We are just about to wrap up our series on the heresies that threatened to compromise the witness of the early church. Today, we tackle two heresies in one episode. The first is Montanism. In the mid-100s, a guy named Montanus claimed that the Age of the Spirit had arrived, and new revelation was coming through him and his two female prophetesses, Priscilla and Maximilla. This new revelation was to stir up what had become a morally compromised and complacent church. This new revelation was not just to support or affirm the Scriptures. It was equivalent to Scripture! It was a wave that swept through the church, threatening to undermine the Gospel itself! Then, almost 200 years later, another movement sprang up. Donatus, a clergyman in North Africa, took offense to the reinstatement of priests and bishops who had buckled under intense persecution. He said they were contaminated, and all of their work was invalidated! This view split the ancient church in two and triggered our old friend Augustine, who spent the last years of his life fighting against it. Successfully, I might add. What do these two heretical movements have in common? Each one claimed to be the true church. The pure church. They were in, and everyone else was out. How did the early church fathers rally against these Christian renegades? That's what we're going to find out! Join us!