“A common misunderstanding is to think that talking about faith means getting our belief system all worked out in advance before we open our mouths. When we speak about our faith, we intuitively think that what we are doing is finding the language to say what we think we already believe. That is, we get our beliefs formulated in our minds and hearts , and then we search for just the right words to capture what is already fixed and established. But things are actually more complex than this. We don’t just say things we already believe. To the contrary, saying things out loud is a part of how we come to believe. We talk our way toward belief, talk our way from tentative belief through doubt to firmer belief, talk our way toward believing more fully, more clearly, and more deeply. ” (from Testimony, Talking Ourselves into Being Christian by Thomas Long p 6)