Azim Pothiawala

FWIS 194

Professor Wright

Wikipedia Historiography: Montanism

Montanism refers to an early Christian movement in the 2nd century. The founder,

Montanus, along with his two companions Priscilla and Maximilla, claimed the Holy Spirit resided within them. They prophesized the imminent destruction of the world and said the Holy

Spirit instructed them on how to prepare for the Apocalypse. Montanism faded away in the 6th century, facing heavy persecution from the Catholic Church for much of its existence.

Interestingly, the revision history of Montanism’s Wikipedia page reflects the prejudice of

Catholic Church towards the Montanists and the ambiguity of the movement’s practices due to the persecution.

A contributor named Wesley created the page on February 25, 2002. Wesley provided little information on himself or his credentials. The original article contained a short, vague description of Montanism, and a letter written by Jerome, a Christian priest, occupied the rest of the article. In the letter, Jerome summarized the doctrine of Montanism and the differences between the movement’s ideology and the Catholic Church’s. Jerome did not attempt to hide his disgust with Montanus’s claims to prophethood nor his belief that God failed to save the world with Moses and Jesus. Jerome’s anger represents why the Catholic Church tried to suppress the movement. Officials of the church would not want Christians preaching ideas that differed from the Church’s. Stevertigo, an editor with 10 years of experience, decided to delete the letter from the article, and instead added a link to the letter. He reasoned the letter would better serve as a supplement rather than as a section within the article.

Llywrch, a Master Editor, made the next major edit on October 1, 2003. He added details about Montanus’s fellow prophets Priscilla and Maximilla to the sparse overview of Montanism.

A seemingly trivial edit worth noting is the addition of the phrases ‘‘threatened the church hierarchy’’ and ‘‘mainstream Christian church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations.’’ Both imply that the Church actively persecuted the Montanists out of a fear of their influence. Editors removed both phrases from the article. However, an editor reintroduced the second phrase after its deletion. Editors perhaps allowed the phrase to remain in the second time, because they considered the second phrase a fact and the first closer to a subjective opinion.

As the first to add a new section, Ungtss marked a major milestone for the article on

March 21, 2005. Ungtss edits many pages concerning Christianity and appears creditable. He titled the new section ‘‘Differences between Montanism and Catholicism’’ and used it to consolidate the differences added by users into one section. This spawned a number of disputes over exactly separated mainstream Christianity from Montanism. For example, Ungtss originally wrote that Montanists encouraged ‘‘speaking in tongues,’’ while other users argued they simply preached more ecstatically than mainstream Christian preachers. Users also disputed the differences of policies on marriage, chastity, and female roles. Ltwin, who made the last major edits to the article on June 29, 2011, attempted to resolve the disputes by including the disclaimer

‘‘Because much of what is known about Montanism comes from anti-Montanist sources, it is difficult to know what they actually believed and how those beliefs differed from the Christian mainstream of the time.’’ The unfavorable view of Montanists by outsiders in the past limits how much people in the present can learn about them. The article tries to maintain an objective tone but with information from biased sources, even seemingly trivial edits led to arguments.

Between the major edits made by Ungtss in 2005 and the edits made by Ltwin in 2011, most revisions added, removed, or rearranged a few details. Despite a lack of major changes, several patterns emerged during this time period. Users argued whether to refer to the Catholic

Church, the institution suppressing Montanism, as the ‘‘Orthodox’’ or the ‘‘mainstream’’

Church. The back and forth debate over the correct term likely emerged from an effort to maintain neutrality. People did not want to label the Catholic Church as Orthodox, as the word associates the Church with tradition and repression. The term possibly violates the neutral tone of the article. Also, Montanism and mainstream Christianity essentially differed in the number of followers. In this respect, the term ‘‘Mainstream’’ conveys a more accurate description.

Currently, the article uses ‘‘Mainstream’’ to identify the Church. Another matter of contention involved whether to label Montanism as a ‘‘Pentecostal’’ movement or the more neutral ‘‘early

Christian.’’ Ltwin chose ‘‘Early Christian’’ but made sure to note Montanism drew parallels with modern movements such as Pentecostalism, and the charismatic movement. Ltwin, a contributor with six years of experience editing Christianity related articles, gave the final say in many of the disputes. As the final major editor, Ltwin’s contributions include ending the debate on controversial terms, adding details to Montanius’s timeline, and reconstructing the article in a more orderly fashion.

Although contributors disputed certain labels and information related to Montanist’s beliefs, the page as a whole provides accurate information about Montanism. The page grew from a brief overview to a structured, detailed page. Unfortunately, due to a lack of unbiased information, a full grasp of Montanist’s beliefs cannot be achieved. However, the article achieves the level of detail needed for a casual reader.