The last doctrine to be considered is the importance of a True Belief, that is of believing the _truth_ in regard to matters of religion. This is strongly insisted on in the _warning clauses_ of the Athanasian Creed; so we will first consider their meaning, then their truthfulness, and lastly, the objection as to dogmatism. (1.) _Their meaning._ Before discussing this, it may be pointed out that they are often called the _damnatory_ or _uncharitable_ clauses; but both these terms are somewhat misleading. For the Creed does not condemn anyone by these clauses, it merely declares that certain persons will be condemned by God, which is a very different thing. No one desires their condemnation, but the contrary; therefore, believing the danger to be a fact, it is stated in the hope that persons will in consequence avoid it. An analogy may help to illustrate this distinction. Suppose a despotic ruler in some island were to put up a notice that anyone walking along a certain part of the coast would be arrested and shot; this might well be called uncharitable. But now, suppose the notice was that, owing to their being quicksands along that part of the coast, anyone walking there would be drowned; this might be untrue, but it could scarcely be called uncharitable. So in regard to the Creed. Its warnings (whether true or false) are in no sense uncharitable; and it no more _consigns men to perdition_ (as it is sometimes called) for denying the faith, than a doctor consigns men to die of fever for drinking bad water. In each case they merely state what they believe will (unfortunately) be the result. Its warnings are also quite different from the _Let him be anathema_ of St. Paul, as well as from some of the Psalms, where the writer does not merely state that the wicked will be miserable, but prays that they may be so.[480] This no doubt seems uncharitable, but there is nothing like it in the Creed. [Footnote 480: _E.g._, Gal. 1. 8-9; Ps. 69.] What the Creed says is that holding, or _holding fast_,[481] the Catholic Faith, especially the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, is necessary to salvation (vv. 1, 28, 29, 42); and that those who do _not_ keep (or hold fast) this Faith will _perish_ everlastingly (v. 2). The word _keep_, it should be noticed, implies previous possession, since a man cannot keep what he never had; so these verses are inapplicable to heathens, infidels, or even nominal Christians who have never really held the Faith. They refer only to apostates--to those who, having once held the Faith, do not _keep_ it. [Footnote 481: It is so translated in the revised version, issued in November, 1909, by a Committee, under the Archbishop of Canterbury.]