A Wayfarer's Faith: Aspects of the common basis of religious lifeHarvey, T. Edmund (Thomas Edmund)
Religion
A Wayfarer's Faith: Aspects of the common basis of religious life
Harvey, T. Edmund (Thomas Edmund)
Society of Friends -- Doctrines
"From their ways then shall the false prophet and the prophet be known,
and every prophet who appoints a feast in the spirit does not eat of it,
unless, indeed, he be a false prophet, and every prophet who teaches the
truth, if he does not do that which he teaches, is a false prophet." The
readers are warned against judging the prophet who does some strange
symbolic act for the edification of the Church without bidding others to
do as he does," for even thus also did the ancient prophets." "But whoso
saith in the spirit Give me money, or any other things, to him ye shall
not hearken; but if he speak concerning others who are in need, and bids
men give, let no man judge him" (ch. xi.). The true prophet who is
willing to settle amongst them is worthy of his keep, they are told, and
so is the true teacher; "and so," the writer continues, "ye shall take
every first- fruit of the produce of your wine-press and threshing
floor, of your oxen and of your flocks, and shall give to the prophets,
for they are your high priests.
"But if ye have not a prophet give to the poor; and so likewise with
bread, oil and wine, with
money, clothes and all other things" (ch. xiii.).
Here we have, perhaps, the hint of a transitional stage between the
early church of Corinth and the churches of Clement and Ignatius. The
prophet [p.44] has the first place of honour and next to him the teacher
but all churches have not their prophet, and in these bishops and
deacons must act in the place of prophets and teachers, and be honoured
as such, while in other churches the prophets and teachers were treated
as a sort of Christian priest, and one may see how their work came to be
regarded as a regular church office and gradually assimilated, in church
after church to the offices customary in the larger congregations like
Rome and Antioch. As time passes the place of the prophet is more and
more taken by the bishop, and by the end of the second century it would
seem, that, for such a bishop of the Church Catholic as Apollinaris of
Hierapolis, the prophet was a memory of the distant past.
The Montanist movement in Phrygia had owed its strength to the appeal
which it made to the prophetic tradition and the prophetic spirit. In
the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the Phrygian convert Montanus had gone
into prophetic ecstasies which shocked the more orderly members of the
church, and a separation ensued, in which Montanus was joined by two
prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla; they continued for some time, it
would seem, to appeal to those within the greater church to recognise
them, for a fragment of Maximilla which is preserved to us, runs thus:
"I am chased like a wolf from the flock; I am wolf, I am utterance,
spirit and power." (Eusebius v.§ 16). [p. 45]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account