MIRACLES 



Catholic schools (though not in the Greek Catholic) as 

 the foundation of religious instruction. This extraor- 

 dinary prestige of the Apostles' Creed, and its great 

 influence on the education of the young, no less than 

 its glaring inconsistency with rational knowledge, compel 

 us to devote a few pages to a critical examination of its 

 three articles. 



The first article of the Creed deals with creation, and 

 runs: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator 

 of heaven and earth." The modern science of evolution 

 has shown that there never was any such creation, but 

 that the universe is eternal and the law of substance all-' 

 ruling. God himself is anthropomorphically conceived 

 as an "Almighty Creator" and the Father of man; 

 heaven (in the sense of the geocentric system) is imag- 

 ined as a great blue vault spanning the earth. The no- 

 tion of this "personal God" as an intelligent, immaterial 

 being, creating the material world out of nothing, 

 is wholly irrational and meaningless. That Luther 

 accepted this childish and scientifically worthless idea is 

 clear from his commentary on the first article — "What is 

 that?" 



The second article of the Creed deals with the dogiiia 

 of salvation in the following words: "I believe in Jesus 

 Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived of the 

 Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under 

 Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, descend- 

 ed into hell, on the third day rose again from the dead, 

 ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, 

 the Father Almighty, whence he will come to judge the 

 living and the dead." As these dogmas of the second 

 article contain the chief points of the redemption theory, 

 and are still treasured by millions of educated people, it 

 is necessary to point out their flagrant opposition to pure 

 reason. The chief evil of such creeds is that children, 

 who are yet incapable of reflecting, are forced to learn 



6i 



