I will now leave this to the consideration of the reader, and take the next passage, which runs thus: “And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” I can scarcely imagine that any of the Christians ever give this belief a thought, as, parrot-like, they repeat it after their leader in the pulpit, for if they did think they must be aware that they are uttering the most ridiculous and absurd statements respecting their deity. The doctrine of the incarnation, however, is common to the Hindoos; and as their religion is much older than Christianity, I suppose they will admit that the Hindoos did not derive their doctrine from the Christian, and also that it seems extremely probable that the Christians derived their doctrine of the incarnation from the Hindoos. This would go very far towards identifying Christianity with Paganism; and therefore the devout Christian will shudder at the thought, and again tell you that is a mystery that must not be inquired into. But the absurdities contained in the idea of an omnipotent and infinite God becoming a weak and finite man, must, I think, be apparent to all. The creed then reads: “And was crucified, also, for us, under Pontius Pilate. He suffered, and was buried.” The idea of a Very God of Very God _suffering_ and being buried! “And the third day he rose again according to the scriptures.” Now, unless there were other scriptures besides those which we possess, Jesus did not rise according to the scriptures; for the scriptures say, that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. But Jesus was not three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, for he was crucified in the course of Friday, and was out of the grave before dawn on Sunday—being only one clear day and two nights. So much for being according to the scriptures. It then proceeds: “And ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father.” We have been told that there is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and I think that this fully proves the truth of the observation, for one moment we are told of an infinite God, and the next of two infinite Gods, sitting beside each other in a finite place called heaven. But this is not the whole of the absurdity; for the idea of ascension into heaven proves what I have before noticed with regard to the absurd ideas of heaven and earth contained in this creed.