My final analysis

Cape Finisterre, Galicia. Spain. "The end of the Earth"

After 1600 years it is almost impossible to come to any definitive conclusion about the theology of Priscillianism. Nearly all the information we have relating to that period comes from his critics and persecutors. If we cannot accept the first three Würzburg Tractates as being a true record of Priscillianist belief and practice, we are left with the judgemental values of outsiders, who had vested interests in the suppression of a more ascetic form of Christianity.

That many of the 'catholic' bishops and clergy of the Roman provinces in Spain felt threatened by the teaching and lifestyle of Priscillian and his followers, is an obvious conclusion. What I personally find hard to accept is that Priscillian and his followers were turned away by Damasus, bishop of Rome and Ambrose, bishop of Milan. That a brother in Christ could turn his back on his fellow bishops, after they had travelled hundreds of miles to request an audience, is to me inexcusable. At the time they must have had a strong reason for so doing but it has not been placed on historical record.

The recurring themes for criticism appear to have been:-
1) The involvement and 'equality' of women in the Priscillianist movement.
2) The ascetic teaching on vegetarianism and celibacy.
3) Organised retreats into the mountains and/or countryside.
4) Praying unshod and "blessing" crops and animals.
5) Reading apocryphal books.   

None of these would today be seen as anything unusual. They may in some cases appear to be rather extreme, but not definitively "unorthodox". Even the teaching on vegetarianism and celibacy can be supported from canonical scripture e.g. the Epistles of Paul.

The underlying reason for the vociferous condemnation of Priscillian appears to have been "fear". Fear of unauthorised teachers and teaching, fear of the influence of women, fear of the loss of authority and underlying all, perhaps the real fear of "false teaching", that is, "heresy"!

We are back to the constantly recurring theme of the condemnation of new forms of expression or outreach by the established church authorities. There is well documented history of this happening in more recent times. e.g. the Wesleys were restricted and then rejected by the Anglican church (1784), the Primitive Methodists rejected by the Wesleyan Methodist Church (1807) and the Booths (founders of the Salvation Army) restricted and then rejected by the Methodist church (1861) (1).

My final word would be that any organisation tends to become self-perpetuating. Unfortunately the Christian Church down the ages has not been, and is not, immune! Priscillian lived at a time of social unrest and change when the "orthodox" christian church was allied to the Imperial court of Rome. Anything which threatened that relationship needed to be dealt with, if possible by coercion, if not by punishment. There are lessons here for any church which is linked to, or dependent on the "Establishment". If we are not careful the cry "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19 v.15) will lead to the suppression of evangelism and the restriction of church membership.

Extremism can occur and is sometimes seen in some small sects and cults. Could this possibly be countered by a more open dialogue between leaders?  "House Church" groups are sometimes still condemned out of hand by the established church leadership. Diosesan authorities can still want to "exercise control" over forms of worship and are reluctant to recognise any form of indigenous church meeting or leadership - even in the English countryside!

A comment made by an Anglican priest in my hearing was:- "Father T. is alright, but he would want to run round the countryside ordaining a whole lot of farmers." Along with Priscillian, I would be in full agreement with that proposal!    

(1) The respective articles in Wikipedia along with their footnotes gives some background. 

A reminder that the two best books that I have found on Priscillian are:-
Henry Chadwick. Priscillian of Ávila, The Occult and the Charismatic in the Early Church. Oxford University Press 1976. ISBN 0 19 826643 X
Marco Conti. Priscillian of Ávila, The Complete Works. Oxford University Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-19-956737-9

Look out for my next Blog on "Celtic Christianity in Britain and Spain."