The verb "to believe" has a very weak religious connotation: it *can* mean "to believe in God" or "to believe that God can work wonders", but it most oftenly is used in a general context, concerning all kinds of things and facts.

Exactly the same holds for the German verb "glauben". 

But in German the **noun** "Glauben" is more often than not used in a somehow religious context and thus has a rather strong religious connotation.

Does the same hold for the English noun "belief"? I suppose not, but I am not a native speaker and unable to "hear" the nuances.

If you are both an Englisch and a German native speaker: Do you know of a German equivalent to the neutral "belief".

(Note that the German words "wissen" and "Wissen" are both connotationally neutral, just like English "to know" and "knowledge".)