An analysis of religious belief

Transcriber's Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. The many variations in the transcriptions from the Chinese have been standardised on the basis of the most frequent occurrence. Variations in hyphenation and accents have also been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.

In the quotation: "If then this man says, 'Try to make friends with an old woman and inquire of her; if then this girl does 'not' make friends with an old woman, and inquire of her, and this old woman brings Baga, or Shaêta, or Ghnâna, or Fraçpâta, or any of the vegetable purgatives, saying, 'Try to kill this child;' if then the girl does try to kill the child, then the girl, the man, and the old woman are equally criminal." the 'not' destroys the sense of the passage and has been removed.