position of the Old Testament, but also a theory which ceased to view
the two Testaments as of equal authority and _subordinated_ the Old to
the New. This result, which can be plainly seen in Irenaeus, Tertullian,
and Origen, led to exceedingly important consequences.[124] It gave some
degree of insight into statements, hitherto completely unintelligible,
in certain New Testament writings, and it caused the Church to reflect
upon a question that had as yet been raised only by heretics, viz., what
are the marks which distinguish Christianity from the Old Testament
religion? An historical examination imperceptibly arose; but the old
notion of the inspiration of the Old Testament confined it to the
narrowest limits, and in fact always continued to forbid it; for, as
before, appeal was constantly made to the Old Testament as a Christian
book which contained all the truths of religion in a perfect form.
Nevertheless the conception of the Old Testament was here and there full
of contradictions.[125] (7) The fatal identification of words of the
Lord and words of the Apostles (apostolical tradition) had existed
before the creation of the New Testament, though this proceeding gave it
a new range and content and a new significance. But, with the Epistles
of Paul included, the New Testament elevated the highest expression of
the consciousness of redemption into a guiding principle, and by
admitting Paulinism into the canon it introduced a wholesome ferment
into the history of the Church. (8) By creating the New Testament and
claiming exclusive possession of it the Church deprived the non-Catholic
communions of every apostolic foundation, just as she had divested
Judaism of every legal title by taking possession of the Old Testament;
but, by raising the New Testament to standard authority, she created the
armoury which supplied the succeeding period with the keenest weapons
against herself.[126] The place of the Gospel was taken by a book with
exceedingly varied contents, which theoretically acquired the same
authority as the Gospel. Still, the Catholic Church never became a
religion "of the book," because every inconvenient text could be
explained away by the allegoric method, and because the book was not
made use of as the immediate authority for the guidance of Christians,
this latter function being directly discharged by the rule of
faith.[127] In practice it continued to be the rule for the New
Testament to take a secondary plac