men, said Irenaeus, could not admit the apostle Paul either, for in his epistle to the Corinthians “he expressly speaks of prophetical gifts, and recognizes men and women prophesying in the Church.”15 In North Africa, the Montanists were defended by Tertullian, who joined the movement around the year A.D. 200. In Against Praxeas, Tertullian says that the bishop of Rome initially “acknowledged the prophetic gifts of Montanus, Prisca and Maximilla” and “bestowed his peace” upon the Montanist churches