The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work likely from the late first half of the second century. It was considered inspired scripture by some of the early Church fathers such as Irenaeus and Origen, but not Tertullian. The Shepherd was very popular amongst Christians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and is found in some Bibles after the Acts of the Apostles. The book is made up of five allegorical visions granted to Hermas, a former slave.