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 easily
committed to memory.


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ARTICLE 1