Greek word - (pisteuo G4100)
Quiz - Choose the answer that is closest to what you think BELIEVE is.
A - trust
B - accept as true
C - hope
D - think
Problem - Misleading
KJV Example - "whosoever believeth in him" ( John 3:15 ).
Explanation
This word has changed through the centuries. Hundreds of years ago believe meant trust. Look at what the Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com) says about belief - "Belief used to mean "trust in God ... [but it] had by [the] 16c. become limited to 'mental acceptance of something as true.'"
So when John Wycliffe decided to use believe in the first English Bible, it meant trust (which is what the Greek word also means), but even though it had changed in meaning by 1611 when the King James Version was written, the King James translators still used John Wycliffe's wording. Believe still can have the meaning of trust, but it is a rare meaning and not its main meaning.
When you say, "I believe you," or "I believe in you," you do not mean, "I trust you." People who read the many Bible verses that say that a person must believe are misled. They do not realize that it is really saying that they must trust.
A definition of believe that is becoming more and more popular is that believing is what you do when you want something that is not real to be real. Many people believe in Santa Claus even though they know he is not real. One young lady once explained her belief in Jesus to me in this same way. "Yes, I believe in Jesus," she said. "I know he is not real, but I believe in Him, just like I believe in Santa." With this definition of believe, John 3:16 and the many verses that say a person is saved by believing mean something quite different than they are supposed to.
I suspect the reason why so many Christians ignore the overwhelming number of verses that say a person is saved by believing is because they know that it takes more than believing. They are right. It takes trusting in Jesus. That is what believe meant back in 1395 when the first English Bible was written and that is what it means in the Bible now. Believe needs to be replaced with trust. To not replace believe with trust is to mislead the reader.
In the Bible, believe is trust.
Modern Synonym - trust
Bible Version Tally (how other versions translate this word) - trust (4 of 50), believe (45 of 50)
Breakthrough Version - "everyone who trusts in Him" (John 3:15).