64. It is a common tenet in every religion that a person ought to examine himself, repent, and desist from his sins, and that if he does not do this, he is in a state of damnation. To be shown that this is a common tenet in every religion, see nos. 4-8 above.

It is also a common practice throughout the Christian world to teach the Ten Commandments, and by this means to initiate little children into the Christian religion. For the Decalogue is in the hands of all young children. Their parents and teachers tell them that to do these forbidden things is to sin against God, and they say this even when speaking with little children, nor do the children know any different.

Who cannot wonder that these same people, and the little children too when they become adults, think they are not subject to the law, and that is it impossible for them to keep the things that are in the law? Can there be any other reason for their learning to think in this way than that they love evils and the consequent falsities that support them?

These are accordingly people who do not make the Ten Commandments commandments of religion. These same people live their lives independently of religion, as will be seen in The Doctrine Regarding Faith.