(_d_) _The Atonement._ “Why should Jehovah require the sacrifice of His own Son?” This is a difficulty that would present itself with especial force to the Buddhist; by whom all life is held sacred, and whom such texts as “Without shedding of blood there is no remission,” fill with repugnance. The explanation offered by Buddhists themselves of the Christian doctrine of Atonement is, that its origin must be sought in the fact that, from the most ancient times, the idea of sacrifice, and of human sacrifice, has existed; and this explanation they go on to apply to the Holy Eucharist. (_e_) _Eternal Punishment._ “How,” it is asked, “is your doctrine of Everlasting Punishment consistent with that of the Remission of Sins? And how, on the other hand, is not your scheme of salvation ethically wrong, if it allows people, after sinning all their lives, to be forgiven on their death-beds, that so they may enter a Paradise, wherein good and bad alike have a place?” (_f_) _Faith and Belief._ “What right have you to ask us to believe anything that does not accord with science and experience, when you have no better opportunities of knowing than we?” (_g_) _Christian Ethics._ “Some of these—e.g. the doctrine of the Sermon on the Mount—we admit to be good; but they are not peculiar to Christianity—our own teaching is very similar. In other of your ethics, we see only an ignoble and selfish storing of treasure; it appears to us that a good action, done for the sake of reward or gain, must entirely lose its merit.” (_h_) _Missionary Work._ “We do not claim that our religion is the only way of salvation, but readily recognize the good points in other systems as well. You, on the contrary, appear to hold that there is no other way but your own; and indeed it is only on this supposition that we can understand the strenuous efforts which you make to bring us to abandon our religion for yours.”(27)