As many of us may not  realise yet, belief is actually a basic driving force for our life. Without belief, we can hardly do anything in our life. We dare not to even drink a bottle of water or eat an apple if we doubt that the bottle of water or the apple may be toxic; We cannot even go outside without feeling worried if we dwell in the mindset that we may be killed on the road due to some unexpected accidents; We cannot even stay at ease with our family members if we are suspicious of their love for us (The list goes on). These examples might sound a bit ridiculous because nobody bothers themselves to spend time worrying about the things of such low probability. However, it indicates that in our daily life, we do believe in many things that we don't have exact evidence for either because these things themselves are not provable quantitatively or these things are not visually available to us yet. Moreover, it is often the case that we have already believed in something before we have solid evidence for it. For example, one of the biggest disputes between linguistics in the past several decades is whether linguistic abilities of human beings are domain-specific or domain-general. Although there is no precise evidence yet supporting for either of the standpoints, linguists following the two schools continue their research based on their belief. Likewise, as a psycholinguist, I believe that human brain is a mysterious universe that can produce and process language efficiently. Then I try to find the specific evidence for this belief by designing psycholinguistic experiments. Otherwise, I may have taken very different approaches to the same issue simply because my belief is different. Marriage is another vivid example given by Dr. John Lennox (see more information about him below). When couples take the marriage-vows, they believe that the person standing in front of them is the one that they can spend the rest of life with until the death do them apart, though nobody has the exact evidence for this envisioned marriage life. Yet, we just choose to embrace it wholeheartedly based on our belief instead of making decisions on whether we would like to marry our partners after we observe the deeds of our partners for the whole life. 

Therefore, belief plays a role far more important than we think in our life. It is not improper to claim that our life is belief-oriented. The necessity of belief gets more and more self-evident as we grow up from a child to an adult. The life course naturally brings us to think about those serious and unavoidable issues in our life, such as life and death, moral values, love, eternity, etc. This is why we constantly try to find something trustworthy so that we do not end up believing in something blind or based on our wishful thinking. There is no more heartbreaking moment than when we are betrayed by our belief. 

I am no exception. I am a person sensitive to life issues. I still remember that when I was a child, I used to read lots of emotional essays and literature works which set me thinking about the purpose of being human, eternity and death. Later on, in my adolescence, I began to read some philosophical books, only to find even the authors of those books were struggling as well. Without finding the values (belief) on the books convincing and trustworthy enough to answer my questions, the journey of finding my own belief was filled with perplexity. At some timepoints, we are all like this, trying so hard on the journey of "self-salvation". My life story came to an unexpected change when I first stepped into Christianity at university. Not so different from others when they first get to know Christian faith, I found many of its arguments and claims absurd and exclusive. How can an educated person believe the physical resurrection of Jesus? How come we all are sinful people without committing any crimes? If God, the Creator, is perfect, how come we live in a disaster-ridden world teeming with imperfection? Why cannot we save ourselves through our own merits and endeavours? The list of questions continues. Although I had all these doubts, I was mercifully guided by Jesus to finally come to know Him. The journey of knowing Jesus was filled with peace and joy in a manner that I had not experienced before.  (In my personal website, I do not elaborate on how I think about all these common questions confronting Christianity because the purpose here is not to present debates and confrontations in beliefs. You are free to believe what you believe to be true and you are welcome to discuss these issues with me if they really interest you). For those who are interested in these issues, I would like to introduce to you the personal website of John Lennox linked below, who is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. His personal website includes abundant resources of discussions on religion and science, merits and grace, imperfection of the created universe and perfection of God, etc. I personally think it might help you have a broader perspective on some of the profound and critical issues in our life. 

            Personal Statement 

When someone firmly believes in something, belief becomes faith. The Bible gives us an amazing definition of faith: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (New King James Version, Hebrew 11:1). The following is what my faith guides me to believe:

1. God is the only one God with three coeternal persons--the Father, the Son (Jesus), the Holy Spirit, the three persons united with neither confusion nor division. 
2. Jesus is the Son of God, God himself. Jesus is both human and divine, the two natures united with neither confusion nor division.  
3. The Bible is the inspired word of God. The Old Testament and the New Testament are consistent with each other without any contradiction. Taken together, the Old Testament and the New Testament is a complete story of salvation and promise by God. 
4. Everybody is sinful because the first human Adam committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden. The Hebrew word for sin is חטא (ħatal), which literally means "to miss the target". We all have missed the target set by God. 
5 We all die and return to the dust not due to the so-called natural laws but the impartial judgment by God in the Garden of Eden as the Bible says "For the wages of sin is death" (NKJV, Romans 6:23). 
6. Although sinless himself, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of humankind. He was buried and rose from the dead on the third day of his death. He ascended to the Heaven to be seated at the right hand of God. 
7. Based on the true belief bestowed by God, anyone who believes that Jesus is the Saviour and the Lord has a new spiritual rebirth inside them. Anyone who believes and confesses Jesus died for our sins and physically rose from the dead has eternal life. 
8. Jesus never promises that those who believe in him have a relaxing and easy life. On the contrary, Jesus says his disciples must deny themselves and take up the cross daily. Christians may meet more difficulties in daily life than non-believers do because self-denial is a struggling process. However, in Christ, we learn how to cope with whatever predicaments with a grateful and content heart, for the grace of God suffices in whatever environment. 
9. No merits qualify anyone to stand in front of God. There is nothing one can do to earn the salvation but it only comes from believing the work of salvation that Jesus Christ has done for us. 
10. The Gospel is not only concerned with the individual salvation, the relationship between the individual and Jesus, but also the arrival and expansion of God's Kingdom. Therefore, only praying and reading the Bible do not suffice. To serve in church and be united with brothers and sisters is of great importance as well for all the disciples of Jesus Christ. 
11. The meaning of life is not self-actualisation but God-glorification. To glorify God means following the example set by Jesus Christ in every aspect of our life. 
12. Every disciple of Jesus Christ is told by Jesus to testify of him. The testimony comes from not only sharing the gospel to others but also our own good deeds. 
13. Everyone will have to give an account for their words and deeds in front of God. 
14. Jesus Christ will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. The true followers of Jesus Christ will live together him in his Kingdom for good. 

The points listed above are the core part of my personal faith. Faith is established through experiencing from the heart.