Yet Another Conversion Story~

[Purple Rabbit]

Do you deny that Christianity in part explicitly requires belief to understand it?

There's understanding, and then there's understanding. I see what you mean and it must be true on one level. However on another level, the informed but detached observer must be better placed to see the wood for the trees.

Belief simply is the opposite of understanding. It is accepting the truth of something on basically hearsay. Belief does not entail understanding how biblical account can be that far at odds with scientific findings, it's pure acceptance of one account even in the face of overwhelming contradictory scientific evidence.