Not-That-Bright said:
Anyway, If this forum is anything to go by, often the atheists/agnostics seem to have a better knowledge of both religion in general and in particular christianity.
I've found that to be very true. The popular brand of Christianity at the present has little intellectual depth, and a lot of Christians have no idea about the origins, development and deeper beliefs of their religion.
Do you believe that believers actually do believe? A little bit earlier in this thread I made a few posts explaining that I don't really think believers believe in God. I based this on that their actions/decisions do not seem to be those of a person whom accepts god's existance as a reality just as much as I accept that the earth revolves around the sun.
That's an interesting question, and one which I've often thought about. You would think that with 2 billion Christians on this planet, there'd be a whole lot more intense evangelism as these people tried to save friends/family from the reality of Hell, or a whole lot more neighbour-loving ala Luke 10:27 as they tried to assure themselves a place in a Heaven they truly believe exists.
I don't think this shows a lack of belief though, but more an incredulity as to how Christian beliefs can be implemented. Christianity as it appears in the Gospels, that is, the religion of Yeshua, is a radical ideology. He himself says that he has come to turn brother against brother, and that his followers will be horribly persecuted, even to death. He says that his followers must "lose their lives in order to gain them [eternal lives]". That's a pretty big call. Moreover, Christian ethics as revealed in the Sermon on the Mount have startling implications both personally and politically. How do you deal with the "fact" that the poor will be first in Heaven, that you must surrender yourself to the force of others rather than resist, that you must love your enemy?
The history of Christian theology shows an eternal tussle between the radical mysticism of Jesus and the mechanics of everyday life. Observe how the Anabaptists suffered for their literal interpretation of Jesus' pacifism, or how Tolstoy struggled with the same issues to the point of contemplating suicide.
And ultimately, Pauline Christianity has offered a sort of compromise. Modern Christians are likely to consider Jesus' ideals as a reflection of a sort of inner or heavenly utopia. They consider the Kingdom of God to be an inner state (Luke 17:21), and take seriously the instruction to be "in the world but not of the world".
This duality offers Christians a feasible way to practise their faith in this dimension. It may be a cop-out, I agree, but it is the way most Christians deal with their faith. The most important Christians in my life, my parents, sincerely believe that all non-Christians are destined to suffer eternally in a horrible place of punishment. They ARE emotionally tortured by this belief, considering the loved ones they believe will or already are in a state of eternal torment. No doubt, when I share my lack of literal faith with them, they will be heartbroken. Yet they do not spend every minute of their lives evangelising, trying to save the lost. Not because of a lack of sincere belief, but because of a compromise they must really make. They do believe in a spiritual dimension which is as real to them as this one, but they also value their lives down here. And so they donate to charities, they study the bible, they pray, they evangelise and support evangelists--and all of this is a considerable part of their lives, but it is not all of it. They don't try to rule the country, they don't shove their faith down people's throats. They believe sincerely, but they are mystics, and don't think that they are called to create a Kingdom of God here (although Dominion theology, practised in the States, says just that).
As such, Christians can follow a poor reflection of the Kingdom of God they believe is revealed through Jesus and his teachings, while still living in this realm. There is a compromise point, and that differs from Christian to Christian, but not many can deny their humanity, their instincts, and a billion years of human evolution and act as though this life doesn't matter at all. Paul once wrote that "For now we see a poor reflection, as in a mirror" (Corinthians 12:13), and it is this distance between the reality of this life and the reality of the next which Christians believe in which allows them to believe sincerely yet not act on these beliefs to their logical conclusions.