Part 10
The virgins here are holy spirits. If you receive the name only and are not clothed by them, it will be of no use to you, for these virgins are powers of the son of God. If you bear the name but do not bear the power, you will bear the name in vain. The stones that were rejected are those who bore the name but did not put on the clothes of the virgins. Their very names are their clothes. Even the Son himself bears the names of these virgins! All the stones are clothed with the power of these virgins. That is why you see that the tower has become one stone with the rock. In the same way, too, those who have come to believe in the Lord
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through his son and are clothed with these spirits will become one spirit and one body. Their garments will be of one color.
Hear now about the stones that were thrown out. All of them had received the name of God's son and the power of these virgins…Some time later they were seduced by the beautiful women in black garments with bare shoulders and flowing hair, whom you saw. Consequently, they were cast out from the house of God and turned over to these women. This, he concluded, is the meaning of the stones that were thrown out. Certainly, they may return to the tower if they throw off the works of these women and accept once more the power of the virgins and live in accordance with their deeds. That is why there is a pause in the building, so that they can repent and be newly fitted into the building of the tower. But if they do not repent, others will get in, and they will be rejected forever.
For all these things I gave thanks to the Lord. He has mercy on all who are called by his name. He sent the angel of repentance to us who had sinned against him. He renewed our spirits. He gave us new life after we had wrought our own ruin once more and had no more hope of life whatever. The name of the Lord is great and incomprehensible, and it supports the whole world. He himself has become the foundation which supports those who wholeheartedly bear his name.
Now hear the names of the stronger virgins first, those who stood at the corners of the tower. The first is Faith, the second Chastity, the third Strength, and the fourth Patience. The other virgins who stood between them bear the names Simplicity, Innocence, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Unity, and Love. Whoever bears these names and the name of the son of God is able to enter God's kingdom.
Hear also the names of the other women clothed in black. Of these, again, four are the most powerful. The first is Unbelief, the second Licentiousness, the third Disobedience, the fourth Deceit. The others that follow them are Sadness, Wickedness, Immodesty, Ill-temper, Untruth, Folly, Slander, and Hatred.
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The first stones, those fitted into the building out of the deep, the ten stones of the foundations, signify the first generation of believers. The next twenty-five stones are the second generation of just men. The thirty-five stones after that are God's prophets and his servants. The following forty are the apostles and teachers of the proclamation of God's son.
They had to rise up through the water to be made alive. The water is the seal. They go down into the water dead. Living they come up again. The son of God will rejoice among them and be glad when he receives his people washed clean. Where there were many springs and all the Lord's creatures drank from these springs, there are the believers who were apostles and teachers and who proclaimed the Lord's word throughout the whole world in holiness and purity and did not suppress a tittle on account of their own evil inclinations. They always lived in righteousness and truth. It was they who received the Holy Spirit. Such people will go in to the angels.
Where the trees are full of fruit, where they were adorned all over with fruit, there are the believers who suffered for the name of the son of God, suffered willingly and with their whole hearts, and laid down their lives. All those who did not deny but willingly took suffering upon themselves when questioned before the authorities have special glory before God.
From the white mountain are the believers who are like innocent children in whose hearts no sin has entered and who have not experienced what evil is. They always remained in childhood innocence. Such people will dwell steadfastly in God's kingdom. All "children" are glorious in the sight of God and are foremost with him. You will be the first of all to live for God. Let yourselves be healed while the tower is still being built! The Lord dwells in peace-loving men, for he loves peace. Do not trample on his mercy! Honor him rather because he is so patient with you in your sins. He is not like you. Therefore find that repentance which will save you.
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Be manly in your calling. Proclaim to everyone the mighty things of God. You will find grace in this calling. Further, I tell you that every person must be rescued from his distress. Whoever is hungry and suffers want, lacking even the barest necessities of life, endures great anguish and need. Whoever is harassed by such need endures the same anguish and torture as one who is in prison. Many even take their own lives because of such unbearable suffering. Whoever knows of such a person's misery and does not come to his rescue commits a grave sin; he is guilty of that person's blood. Unless you hurry to do what is good, the tower will be completed and you will be shut out.
Prophecies from Hermas, The Shepherd, ca. A.D. 140 –150.
34 The prophetic Spirit is the corporate body of the prophetic order. He is the fleshly body of Jesus Christ as that which endows it with a living soul.
Grenfell and Hunt, Oxyrhynchus Papyri Part I, No. 5, pp. 8–9.
35 The cross shall go before me when I come in my glory. Seven times brighter than the sun will I shine when I come in my glory with all my holy ones, with my angels. Then my father shall set a crown upon my head, and I will judge the living and the dead and repay everyone according to his deeds.
Do you not understand that the fig tree is the house of Israel? Truly, I tell you, when its branches have sprouted at the end of the world, false Christs shall arise. They will arouse expectation and say, "I am the Christ who once came into the world." But this liar is not the Christ. When they reject him, he will murder with the sword. Then shall the branches of the fig tree, which is the house of Israel, shoot forth. There shall be many martyrs by his hand. Enoch and Elijah shall be sent to teach them that this is the Seducer who must come into the world to deceive with signs and wonders.
Through the suffering of the Son who is without sin, the creature that fell prey to destruction was made holy. As for you, you are chosen ac-
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cording to the promises I have given you. Spread my good news of peace throughout the world! Truly, men shall rejoice. My words are the wellspring of expectant hope and of life. All of a sudden the world shall be filled with joy.
Revelation of Peter 1, 2.
36 Plead for few days so that the time will be shortened. The Kingdom is already prepared for you. Watch! I call heaven and earth to witness: I have caused evil to perish and I have created the good, as truly as I live, says the Lord. Good mother, enfold thy sons in thine arms; give them joy like a dove feeding her young; give strength to their feet, for I have chosen thee, says the Lord. The nations will rage, yet they shall not prevail against thee, says the Lord. My hands shall protect thee so that thy sons will not see the Underworld! Rejoice, O mother, with thy sons, for I shall deliver thee, says the Lord.
Remember thy sleeping sons, for I will make them arise from the hidden graves in the earth and I will be merciful to them, for I am merciful, says the Lord, the almighty. Clasp thy children in thine arms until I come and proclaim mercy unto them, for my wells are brimming over and my grace shall never cease.
Wait for your Shepherd! He will grant you eternal peace, for he who shall come at the end of the world is near! Prepare yourselves to receive the reward of the Kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for ever and ever! Flee the darkness of this world; accept the happiness of your glory. I bear witness to my healing savior openly. Receive the gift of the Lord; rejoice and give thanks to him who has called you to his kingdom coming from the heavens.
Arise! Stand and behold at the Lord's banquet the number of those who are sealed. All who have turned away from the darkness of the world have received shining raiment from the Lord. Zion, receive thy chosen band and enfold those who are clad in white, who have fulfilled the law of the Lord. The number of thy sons, for whom thou didst long, is complete; pray earnestly for the rulership of the Lord to come so that thy
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people, who were called from the beginning, may be made holy! I, Ezra, saw upon Mount Zion a great company, which I could not count, and they all praised the Lord with singing. And in their midst stood a youth of noble stature towering above them all. He set a crown on the head of each one of them, and he grew even more in stature. And wonder held me spellbound.
Then I asked the angel, "Lord, who are these?" He answered and said to me, "These are they who have laid aside their mortal clothing and put on immortal raiment and have confessed the name of the Lord. Now they are being crowned and are given palms."
And I said to the angel, "Who is the youth who puts the crowns on their heads and gives them palms into their hands?"
He answered and said to me, "He is the son of God, whom they confessed in the world." And I began to praise them because they had stood up valiantly for the name of the Lord.
Fifth Book of Ezra 2.13– 47.
37 Hear the Word, O my people! Prepare yourselves for the fight. In suffering, conduct yourselves like aliens on this earth. Whoever sells, let him do so as one who is fleeing! Whoever buys, let him do so as one about to lose everything! Whoever trades, let him trade as one who will make no more profit! Whoever builds, as one who will never inhabit! Whoever sows, as one who will not reap! Whoever prunes vines, as one who will not gather the vintage! Those who marry, let them do so as though they will not beget any children! And those who do not marry, as if they were widowed! Hence those who work, work in vain. Strangers will gather their fruit, they will rob them of their riches, destroy their houses, and lead their sons into captivity. Therefore those who marry should know that their children will come into captivity and famine.
Sixth Book of Ezra 16.41–47.
38 Behold, out of the land of Syria I begin to call a new Jerusalem. I will subdue Zion and it shall be taken captive. And the barren one who is
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childless shall be rich in children, and she shall be called the daughter of my father, but to me she shall be my bride. For so it has pleased him who sent me. Epistle of the Apostles 33 (see also James, The Apocryphal
New Testament, pp. 496–497).
39 O rolling waves! O fortress earth! Over you shall rise the Sun that never sets! And all shall obey him, who comes once more to earth! Thus they knew his mighty power! Sibylline Oracles, Book III.93–96.
40 The mills of God grind late, but grind the finest flour. Then will fire lay waste all things and grind to dust The leafy-crowned peaks of mountains and all flesh. The beginning of evil for all is love of money And lack of true understanding. Desire for treacherous gold and silver shall rule, For nothing is greater than these in mortal eyes. Not the light of the sun, nor heaven nor sea nor
broad-backed earth Whence all things spring, nor God the giver, the begetter of all, Nor constancy nor faith have they preferred to these two things. O source of godlessness, forerunner of disorder, Lord of and means to all wars, hateful plague of peace, Setting parents against children, and children against parents! Even marriage itself, without the gold, will nowhere be valued, Nowhere at all; and the earth shall have her boundaries And every sea its watchers, Partitioned off with deceit among those who have money. They will exploit the poor as if they wanted for ever and ever To keep the earth that feeds the masses of people, Procuring land for themselves and yet more land, Boasting and putting down the poor. And if the vast earth did not have its place
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Far from the starry heavens, men would not share the light; It could be bought for gold and would belong to the rich. For poor folk God would have to prepare another existence. To thee, O stiff-necked Rome, shall come one day from above The fitting blow from heaven! Then shall first thy neck bow down! Thou shalt be razed to the ground and wholly consumed by fire, Laid low and stretched out on the ground. The whole of thy riches shall perish. Then thy ruins shall be the abode of wolves and of foxes, And thou shalt be deserted as if thou hadst never been.
Sibylline Oracles, Book VIII.14–42.
41 Rejoice, O holy daughter of Zion that hast suffered greatly! Thy king himself shall come, riding on a colt. Filled with loving kindness, he shall take away Our yoke of slavery, so hard to bear, That presses on our neck, And he shall break the godless ordinances
and the oppressive bonds. Know him for thy God, him, who is God's son. Praise him, hold him firmly in thy heart. Love him with all thy soul and bear his name. Deny thy former gods, and wash thyself with his own blood! Thy songs will not propitiate him, nor will thy prayers. He heeds no short-lived sacrifices, for he himself is immortal. Know then who he is, When understanding mouths sing forth his praises! And then shalt thou see thy creator.
Sibylline Oracles, Book VIII.324–336.
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42 The representative, administrative Spirit speaks out what Christ has foreordained. He bears witness above all to Christ himself. The representative, administrating Spirit is the restorer. The representative, administrating Spirit bears witness to an abundance of truths. Without deviating from the clarity and perfection revealed in Christ himself, he shall seal and attest all things in accordance with our belief in Christ and
in the whole design of God the creator. Tertullian, On Monogamy 2, 4.
43 In the meantime the son of God poured forth the gift he received from the Father: the Holy Spirit, third name of the Divinity, the third degree of majesty, the proclaimer of the one rulership, the administrator of the various branches of the household, and – if one accepts the words of his new prophecy –the leader into all truth that is in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, according to the Christian oath of allegiance. Tertullian, Against Praxeas 30.
44 God poured out over all flesh the gift he had foreordained, his Spirit, to oppose the mighty spirits of unbelief and perversity. In this way he breathed new life into diseased faith. In this way he freed the ancient documents from all obscurity and ambiguity by the bright light of the Word and of understanding. It became necessary that the Holy Spirit should no longer withhold the superabundance of his utterances so that no new seed might be provided for expositions by false teachers, however subtle and cunning. Accordingly the Holy Spirit now really has overcome all the old ambiguities of obscure parables by proclaiming openly and clearly the entire mystery through the new prophecy flowing in copious streams from the representative advocate. If you draw from his springs, you will never thirst for any other teaching; no feverish craving after questions will ever consume you again.
Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh 63.
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After the apostle had written, Montanus came, so they say, and had that of the representative administrator which is perfect, the giving nature of the Holy Spirit.
Didymus, On the Trinity III.41.2.
46 Justice, in its rudimentary beginning, had a natural fear of God. Then, through the law and the prophets it progressed to its infancy; through the Gospels it grew into the fervor of youth; and now it is brought to maturity by the representative Spirit. Grace is at work and keeps going forward to the end. After Christ, only the representative Spirit may be called and revered as master. He alone leads the way because he alone succeeds Christ. Those who have received him set truth above custom. Tertullian, On Veiling Virgins 1.
47 The first gifts of grace are not like the last. Epiphanius, Panarion 48.8.
48 We are now better instructed by the Spirit, the representative administrator, who brings in the whole truth. We believe in the one and only God within that order we call household plan. In it the one God has also a son, his own Word, who proceeded from him; and finally he sends the Holy Spirit, the representative administrator, proceeding from the Father. According to the words of the new prophecy, the unity of God is made manifest in the distinction between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through the distribution which differentiates and unifies, through the administration of the household which indicates the number. Tertullian, Against Praxeas 2, 13, 30.
49 The period of weakness in the flesh had to run its course until the coming of the representative Spirit. The Lord deferred until his coming what was unbearable before. But now no one has the excuse that a demand is too hard to be borne, for he who gives us the power to carry it out is no longer lacking. Tertullian, On Monogamy 14.
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50 The Spirit is the representative Administrator whom, according to John's Gospel, the Lord promised to send. He leads into perfect truth. Once more he reveals the covenant and the promise – yes, he comes with even more glorious promises.
Epiphanius, Panarion 48.13; 48.10; Eusebius V.16.19.
51 The Lord challenges us to suffer persecutions and to confess him. He wants those who belong to him to be brave and fearless. He himself shows how weakness of the flesh is overcome by courage of the Spirit. This is the testimony of the apostles and in particular of the representative, administrating Spirit. A Christian is fearless.
Yet do not even shepherds flee and forsake their flocks? If so, they are justly marked by the representative, administrating Spirit for what they are. The way is narrow. Few are chosen. Therefore the representative, administrating Spirit has come to call to martyrdom and to give strength.
Tertullian, On Flight in Persecution 9, cf. 10, 11.
52 If anyone recognizes the Spirit, he will listen to him, how he brands the runaways. Tertullian, On Flight in Persecution 11.
53 The divine banner and the human banner do not go together, nor the standard of Christ and the standard of the Devil. Only without the sword can the Christian wage war: the Lord has abolished the sword.
Tertullian, On Idolatry 19; On the Chaplet 11–12.
54 If you ask counsel of the Spirit as to what is greater than the word that perfect love casts out fear, he will give you an answer. Nearly all sayings of the Spirit spur on to martyrdom and never to flight.
Tertullian, On Flight in Persecution 9.
55 Divine revelation is not dependent on human nature and reflection. Being God's work, it is given to those who respond to him in purity of life and in holiness. Pseudo-Justin, Exhortation to the Greeks 8.
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56 Only a holy servant can serve in holiness.
Epiphanius, Panarion 48.
57 We no more do away with marriage when we reject second marriages, than we are against food when we fast quite often. Abolition is one thing, moderation another. Tertullian, On Monogamy 15.
58 If even today the representative Spirit were to prescribe total, absolute virginity or continence, not allowing the seething heat of the flesh to foam down even in a single marriage, he would still not be introducing anything obviously new. When you consider this, you will not find it hard to convince yourself how much more fitting it is for the representative, administrating Spirit to proclaim a single marriage, for he could just as well have proclaimed that there should be no marriage at all. How much more readily should we believe him since the advocating Spirit merely tempers absolute rejection, which coming from him would have been quite proper also. You must only recognize what was Christ's will, and in this too you must recognize the representative Spirit as the administrating advocate. Tertullian, On Monogamy 3.
59 The new prophecy is rejected because Montanus, Maximilla, and Priscilla plainly teach more frequent fasting than marrying.
Tertullian, On Fasting 1.
60 He is the one who taught the dissolution of marriages and prescribed laws on fasting. Apollonius, quoted in Eusebius V.18.2.
61 We do not reject the prophecy of Montanus proclaiming the future judgment. It promises great glory at the consummation of God's kingdom. Montanus challenged his opponents and won himself followers. Tertullian, Praedestinatus 26.
62 A word of the new prophecy belonging to our faith attests and proclaims that a picture of the City shall be visible for a sign before it
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actually appears. We confess that the coming royal rulership was promised to us anew for this earth and, what is more, before the advent of the heavenly Kingdom and quite different in its nature. After the resurrection it shall come for a thousand years in a state whose constitution is a work of God. It is the Jerusalem which shall come down from heaven. The apostle, too, describes this Jerusalem as our mother above and as the polity of our citizenship, which is that of a free city governed by its own laws. It testifies to the prophetic conviction that it is coming from the heavens. It will definitely correspond to a heavenly city-state, come what may. Tertullian, Against Marcion III.24.
63 In the form of a woman clad in shining raiment, Christ came to me and put wisdom into me. He revealed to me that this place is holy and that the Jerusalem which comes from heaven shall descend here.
Priscilla, or perhaps Maximilla or Quintilla, quoted in
Epiphanius, Panarion 49.1.
64 As the Spirit [the representative advocate] teaches, God brought forth the Word just in the same way as the root brings forth the fruit, the spring the river, and the sun the ray. Tertullian, Against Praxeas 8.
65 The administrating advocating Spirit is rejected, not because Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla proclaim another God, not because they do away with Christ at all, or because they overthrow anything at all in the rule of faith and in the expectation. Tertullian, On Fasting 1.
66 Those who are called after the region of Phrygia [in Asia Minor] accept the whole of the old Scriptures; they read and confess the New Testament and proclaim the resurrection of the dead just as all true Christians do. Concerning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they hold the same convictions as the holy church everywhere.
Epiphanius, Panarion 48.1.
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67 They acknowledge God to be the father of the universe and the creator of all things just as the whole church does. They also acknowledge all the things which the Gospels testify concerning Christ.
Hippolytus, Philosophumena VIII.19.
68 They accept the law and the prophets; they confess the Father and the Son and the Spirit; they expect the resurrection of the flesh in the same way as the whole church everywhere proclaims it.
Philastrius, Heresies 49, quoting Hippolytus, Syntagma.
69 There in Pepuza in Phrygia they gather in the open to hold their symbolic celebrations, offering hospitality to each other, as those who are consecrated. Epiphanius, Panarion 48.14.
70 The Spirit blesses and inspires those who are exultant and elated, who rejoice and take pride in him. He makes them to be something through the immensity of the promises. Eusebius V.16.9.
71 Virgins clad in white and carrying lamps entered their meetings. They strode from afar to bring prophetic truth to the people. They stirred up profound agitation in the meeting by their enthusiasm, making them all weep. In repentance they all cried as if bewailing the dead, shedding tears. In their whole demeanor they lamented and bemoaned the life of men. Epiphanius, Panarion 49.2.
72 They are flesh, and yet they hate the flesh.
Priscilla, quoted in Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh 11.
73 The true church can forgive every sin.
The Paraclete speaking in the new prophets in Tertullian, On Modesty 21.
74 Do not listen to me! Listen to Christ!…The Lord has sent me, a staunch supporter, a revealer, an interpreter of this suffering and task
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and of this covenant and message of promise. Whether or not I want to, I am compelled to receive the knowledge of God.
Maximilla, quoted in Epiphanius, Panarion 48.12, 13.
75 Here is the knowledge of discipleship, and the teaching.
Epiphanius about Maximilla, in Panarion 48.13.
76 Behold, man is like a lyre, and I sweep over him like a plectrum drawing forth sound. Man sleeps, but I keep watch and arouse. See, it is the Lord who throws people's hearts into ecstasy and who gives them heart. Montanus, quoted in Epiphanius, Panarion 48.4.
77 The Gospel is proclaimed by the holy prophetess Prisca to the effect that the holy servant knows how to administer a life of sanctification. She bears witness that he brings into harmony that which purifies. They see visions. They discern the importance of everything here below and determine the shape. They hear clear voices announcing salvation as well as those full of hidden mysteries. Tertullian, Exhortation to Chastity 10.
78 What do you say of the one who is saved and who is above other men? The representative, administrating Spirit says that the righteous person will shine a hundred times more brightly than the sun, and once saved, even the smallest among you will shine a hundred times more brightly than the moon. Epiphanius, Panarion 48.10.
79 I am chased like a wolf from the flock of sheep. I am not a wolf. Word am I, and spirit, and power.
Antimontanist quoting Maximilla. Anonymous in Eusebius V.16.17.
80 There shall be wars and revolutions.
Maximilla, quoted in Eusebius V.16.18.
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81 Do not wish to die in bed, or in childbirth, or in enervating fevers. No, wish yourself a martyr's death! In this way he who suffered for you shall become great!
The Paraclete of the new prophecy, in Tertullian, On Flight in Persecution 9; On the Soul 55.
82 Blushing for shame you will be dragged before the public. That is good for you, for he who is not publicly exposed like this before people will be publicly exposed before God. Do not be disquieted. It is righteousness which will exhibit you in the midst of all. How can you be thrown into confusion? You wear the crown of victory! Power streams forth when you are seen by men . Tertullian, On Flight in Persecution 9.
83 I the Lord, the almighty God, make my dwelling in a man, and thus I speak! Epiphanius, Panarion 48.11.
84 Neither an angel nor an envoy but I, the Lord, God the Father, have come. Epiphanius, Panarion 48.11.
85 Not a messenger, not an elder, but I, the Lord, the God Father, have come. Didymus, On the Trinity 41.1.
86 I am the Father and the Son and the representative, administrating Spirit.
Didymus, On the Trinity III.4l.1. Cf. Origen, Against Celsus VII.9.
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Notes to Proclamation and the Prophetic Spirit
Marginal numbers refer to corresponding passages on the previous pages.
15 Compare the statement that Jesus was thirty years old with the contradictory statement made
by the elders in Irenaeus, p. 126 above.
18 There is a symbolic significance to outstretched hands in early Christian proclamation: they
represent the "two peoples" – Jews and the Gentiles – united (as in Paul, Eph. 2:14–18) by Christ, the
head between them. In the next passage, arms stretched out to the right and left symbolize triumphant
victory over hostile forces.
19 See also M. R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, pp. 359–360.
28 This passage is a refutation of Gnostic teaching, according to which the suffering of Jesus was
a mere semblance, and Jesus not fully or truly a man.
29 The proclamation of Christ and the mystery of his cross culminate in possession of the land in
friendship and a common life. By placing together water, faith, and wood for man's escape from the
coming judgment, it is pointed out that baptism and the cross are intrinsically linked together by faith.
29-30 The possession of the Holy Land promised to all its heirs cannot be shifted to some unearthly
life hereafter. Justin, like most Christians of his time, was a firm believer in the real, earthly nature of the
coming kingdom. Faith in the Word spoken by the prophets and apostles is counted as righteousness.
So is faith in the restoration of all creation.
33 Hermas, a preacher of repentance impelled by eschatology, claimed to be a prophet in the
sense of the early Christian prophets, who along with the apostles and teachers, maintained spiritual
leadership in the early times. Quadratus, Ammia, Polycarp, and Melito were considered prophets in the
same sense. Thus Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho 82, says, "Even to this day the gifts of prophecy are
alive among us: you can see among us both men and women who are endowed with gifts of grace."
Eusebius (Church History V.7.4) quotes Irenaeus (Against Heresies II.32.4) as saying, "The prophets
have visions, apparitions, or dreams and speak about the future in prophetic utterances. It is impossible
to enumerate the gifts of grace." In Against Heresies V.6.1 (Eusebius, V.7.6) Irenaeus says that through
the Spirit, brothers and sisters speak with all kinds of tongues, bring men's secret thoughts to light, and
reveal the mysteries of God.
As regards the origin of The Shepherd, it is probably correct to accept the date indicated by the
Muratorian Fragment: A.D. 140–155. Origen and Eusebius, however, place it in the times of the
apostles, and in the Codex Sinaiticus The Shepherd is even included among the New Testament writings.
Some deduce from The Shepherd itself that it may have been written toward the end of the first century.
Hermas cannot be included among the Montanist prophets or among their opponents. Quite inde-
pendent of both, his prophetic voice calls to repentance within the church at Rome, which already had
become old and weak. A former house slave, Hermas had little schooling; his imagery, his stylistic com-
mand of Greek, and his logic reveal a rurally-raised, uneducated man.
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This old and simple man stands before us, then, a true prophet, humble but assured of a divine, in-
ward prompting to speak. He speaks publicly whenever God wills it while exposing as false prophets
those who accept payment and wait to be consulted. Hermas demands repentance because the angel of
repentance has charged him to do so. Repentance brings life; it means an end to sin. Conversion, as he
sees it, means that Christ and the Holy Spirit dwell in every believer and overcome in him all evil: ill-
temper, malice, arrogance, and lust.
Although in The Shepherd the idea of recompense for good works appears for the first time, Hermas'
main concern is the movement of the Spirit in the human heart. The virgins of his last and longest par-
able are holy spirits to him, powers of the Son of God. They stand for faith, truth, love, patience, chastity,
and self-control.
The Spirit, the church, and the son of God are inseparable for Hermas. He, too, believes that the church
was created before all other things. The church appears as a wise, elderly woman, but also as a pure
bride, and further as an immense building into which all believers are fitted as one Body, after being
rigorously squared. The whole purpose of this squaring, which takes place through repentance, is to
become useful to God. Pride, wealth, and possessions must be cut away as with a stonecutter's chisel,
and only the minimum necessities may be kept. To Hermas, the Christian lives in a foreign country under
a constitution alien to him. He belongs to the coming order, quite different from the present one, and
therefore he cannot acquire fields, houses, and other earthly possessions.
To Hermas, the present epoch is wintertime. Only the future age –summertime – will let the fruits of
faith appear. Now is the time for repentance for those whose worldly ambitions have left them inwardly
dead or half-dead, and those who have defiled themselves by sinning.
Repentance gives rise to the performance of good deeds, especially on behalf of the poor, who lack
even the bare necessities of life. Every man must be rescued from his distress; and whoever neglects to do
this becomes guilty of his blood. The sinner in the flesh is sternly called to repentance. Hermas gives an
especially high place of honor to those who remain innocent and pure "like virgins," and considers
them "children."
The man who keeps the Lord in his heart will master all things, keep the hardest commands, and
remain steadfast in great suffering. Forgiveness is promised to those who truly repent – those who focus
their vision on the future world-age and the return of the Lord.
For all its emphasis on the sublime angels of God and on the demonic angels of darkness, the son of
God himself remains God's truth in this prophetic testimony. He remains the rock established before
creation; the only stable foundation for life. He is the gateway opened wide to give all men entry into the
kingdom; the master builder of the tower. And he alone determines the time of its completion.
34 The writer of this passage is possibly Melito, Bishop of Sardis, and author of a book, On the
Church, which is no longer extant. Melito was opposed to Montanism.
36 In the Latin Bible this little book is included as chapters one and two of the Jewish Fourth Book
of Ezra (or Esdras). Originally written in Greek, these two chapters contain announcements of punish-
ment for the Jews and promises of glory for the Christians, and draw extensively on the Old Testament
prophets. The burning hope of prophetic Christianity and the dedicated love to one's neighbor find
powerful expression here, too, as does the image of the church as a mother. (Note that in E.J.
Goodspeed's translation of The Apocrypha, this book appears as the Second Book of Esdras.)
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37 Originally written in Greek, this book is preserved as the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the
Fourth Book of Ezra. It portrays catastrophes caused by wars and by natural forces at the end of the
world, and the persecution of the martyrs. The chapters were most likely written later than the Fifth Book.
Typical of the last phase of church prophecy is the merging of Jewish and primitive Christian
apocalypticism.
40 Prophecies like these, disseminated widely in Christian circles of the day, provoked the Roman
ban on the reading, spreading, or interpretation of prophetic books and gave rise to intensified perse-
cution wherever they were publicized.
42-45 Here the Montanists stand up for the true significance and task of the prophecy: it is the work
of the Spirit, the representative Advocate or Paraclete promised in John's Gospel.
48 Concerning this presentation of the "household" of God, the divine "economy," and their
administration, see p. 267 above.
55-60 Here we see reverence for the sanctity of life, and purity (achieved here by sexual continence
and fasting) testified to as qualities of the Holy Spirit.
61-63 These are Montanist prophecies of the future. God's day of judgment was proclaimed to be so
close at hand that Maximilla, the prophetess, said, "After me there will be no other prophet, but the
end" (Epiphanius, Panarion 48.2).
64-68 These texts show that the Montanists were fully in agreement with the confession of faith gen-
erally adhered to by Christians of that time. See also the words of their opponent Hippolytus in his
Philosophumena VIII. 19: "In agreement with the church they acknowledge God…and all the things
which the gospels testify concerning Christ."
67 In the Doctrina patrum de incarnatione verbi, Nova collectio VII, the following words (which
add weight to the theory that the Monophysites and the songs known as the Odes of Solomon may well
be largely Montanist) are quoted in connection with Montanus as a piece used by his singers or in his
odes: "The Messiah [Christ] has one and the same nature and one and the same power both before and
after he became flesh so that he can never become different and never do unlike or different things."
69-73 Here we see the joyous, festive manner of the spiritual life of the Montanist communities in
contrast to the Gnostic celebration of freedom of the flesh. The Montanists evidently practiced commu-
nity of goods and celebrated the Lord's Supper as a love feast; they even sent gifts to members who were
far away.
74-86 Probably the most important prophetic utterances of the Montanist revival movement.
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T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
76 "I hasten to the spot and urge on; I burst upon, flood, impel, shake, strike, and arouse." When
Epiphanius adds, "It is the Lord who sets men's hearts beside themselves," it seems obvious that he is
still quoting Montanus, though this is disputed by some scholars.
79 Eusebius expressly asserts that it was the Spirit who spoke through Maximilla here; that this
passage is therefore not a record of Maximilla speaking for or about herself, but the Spirit speaking
through her.
80 This prophetic prediction corresponds to biblical prophecies about the "end of the age" in
Matthew 24, the Revelation of John, and elsewhere.
83-86 In a person gripped by the Holy Spirit, God himself speaks and acts. Because the Montanists
believed "in blind trust" that the Spirit itself, the defending Advocate of John's Gospel, had "entered"
into their prophets and prophetesses (as Hippolytus points out in his Philosophumena VIII.19), they
could – had to – recognize that God spoke through them in the first person, in the same way as he spoke
through the prophets of the Old Testament.
2 7 7
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