Belief is one of the major concepts in Christianity. In fact belief is, in Christianity, a requirement for salvation. Belief is accepting something as true even though there is no facts of evidence that this is the case.
The whole Bible is, in most denominations, the true, inerrant word of God, written and inspired by God and is perfect without any contradictions. Evidently, a contradiction is just someone’s misinterpretation of God’s Word.
“He that believeth the Son hath life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (Jn 3:36)
That if thou shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him (Jesus) from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Ro 10:9)
To be deceived one must have belief.
By definition, being deceived is believing something that is untrue. So believing something that is untrue — even if it is an untruth in the Bible — could cause one to be deceived.
Belief is accepting something as true even though there is no facts of evidence that this is the case.
The very fact that two Christians interpret something in the Bible in an opposite way — and there are many different interpretations of many different scriptures — shows that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to get the “right” interpretation. Worse yet, it could mean that something in the Bible may never have been there in the first place, or the original text was corrupted.
Where there is a contradiction, either one thing is right and the other is wrong, or the first one is wrong and the other is right. Or, both interpretations may be wrong, but in no way can both falsehoods be right. That’s just plain logic.
To be deceived one must have belief
Furthermore, the fact that there are so many different denominations in Christianity, shows that even within Christianity itself, scholars, religious leaders and followers can not agree what the Truth really is.
And if that weren’t enough, there are thousands of different religions in the world, which reveals that people don’t even know which is the right god or true god — or even if there is one! And if there is a god (or gods), is there only one true god or are there many true gods? And is that god (or gods) a spiritual or supernatural being or a being from another planet?
By definition, being deceived is believing something that is untrue
It Takes Belief To Be Deceived
- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1)
Now if faith is based on belief, and belief is the acceptance of something that is not based on fact or evidence, then there is no substance and there is no evidence. It’s just like salvation from Hell. If you don’t know there is a Hell, and you only accept someone’s opinion that there is a Hell, then you don’t really know there is anything to be saved from.
Belief is the acceptance of something that is not based on fact or evidence
If you believe in something, that’s fine, that’s your opinion or the opinion of someone else. But to attach your salvation to a concept that is based on purely opinion, that could hurt you. You could be deceived, because it takes belief to be deceived. If you have to “believe in your heart that God raised him from the grave” — what if he never died in the first place? It’s only someone’s opinion or belief that you accept as truth — which may or may not be true. Remember, it takes belief to be deceived. You don’t really know, you only believe — there’s a difference.