The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Irenaeus of Gaul and Tertullian of Africa

The close of the second century reveals a marked change in the character and position of the church. Christianity had won its way to the heart of the simple and appealed to the judgment of the philosopher, but it had yet “to claim the deference of the statesman.” Later the subjugation of the civil power paved the way for the corruption of the church by material influences. The church was now in the process of establishment in the empire, and an independent literature arose acknowledging most of the New Testament books as canonical. ¹ PFF1 241.1