Yes, basically, what I mean is that the types of actions cited sporadically in the Bible didn't stop at the end of the apostalistic era. They have continued right down through the history of the Church. In Orthodox circles we would call people who did such actions "Fools for Christ's sake".
An example would be Basil the Blessed buried in the Cathedral that bears his name. He wandered around naked and in chains, stole to give to the poor and rebuked the Tsar. Yet when he died the Metropolitan conducted his funeral, the Tsar himself was a pallbearer and he was declared a Saint less than a decade after his death. Another example would be Saint Xenia of St. Petersberg, but there have been many thoughtout the history of the Church.
Even in Protestant circles I would suggest it's nothing new and has been practiced here and there throughout. But my guess regarding the articleswould be that someone recently started cataloging such occurrences and, not knowing church history, decided it was something new not seen since the Bible so they gave it a name and called it a movement.
