Moreover, there can be little doubt that the apostasy here referred to was not that due to intellectual doubt, but to giving way, _under persecution_. For the Gothic conquerors of Southern Europe, where the Creed was composed about the fifth century, were _Arians_, and they much persecuted the Catholics. So a statement of what the Catholic Faith really was (in opposition to Arianism) might well contain warnings as to the great danger of abandoning it under trial and persecution. In the same way Christ warned His followers that if they denied Him before men, He would also deny them before His Father. And a time of persecution is distinctly implied in the Creed itself. For in ver. 30 we are told that it is not enough to believe the faith, it must be publicly _confessed_; and even in ver. 1, the _holding_ or _holding fast_, suggests a temptation to surrender. Compare the passage: _Thou holdest fast my name, and didst not deny my faith_:[482] where in the Latin translation (the Vulgate) the same word is used for _hold fast_, as occurs in the Creed. [Footnote 482: Rev. 2. 13, 25; 3. 11; 2 Tim. 1. 13.] Next as to the meaning of to _perish_. This is no doubt much disputed, both here, and in the similar passage in the Gospel, where Christ says that all who believe on Him shall _not perish, but have eternal (or everlasting) life_; which certainly implies that those who disbelieve, or cease to believe, _shall_ perish, and shall _not_ have everlasting life, _i.e._, shall perish everlastingly.[483] But whatever Christ meant by these words, the Creed means too, neither more nor less. Taken by themselves, they seem to point to the destruction of the wicked; or perhaps only to their failure to obtain the joys of heaven, without actually ceasing to exist. [Footnote 483: John 3. 16.] But however this may be, one thing is plain; that, according to the Creed, those who have been taught the truth about God, (_i.e._, the Catholic Faith), must both _lead a good life_, (fighting against sin, etc.), and also _hold fast_, or _keep this faith_, if they wish to be saved. And St. Paul evidently regarded these as the two essentials; for at the close of his life, he rejoiced because he had _fought the good fight_, and _kept the faith_.[484] [Footnote 484: 2 Tim. 4. 7.] (2.) _Their truthfulness._ Having thus shown what the warning clauses actually mean, we have next to consider whether they are true. Now, it is plain from the nature of the case that we can know nothing on such a subject, except what is revealed by God. Is then, this doctrine stated or implied in the New Testament? Certainly it is, since belief in Christ is everywhere laid down as _necessary_ to salvation. He is not one Saviour among many, nor is Christianity one means among many of getting to heaven. But Christianity is always represented as the _only_ means, and Christ as the _only_ Saviour.