d substantially contained in it.
The Creed is the confession of those whose bond of union is common
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The articles which
treat of Him and of His sufferings and work are intelligible only to
those who believe in the reality and efficacy of the Atonement.

The Creed contains twelve articles, and to each of these, and to every
part of it, the words "I believe" belong. One article relates to God the
Father, six to God the Son, one to God the Holy Ghost, and four to the
Holy Catholic Church and the privileges secured to its members. These
articles are--

1. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
earth.

2. And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord,

3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,

4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and
buried,

5. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the
dead,

6. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God
the Father Almighty;

7. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

8. I believe in the Holy Ghost,

9. The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of saints;

10. The Forgiveness of sins;

11. The Resurrection of the body,

12. And the Life Everlasting.

In estimating the value of creeds in the early ages of the Christian
Church, it is important to bear in mind that the converts were almost
wholly dependent on oral instruction for their knowledge of Divine
truth. Copies of the Old and New Testaments existed in manuscript only.
These were few in number, and the cost of production placed them beyond
the reach of the great majority. A single copy served for a community or
a district in which the Hebrew or the Greek tongue was understood, but
in localities where other languages were in use the living voice was
needed to make revelation known. It is only since the invention of
printing and the application of the steam-engine to the economical and
rapid production of books, and since modern linguists have multiplied
the translations of the Bible, that it has become in their own tongues
accessible to believers in all lands, available for private perusal and
family reading. It was therefore a necessity that Christians should
possess "a form of sound words," comprehensive enough to embody the
leading doctrines of Christianity, yet brief enough to be