HEBER D. CURTIS 63 



minor credal belief, or the changes which have been 

 brought about in this or that body of religionists, the 

 theme would at once become so vast that a good-sized 

 library would be necessary for the enumeration of the 

 details. It is a grave error to lay any emphasis what- 

 ever on such unimportant credal changes; there is dan- 

 ger that we do not see the forest for the trees. As 

 illustrations of changes in such minor points we have 

 only to compare with modern concepts the older ideas 

 of creation, inerrancy and inspiration of records of 

 faith and the universal applicability of minute and 

 particular credal pronouncements. 



It is an error, also, to attribute the sum total of 

 such changes to the influence of science; some of it Is 

 due to this cause, but by no means all. Simply be- 

 cause science has had Its development in a parallel 

 course during the past five hundred years does not 

 mean that this has been the only active agent. We 

 must give a high weight, perhaps equal weight, to 

 thousands of other tendencies and influences, some of 

 which have arisen within the various churches and 

 beliefs themselves, while others have been motivated 

 by parallel evolutionary developments in philosophy, 

 ethics, government, education, or in the vast field of 

 general human relationships. 



In the belief that changes or errors in creeds, reli- 

 gious tenets, or even the theories of science, do not 

 come under my subject at all and are in no way ger- 

 mane to the discussion, I will summarize by laying 

 down the following proposition, even though it may 

 seem an over-statement of the problem to some : Re- 

 ligion, in its absolute sense, has not changed an iota 

 because of the results of modern physical science, ex- 



