Occasional blogger and always philosopher, Kevin Corcoran, has written a bit about his experience on the emerging church panel at the recent Calvin Worship Symposium.  It seems that the panelists were asked about what beliefs are necessary to be a Christian, and several of them hedged in their answers, including Kevin.  He’s continued the discussion on his blog:

God, I take it, is never satisfied with belief that.
God is interested in the total reorientation and rearrangement of our
lives, our loves, our desires our entire way of being in the world. The
important question is whether being a Christian is fundamentally and
primarily about belief that certain propositions are true.

At
the most basic level it seems clear to me that God is most interested
in the total reorganization and reconfiguration of human life, of
reorienting the human will, heart, desires and loves. God is interested
in our moral and existential transformation. This of course is in no
way incompatible with belief that certain propositions of the relevant
sort are true. But the goal is transformed lives, not belief in “Jesus facts.”

And this is why when asked whether followers of Christ must
know and put their trust in him, I’m inclined to point out that “being
a Christian” (like belief) is progressive, that I am even now, and
after all these years still becoming a Christian. Followers of Christ must, of course, put their trust in him. I must put my trust in him: today I must; tomorrow I must, and the next day I must. My frustration with myself is that I often put my trust in Christ one moment and then take it back the next.

[UPDATE: Kevin has blogged more about the nature of belief.]

More from Beliefnet and our partners