Re: The Early Christians: In Their Own Words

The intensity of the early Christian struggle and mission needed this 
example of the apostles. Fasting and lifelong celibacy were often the 
result of self-control in hearts that were moved to live up to the 
greatness of that task. The four prophetic daughters of Philip, who were 
virgins, and later the Montanist prophetesses, likewise virgins, exemplify

the life of many apostles and prophets at that time. But this self-
discipline of the Christians for the purpose of the Kingdom is not to be 
confused with the asceticism of later times, which was valued for its own 
sake. They did not look for redemption through ascetic, religious 
exercises, but concentrated all their powers on prophesying the coming 
Kingdom, tempering all their energies for the arduous battle of the
spirits 
to which they were called. All their energies were focused on the one
goal, 
the task at hand. The prophets wanted one thing: that God be heard, that
he 
himself speak and act.