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Dialexis Montanistae et orthodoxi

A dialogue of a Montanist and an Orthodox.

The Montanist said: We, obeying the holy Paul, have received Montanus, as one having the perfection of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete. For Paul himself said: But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away; and: we know in part and we prophesy in part. 450 Orthodox: Did the holy Paul speak telling the truth or lying? {M.} Telling the truth. {O.} Have the things of the apostle therefore been done away? {M.} May it not be. {O.} How then did he say, 'but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away,' as one telling the truth or as one lying? {M.} He himself said: we know in part and we prophesy in part. {O.} You speak truly, but you have not understood that every word in this age is part of the mystery that will be revealed in the age to come. For now we believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we have it in words; but then will be the knowledge, when we shall see face to face. ! Now we believe that the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God; but then face to face. Therefore, when the realities are seen face to face, the partial will be done away. For we no longer have faith from words, but from the sight itself, and this is 'the partial will be done away.' {M.} Will faith therefore also be done away? {O.} It will be done away. Instead of 'it ceases'. Let us then recall the whole passage with the understanding of the spirit. For it says thus: Love never fails; but if there are prophecies, they will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see through a mirror in a riddle, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. You see that it will be done away for the better; what is that? When the things believed in are present, faith will cease. 451 For we no longer believe, but we see. For faith in what is seen is not faith. For what a man sees, why does he also believe? and this is it: for now we see through a mirror in a riddle, but then face to face. Then, when? Clearly, when the end comes. {M.} Behold, therefore, Montanus the Paraclete has come and has given us the perfect. {O.} When the perfect comes, will the partial be done away or not? {M.} So it is written. {O.} But we see that Montanus is done away with even to this day, while the things of the holy Paul are increasing. {M.} And yet you do away with the things of Paul, who says that after Christ there are no prophets. {O.} You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures nor what the church teaches. For we know that there are also prophets after Christ. For Jesus himself said: Behold, I will send to you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues. And Paul says: Desire the greater gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. And again he says: If therefore the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all, the secrets of his heart also become manifest by all, and so falling on his face he will worship God, declaring that God is truly among us. {M.} How then do you say that after Christ there has been no prophet? {O.} We confess that there have been prophets even after Christ and

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Dialexis Montanistae et orthodoxi

Μοντανιστοῦ καὶ Ὀρθοδόξου διάλεξις.

Μοντανιστὴς εἶπεν· Ἡμεῖς τῷ ἁγίῳ Παύλῳ πειθόμενοι Μοντανὸν ἐδεξάμεθα, ὡς ἔχοντα τὸ τέλειον τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, τουτέστιν τὸν παράκλητον. Αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶπεν Παῦλος· Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται· καί· ἐκ μέρους γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν. 450 Ὀρθόδοξος· Ἀληθεύων εἶπεν ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος ἢ ψευδόμενος; {Μ.} Ἀληθεύων. {Ο.} Κατήργηται οὖν τὰ τοῦ ἀποστόλου; {Μ.} Μὴ γένοιτο. {Ο.} Πῶς οὖν εἶπεν· ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται, ὡς ἀληθεύων ἢ ὡς ψευδόμενος; {Μ.} Αὐτὸς εἶπεν· ἐκ μέρους γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν. {Ο.} Ἀληθῶς λέγεις, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐνόησας, ὅτι πᾶς λόγος ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ μέρος ἐστὶ τοῦ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι φανησομένου μυστηρίου. Νῦν γὰρ πιστεύομεν εἰς πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα καὶ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἔχομεν· τότε δὲ ἡ γνῶσις, ὅτε πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον ὀψώμεθα. ! Ἄρτι πιστεύομεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ· τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον. Τῶν οὖν πραγμάτων κατὰ πρόσωπον ὀφθέντων τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται. Οὐκέτι γὰρ ἀπὸ λόγων ἔχομεν τὴν πίστιν, ἀλλὰ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς θέας, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται. {Μ.} Καταργηθήσεται οὖν καὶ ἡ πίστις; {Ο.} Καταργηθήσεται. Ἀντὶ τοῦ παύεται. Ἀμέλει αὐτῆς ὅλης τῆς περικοπῆς μνησθῶμεν τῇ συνέσει τοῦ πνεύματος. Λέγει δὲ οὕτως· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει· εἴτε δὲ προφητεία, καταργηθήσεται. Ἐκ μέρους γὰρ γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν· ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται. Ὅτε ἤμην νήπιος, ὡς νήπιος ἐλάλουν, ἐλογιζόμην ὡς νήπιος· ὅτε γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. Βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι' ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γιγνώσκωμεν ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην. Ὁρᾶς, ὅτι καταργηθήσεται ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον· ὅ ἐστι τί; Παρόντων τῶν πιστευομένων παύ 451 σεται ἡ πίστις. Οὐκέτι γὰρ πιστεύομεν, ἀλλ' ὁρῶμεν. Πίστις δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστι πίστις. Ὃ γὰρ βλέπει τις, τί καὶ πιστεύει; καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι· βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι' ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον. Τότε, πότε; ∆ῆλον, ὅτε τὸ τέλος. {Μ.} Ἰδοὺ οὖν ἦλθεν Μοντανὸς ὁ παράκλητος καὶ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν τὸ τέλειον. {Ο.} Τὸ τέλειον ὅταν ἔλθῃ, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται ἢ οὔ; {Μ.} Οὕτως γέγραπται. {Ο.} Ὁρῶμεν δέ, ὅτι Μοντανὸς καταργεῖται ἕως σήμερον· τὰ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Παύλου αὔξουσιν. {Μ.} Καί τοι γε ὑμεῖς τὰ Παύλου καταργεῖτε λέγοντος μετὰ Χριστὸν μὴ εἶναι προφήτας. {Ο.} Πλανᾶσθε, μὴ εἰδότες τὰς γραφὰς μηδὲ ἃ διδάσκει ἡ ἐκκλησία. Ἡμεῖς γὰρ ἴσμεν, ὅτι καὶ μετὰ Χριστὸν προφῆται. Αὐτὸς γὰρ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, ὅτι· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστελῶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς προφήτας καὶ σοφοὺς καὶ γραμματεῖς καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποκτενεῖτε καὶ σταυρώσετε καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν μαστιγώσετε ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς ὑμῶν. Καὶ Παῦλος λέγει· Ζηλοῦτε τὰ χαρίσματα τὰ μείζονα, μᾶλλον δέ, ἵνα προφητεύητε. Καὶ πάλιν λέγει· Ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πάντες γλώσσαις λαλῶσιν, εἰσέλθωσιν δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι, οὐκ ἐροῦσιν, ὅτι μαίνεσθε; ἐὰν δὲ πάντες προφητεύσωσιν, εἰσέλθῃ δέ τις ἄπιστος ἢ ἰδιώτης, ἐλέγχεται ὑπὸ πάντων, ἀνακρίνεται ὑπὸ πάντων, τὰ κρυπτὰ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ καὶ φανερὰ γίνεται ὑπὸ πάντων, καὶ οὕτως πεσὼν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον προσκυνήσει τῷ θεῷ ἀπαγγέλλων, ὅτι ὄντως Θεὸς ἐστὶν ἐν ἡμῖν. {Μ.} Πῶς οὖν ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ὅτι μετὰ Χριστὸν οὐκ ἐγένετό τις προφήτης; {Ο.} Ἡμεῖς καὶ μετὰ Χριστὸν ὁμολογοῦμεν γεγενῆσθαι προφήτας καὶ