124. Irenaeus adv. Haereses, iii. 3; Tertullian de
Praescription, c. 36; and Cyprian Epistol. 27, 55, 71, 75.
Le Clerc (Hist. Eccles. p. 764) and Mosheim (p. 258, 578)
labour in the interpretation of these passages. But the
loose and rhetorical style of the fathers often appears
favourable to the pretensions of Rome.