I do believe in God (or a higher supreme spiritual or ethereal power - my God doesn't have to be called God) and I do believe that Jesus of Nazareth taught us a better way of living which benefits, not only us, but all of human kind (were we all to practice his teachings).
However, I struggle with many of the basic fundamentals of Christianity. I'm not sure I understand the Trinity, nor do I fully grasp the divinity of Jesus. I am not sure I believe in the virgin birth or many of the miracle stories, at least not as they are presented in the bible - basically, our only verified source of writings on Jesus - but then, I do not really consider Christ's divinity or the cir
stances of his birth or his ability to conduct amazingly clever tricks - as central to my faith. I wonder about the man behind the stories in the gospels...what was it about this man - how special was he - how out of the ordinary was he - that people felt they HAD to write such messianic stories about him? These are the questions that keep my faith alive.
As for the church...I think it is flawed in many many ways, and has caused as much harm in the world as it has been an influence for good. However, it does provide Christians with the opportunity to gather somewhere safe and quiet in order to worship God and to pray. It also helps send missionaries all across the globe. The fact that it is itself corrupt, should not be a surprise to anyone. The Church is built and run by humans - of course it is corrupt and flawed. It could not be anything else...and so I feel that the church is as the church is. You either accept it, faults and all, or you reject it...but if you reject it then what do you replace it with? And yes, you need to replace it with something because Christians, by the very nature of their faith, will want to evangelize, will want to gather for worship with other Christians and will want to proselytize, and such actions would be much more complicated and difficult were it not for the presence in the world of an institution like the church.
So, no, I do not 'believe in' the 'Church' just as I do not 'believe in' the bible, but I do believe in God and in the teachings of his one true messenger, the man known as the Messiah, or Christ, who is Jesus of Nazareth. One of the most beautiful parts of the Christianity, for me, is the mystery of God. We cannot hope to understand or explain God, nor is there any need for us to try. I like mystery and I have no need to try to solve it...I am happy in the knowledge that there is much I cannot yet know or understand, and I am happy to think that someday the opportunity MIGHT come my way to find out more.
I hope this answers your question.
SNOME.
It's part of the fun of them. Very few here stay exactly on topic and that can make them interesting. Any good discussion wanders somewhat - plus we like this to be a little place of freedom , so do feel free to carry on 
