And to my astonishment, when I began seriously studying other traditions, I began to realize that belief -- which we make such a fuss about today -- is only a very recent religious enthusiasm that surfaced only in the West, in about the 17th century.
令我吃惊的是，当我开始认真地研究基督教以外的其他宗教时， 我意识到，“信仰”，这个我们如此奉若神明的东西 不过是一种近代才产生的宗教热忱， 它是17世纪才出现在西方的。