I'm a little obsessed with how George Eliot writes religion. She doesn't share the beliefs (at least when she's writing this), but she manages to portray sincere belief in a way that's vivid and compelling. And I think that might be because her special gift as a writer is writing passionate characters--people who are intensely dedicated to a field of study or a grand ideal. Whether the character is devoted to medicine, art, writing, or religion, it's the same kind of dedication, so it rings true across the board.
She often writes religion in the way that Christian fiction should be written. She's not showing religious practices like "This is the way that everyone should do it." This is the way that this character approaches religion, that makes sense with their background and personality. It may be admirable in some ways, it may be lacking in others, but it's not trying to present a perfect paragon or a strawman to tear down, but it's just personal and specific to this character.
(And then she goes and straight-up tells you which characters she thinks are religion-ing better than others and why, which kind of negates that effect, but that also demonstrates that the "telling" is far, far less compelling than the "showing".)
And she's got so much compassion and clarity that she winds up saying things that have a ton of truth to them, but there's something off-kilter about it. Like, in Adam Bede, she spends a lot of time hyping up a certain clergyman, who seems to be the typical corrupt clergyman who cares more about comfort than about theology, but it turns out that he's actually got a good heart and really cares for his parishioners, and he's a much more effective pastor than theologically-minded pastors who shove doctrine down peoples' throats. There's a lot of truth to that--"if I have all knowledge and lack love, I am nothing but a clanging cymbal". Love of our neighbor is super important and it's a huge theme with her. But it also starts to tip over the edge into "The only thing that matters is being nice to people 😊," which is very obviously lacking. ("Do all these things without neglecting the others").
I can't put this into any coherent order, but it's just fascinating, and I keep thinking about it.
