Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/337

 which were utterly unknown to our ancestors a century ago. The creeds and articles of faith which men have invented, which councils have confirmed, and which have shut the mind of the Church and delayed its progress, are now undergoing a process of criticism and inquiry which is welcomed by multitudes as the harbinger of liberty and light. It is seen that such dogmas stand in the way of progressive thought and reasonable freedom, and also that their sentiments are not in harmony with revelation. We find that interpretations of the Word, which for ages have been received as true, are being freely abandoned as mistakes, and this, too, by the learned and thoughtful of all parties. The early chapters of Genesis are now no longer believed to contain that which for ages they have been considered to reveal. Geology has demanded a new interpretation of the supposed cosmogony of Moses. This and other sciences have demonstrated the improbability of that universal deluge, of which the seventh chapter of Genesis has been taken to be the history. The ancient chronology which the Church invented is discovered to be accurate. The assertion that one God exists in three persons is felt to be an improper statement of the subject, and efforts are being made after a more sensible expression of it. The orthodox doctrine of the atonement is being modified by every intelligent thinker. Baptismal regeneration is thrown aside by numerous clergymen as a superstition, and very few of the laity accept it. The article which declares that man is justified by faith only, raises a blush upon the cheek of all who remember that the Lord has said, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Passages which were once accepted as evidence of a material resurrection are now known to treat of no such subject. Biblical criticism has risen into a science, and is