William J. Bennett Quote

Like Irenaeus, Tertullian defended the apostolic line of succession as the principle for determining true Christian doctrine, claiming that only those churches that were founded and perpetuated in the apostolic lineage were teaching the truth: all doctrine must be prejudged as false which savours of contrariety to the truth of the churches and apostles of Christ and God.23 To Tertullian, the church at Rome, having been founded directly by two apostles, was also imbued with a special ability to preserve the correct doctrine: