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Originally Posted by Charbucks  You can believe a fact. In fact, it's part of the definition of belief, so saying that facts are beliefs if you believe them is just meaningless word games.
I think you're using the word "belief" to mean "faith". Once again, according to the OED, "Belief was the earlier word for what is now commonly called faith." |
No, I see belief as along the hope-belief-knowledge continuum. Faith is quite the opposite - it is an openness, a NOT knowing. It is the willingness to suspend belief, to open oneself to what may be. It is the courage to walk into the darkness not knowing what you will find.
Faith often leads to belief and knowledge, because when you open yourself in faith, you see more of what is and what may be. When you walk into the darkness, you see the light.
Those who have never seen the light have never had the faith to explore the darkness, and thus lack belief in much that others may see and know.