A cultural exhibition guide due for submission（即将投稿）/djuː fə səbˈmɪʃən/ contained a serious editorial error. Its software translated every sacred figure as a god, every religious building as a church, and every disputed label as evidence of one belief. Editor Mara Ilyas was asked to carry out（实施）/ˈkæri aʊt/ a line-by-line audit of the terms in question（所涉及的）/ɪn ˈkwestʃən/. Her task was not to decide whether any belief was true. It was to preserve what each source actually said and what category each term occupied.

Asian and classical entries exposed the first collapse. Buddha（佛陀）/'budə/ named a particular figure, while Buddhist（佛教徒）/'budist/ named a follower or tradition; nirvana（涅槃）/nɪə'vɑːnə/ was not another deity（神）/'deɪɪtɪ; 'diːɪ-/. Hinduism（印度教）/'hinduizəm/ could not be reduced to a goddess（女神）/ˈgɒdɪs/, and a passage about poets who deify（把…奉若神明）/'deɪɪfaɪ; 'diːɪ-/ a ruler did not establish worship. Divinity（神）/dɪ'vɪnɪtɪ/ described a quality or sacred being. A sage（圣人）/seɪdʒ/, mystic（神秘的）/'mɪstɪk/, and oracle（神谕）/'ɒrək(ə)l/ performed different textual roles, and piety（虔诚）/'paɪətɪ/ described an attitude. One pagoda（（东方寺院的）宝塔）/pə'gəʊdə/ was a building. A nymph（女神）/nɪmf/ and Mars（战神）/mɑːz/ belonged to classical material, not the same chain of reference. Mara checked each word in contemporary usage（在当时的用法中）/ɪn kənˈtempərəri ˈjuːsɪdʒ/ as well as in its historical setting.

The Christianity（基督教）/,kristi'ænəti/ section required finer distinctions. One source identified Jesus（耶稣（上帝之子））/'dʒiːzəs/ as the messiah（弥赛亚（犹太人所期待的救世主））/mi'saiə/; another separated a disciple（门徒）/dɪ'saɪp(ə)l/ from a prophet（先知）/'prɒfɪt/ and a prophecy（预言）/'prɒfɪsɪ/ from revelation（启示）/revə'leɪʃ(ə)n/. Evangelical（福音的）/iːvæn'dʒelɪk(ə)l; ev-/ modified a movement, whereas an evangelist（福音传道者）/ɪ'væn(d)ʒ(ə)lɪst/ named a person who might deliver a sermon（布道）/'sɜːmən/. Baptism（洗礼）/'bæptɪz(ə)m/ was a rite, while baptize（给…施浸礼）/bæp'taiz/ was a verb. Holiness（神圣）/ˈhəʊlinəs/ and sanctification（神圣化）/,sæŋktifi'keiʃən/ were related but not identical. Archbishop（大主教）/ɑːtʃ'bɪʃəp; 'ɑːtʃ-/, nun（修女）/nʌn/, and pope（教皇）/pəʊp/ named different offices or vocations; altar（祭坛）/'ɔːltə; 'ɒl-/ and congregation（集会）/kɒŋgrɪ'geɪʃ(ə)n/ named neither the same object nor the same group. Hallelujah（赞美上帝的颂歌）/,hælɪ'luːjə/ was an expression, creed（信条）/kriːd/ a statement of belief, and puritan（清教徒的）/'pjʊərɪt(ə)n/ a historically specific label. Editors had no reason to（没有理由做）/nəʊ ˈriːzən tuː/ force them into one entry.

Other records showed the same need for boundaries. The Islam（伊斯兰教）/'izlɑ:m/ section linked the Koran（《可兰经》）/kɔ'rɑ:n/ to a mosque（清真寺）/mɒsk/ but did not treat a sultan（苏丹（某些伊斯兰国家统治者的称号））/'sʌlt(ə)n/ as a religious text. Jewish sources distinguished a Jew（犹太人）/dʒu:/, a rabbi（拉比（犹太人的学者））/'ræbaɪ/, a synagogue（犹太教会堂）/'sɪnəgɒg/, the Sabbath（安息日）/'sæbəθ/, Zionism（犹太复国主义）/'zaiənizəm/, and a historical ghetto（犹太人区）/'getəʊ/. One invocation（祈祷）/,ɪnvə(ʊ)'keɪʃ(ə)n/ belonged to a ceremony, not to an ethnic category. Automation stopped at this stage（现阶段）/æt ðɪs steɪdʒ/, and the team returned to the cited passages.

The most serious errors involved evaluative language. Heathen（异教徒）/'hiːð(ə)n/, heresy（异端）/'herɪsɪ/, and infidelity（无信仰）/ɪnfɪ'delɪtɪ/ reflected particular speakers and periods; agnostic（不可知论者）/æg'nɒstɪk/ was not their neutral replacement. A fiend（魔鬼）/fiːnd/, Satan（撒旦（魔鬼））/'seɪtn/, and an infernal（地狱的）/ɪn'fɜːn(ə)l/ image appeared in literary quotations, while Halloween（万圣节前夕（指十月三十一日夜晚））/ˌhæləʊ'iːn/ appeared in a civic calendar. Cryptic（神秘的）/'krɪptɪk/, enigmatic（神秘的）/,enɪg'mætɪk/, mysterious（神秘的）/mɪ'stɪərɪəs/, and uncanny（神秘的）/ʌn'kænɪ/ described effects, not doctrines. Because the software inferred belief from tone, it converted description into assertion. Mara told the translators, “A glossary can record an equivalence, but an editor cannot invent one merely because two words sound solemn.”

On behalf of（代表）/ɒn bɪˈhɑːf əv/ the museum, Mara replaced the single list with fields for person, tradition, place, text, practice, and quoted judgement. Editors retained original wording in accordance with（按照）/ɪn əˈkɔːdəns wɪð/ the source and added notes where a term could offend or mislead. They would make the data available（公开提供数据）/meɪk ðə ˈdeɪtə əˈveɪləbəl/; every record would carry a citation, so reviewers could test each choice. Beyond that（除此之外）/bɪˈjɒnd ðæt/, the guide made no claim about theology. The exhibition opened with fewer sweeping statements and more accurate explanations of difference.