My understanding on this topic may not be substantially different than yours, Christine, but I need to phrase it as I have come to understand it.

Different writers phrase it differently but I have found saying the Personal Self (PS, which is usually called the "false self" or First Half of life persona) and the Infinite Self (IS, "true self" or Second Half of life discovery of essence) make for the defining difference between religion and spirituality; it is the discernment between soul and spirit, the finite and the eternal. Both appear crucial in the process of liberation that is the end of truth. Put another way, we first need to conformto -give our effort and be invested in--the patterns of this world and then to release from those patterns.
We may call it a continuum yet it is by no means a natural one; the fully developed ego does not necessarily continue its maturity to "become as a little child." What works in the First Half of life is counter-productive to the Second Half of life. What works in the Second Half of life looks dangerous, heretical, or insane to those in the First half of life.
To the PS, what is believed is of the utmost importance; to the IS, it is how one believes that takes primacy.
Perhaps I should not have started this now. I need to run and I feel I have only laid the groundwork to confusion. If this makes any sense to you or if you can find something upon which a discussion can arise, please let me know. God bless.