In Justin Grove's review of Montanism, he fails to point out an important, but strange, distinctive characteristic of the Montanist movement--a form of pseudo-prophetic ecstasy in which a prophet would lose control of himself, contrary to Saint Paul's admonition that Christian worship should be carried out "decently and in order" and contrary to his teaching that "the inspirations of the prophets are subject to the prophets." The Orthodox Christian reaction against Montanist prophetism, which entailed public prophesying, may have included an overreaction against public prophesying of any kind due to a fear that it might be associated with the Montanist sectarians. This would explain why prophesying, unlike in earlier years of the Church, became a more private matter, taking place in less public places, such as in the context of private confession. Montanism was certainly Trinitarian as can be seen in some of the Montanist prophecies which were recorded, but the Montanist movement, like the Pentecostal movement of modern times, was marked by a kind of exhibitionism and excitement over the "soon return" of Christ and certain chiliastic ideas which were propagated by its prophets. Were all cases of prophesying among the faithful who had some, perhaps only minimal, association with Montanists cases of false prophecy? Probably not. But the bishops of the Church saw the movement as imbalanced, schismatic, and mixed with error, and they responded to such dangers appropriately by squelching the movement and, with it, possibly other cases of public prophesying, which in earlier years, seems to have been allowed, if we take the testimony of Saint Irenaeus, Saint Ignatius, the "Shepherd of Hermas," the "Epistle to Diognetus," the Didache of the Twelve Apostles, and the writings of the New Testament. Though warranted, the episcopal reaction to Montanist excesses, unorthodox emotionalism, prelest, and aberrant apocalypticism may have resulted in the marginalization of prophetic gifts from manifestation among the laity within the corporate gatherings of the Church. This marginalization by Church authorities, which, according to the Apostle Paul, have the ability to "quench the Spirit" and "despise prophesyings," perhaps provides one reason why the charismatic gifts given by the Holy Spirit to the Church and manifest in the early Christian gatherings (see First Corinthians 14) are no longer commonly experienced within the context of liturgical gatherings. Another reason could well be that such prophetic revelations of the Mystery of Christ have already been incorporated into the liturgical prayers of the Church and are therefore no longer necessary within the context of the Orthodox liturgical experience though there remains the moment of the homiliy as an opportunity for the expression of prophetic gifts within the Ekklesia, but such expression would normally be through one of the clergy, not the laity. Nevertheless, as the lives of the saints testify, prophetic manifestation of the Holy Spirit, though less public, have continued in written form and as Christians have ministered to one another beyond the context of the liturgical assembly. ( )