Weber insisted that the pursuit of meaning is a central human concern. These and others explained the existence and duration of religion as an ongoing human endeavor to construct a plausible and rational model of existence, to describe and understand the universe as a meaningful and coherent place. These rationalistic arguments give us an image of an unseen order which humans have sought out and attempted to describe and explain. If believers then harmonize themselves with such an order in thought and action, they would achieve a sense of wholeness and holiness. Certainly, this explains what many religious people do.
Theologians make their living building up and adding to such world views.
But this concept of the unseen order seems too dauntingly abstract to drive the actions and to direct the deepest thoughts of most people. We must look elsewhere to find a universal explanation for religious belief. In any true religion, we find believers who make a commitment to their god, establishing a relationship of trust with a being they know exists. Instead of engaging in ruminations on deep philosophical abstractions, these people achieve faith. Faith is not belief in the tenets of the religion but is a profound commitment to a personal relationship with one's god.