In Reply to: Re: Non family belief question posted by Shades of Grey on March 03, 2005 at 16:59:08:
Belief by itself is something curious. One can believe in a certian thing, past present of future but with only the intellect. Such beliefs go throgh modification, evaluation and other human adaptations. Such belief is not really Christianity but a set of elements, like math or grammar, or the works of Sir Arthur Connan Doyle.
Looking at Christianity as something to belief or not, is an intellectual positioning. It is sort of looking at belonging to a club and decide it is the best for you or your family. There is some validity but it is not a type of affiliation that defines your life, unless it does. If it does, then it is more like a church, whose values you are adopting.
The point is that you go beyond belief and completely surrender to the values of the "club". In the case of Christianity, and manybe other religions as well, you have to totally immerse yourself at a level that is not only a belief but also what marks every step of your life.
It is like a cult, only the leader is God and the rules are spiritual to be understood spiritualy and to be followed with your whole being. In a cult somebody else does all of the thinking for you, you will just "believe" what that or those somebodies say with no critical thinking whatsoever.