Imagine you had a Christian friend who one day told you that he/she struggles to believe
1) that Christ was born of a virgin, or
2) that Christ performed miracles, or
3) that Christ rose from the dead, or
4) that he will return again.
Your friend does not deny these things, but merely is unable to really accept them as true.
Can your friend be considered to be a believer? After all, what belief is there if one cannot be sure of the most basic tenets of the Christian faith? I recognize that there are Christians who are ignorant of some of the finer points. (I recall that I was extraordinarily ignorant of some major ones.) But these are the facts of Christ's birth, his life and ministry, his death and his resurrection, and his promised return; are these not the very heart of the gospel?
1) that Christ was born of a virgin, or
2) that Christ performed miracles, or
3) that Christ rose from the dead, or
4) that he will return again.
Your friend does not deny these things, but merely is unable to really accept them as true.
Can your friend be considered to be a believer? After all, what belief is there if one cannot be sure of the most basic tenets of the Christian faith? I recognize that there are Christians who are ignorant of some of the finer points. (I recall that I was extraordinarily ignorant of some major ones.) But these are the facts of Christ's birth, his life and ministry, his death and his resurrection, and his promised return; are these not the very heart of the gospel?