such as the succession crisis after Joseph Smith's murder, without resolving them.

Did You Know?

• Maimonides defined prophecy as an emanation from the Divine Being through the Active Intellect.
• The Jewish Torah addresses the topic of the false prophet in Deuteronomy 13:2-6 and 18:20-22.

Origins and Theological Identity

Montanism, which its own followers called the New Revelation, emerged in the mid-to-late second century as a prophetic movement rooted in the Phrygian province of Anatolia. Its adherents held core theological positions broadly aligned with the wider Christian community, yet they insisted that God was still speaking through new prophetic voices—a conviction that would ultimately earn them the label of heresy. The movement emphasized the spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit and called its members to a stricter personal ethic of fasting and prayer. Because Phrygia had resisted full Hellenization longer than neighboring regions, it provided a cultural space where a distinctively separate Christian identity could take shape while still remaining connected to the broader Mediterranean faith world. The town of Pepuza was elevated to the status of a New Jerusalem, and followers were sometimes called Pepuzians or Cataphrygians, the latter simply meaning those from Phrygia. A subset known as the Pepuzians went further, looking down on believers who did not reside in this sacred settlement.

The Prophetic Trio and Their Expansion

Montanus, a recent convert to Christianity, began prophesying in a village in Mysia during the proconsulate of Gratus, though neither the official nor the settlement has been positively identified. Some early sources suggest he had previously served as a priest of Apollo or Cybele before his conversion. He declared that the Paraclete spoke directly through him. Two women, Prisca (also known by the diminutive Priscilla) and Maximilla, stood alongside him as equally inspired prophets, and their personal popularity reportedly surpassed his own. Together, the group known as The Three delivered ecstatic visions and urged their communities to fast and pray in order to share in divine revelation. They traced their prophetic authority through a lineage that included Quadratus and Ammia of Philadelphia, extending back to the first-century prophet Agabus and the daughters of Philip the Evangelist.

Suppression, Schism, and the Heresy Verdict

The proto-orthodox clergy largely moved to suppress the New Prophecy, and their response was neither uniform nor gentle. Opponents accused the Phrygian prophets of demonic possession, and both Maximilla and Prisca were subjected to failed exorcism attempts. The churches of Asia Minor declared the prophecies profane and excommunicated their adherents. At Rome, the situation was more ambiguous: the local bishop, whether Eleuterus or Victor I, initially wrote letters sympathetic to Montanism before being persuaded by the theologian Praxeas to withdraw them. The dramatic public displays of Montanist worship also alarmed orthodox leaders, who feared such spectacles would draw hostile attention from Roman authorities during the sporadic persecutions under Marcus Aurelius. Yet no single, empire-wide excommunication ever occurred, and in places like Carthage the movement coexisted with the mainstream church without triggering a full schism.

Tertullian, Persistence, and Modern Echoes

Scholars still debate whether he ultimately broke from the orthodox church to form a separate Montanist sect or remained within a proto-orthodox framework. The movement's endurance was remarkable: although the Great Church prevailed within a few generations, Montanist communities persisted in isolated locations into the sixth century. The fate of Montanus himself remains uncertain; the most widely circulated account, relayed by an associate of Apollinarius, claims he and Maximilla hanged themselves, though the source allows for other possibilities. In the modern era, several Christian theologians have drawn parallels between Montanism and contemporary movements, including the Charismatic renewal and various streams of Pentecostalism, even Oneness Pentecostals, seeing in the New Prophecy an early expression of the same emphasis on direct, spontaneous Spirit-led experience that defines those traditions.