Les comunitats montanistes, fonamentades en la "Paraula", "Esperit" i "poder"

Rather than a heretic in the strict sense, Montanus was the outspoken product of hisAsian milieu, where millenarianism and the early spirit of prophecy are found in thefoundations of the churches belonging to the Johannine tradition in which Judeo-Christianity is present. Montanus did not establish any structured doctrine: he wassimply the exponent of a local tradition characterized by an exaggerated emphasison prophecy, one that moved away from communion with the other churches andthat was representative in these times of the voice of the Spirit or the Paraclete callingthe Church to a powerful spiritual renewal. The Montanist movement had itsorigin in the fundamental question that was coming to light in the Christian communitiesat the end of the second century: how was the delay of the Parousia of theLord to be dealt with, a question that involved both moral and pastoral concerns inso far as it related to the issue of sinners within the life of the Church. The struggleof the Great Church against Montanism accelerated the response to the questionraised by the Parouisa. The Church realised that in its evangelistic mission it neededto be part of the world and to be anchored in human history while taking the necessaryecclesiastical steps to remain faithful to its Apostolic roots.