and prophesied things to come. These persons were sometimes strangely agitated; sometimes they fell into an ecstasy. This sect gave a respectful attention to all that they said, either while they were thus agitated, or after they came to themselves; as it was believed that these were so many revelations of which it was not lawful to make any doubt, they allowed them to speak in their assemblies when they would; and they believed that they had more power and authority than priests and bishops... ....... As soon as ever this sect appeared in the world, it deluded a great many Christians by that outward show of perfection and sanctity which it carried along with it. For on the one hand the austerity of their lives added weight and credit to their revelations; and on the other hand, their revelations caused their discipline to be embraced. Several good men were immediately brought into the snare; and in a short time we find the churches of Phrygia, and afterwards other churches, divided upon account of these new prophecies."-Du Pin, vol. i. 83. "The very severity of Montanus's doctrines gained him the esteem and confidence of many, who were far from being of the lowest order. The most eminent among them were Priscilla and Maximilla, ladies more remarkable for their opulence, than for their virtue, and who fell with a high degree of warmth and zeal into the visions of their fanatical chief; prophesied like him, and imitated the pretended paraclete in all the variety of his extravagance and folly. Hence it became an easy matter for Montanus to erect a new church, which was also in effect first established at Pepuza, and afterwards spread abroad through Asia, Africa, and a part of Europe."MOSHEIM, vol. i. 109. CENTURY XVI. "In the year 1525, a prodigious multitude of seditious fanatics arose like a whirlwind all of a sudden in different parts of Germany...... The greatest part of this furious and formidable mob was composed of peasants and vassals, who groaned under heavy burdens, and declared they were no longer able to bear the despotic severity of their chiefs...... But no sooner had the enthusiastic Munzer put himself at the head of this out rageous rabble, than the face of things changed entirely. and a party among them insisted upon a new form of religious doctrine, government, and worship—-upon the establishment of a pure, and unspotted church; and to add weight to this demand, pretended that it was suggested by the Holy Ghost, with which they were divinely and miraculously inspired.”—MOSHEIM, vol. ii. 35. THE END. J. Rickerby, Printer, Sherbourn-lane. |