Q: What do the “Christian beliefs” in the list below have in common?
A: None of them are taught by the Bible.
“Christian beliefs” that the Bible doesn’t teach:
There is a Trinity of Persons in God
We are saved by faith alone
Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins
The Bible is inerrant
Only Christians can be saved
All of these beliefs were originated by human beings hundreds or even thousands of years after the Bible was written.
Are they wrong? I think so. But the purpose of this article isn’t to show that they’re wrong. It’s to show that even though millions of Christians believe them, they are not actually taught by the Bible. They are human interpretations.
People who believe these things quote many Bible passages to support them. But they can’t point to a single passage that clearly teaches any of these things. And some of these beliefs are specifically denied by the Bible.
There are many valid Christian beliefs that require interpretation of the Bible. However, any belief that is essential or fundamental to Christianity and to salvation should be clearly taught in the Bible. It should not require interpretation.
Does this mean that people who believe the things on the list will go to hell? Of course not! That’s not taught by the Bible, either.
Here is a quick look at each of these “Christian beliefs”:
The word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible. And though the Bible does mention the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it never calls them “persons.”
The idea that there is a Trinity of Persons in God is one of the oldest “Christian beliefs” that the Bible doesn’t teach. However, it still did not become a part of “Christian belief” until several centuries after the last books of the Bible were written. It was originated by human beings who were having trouble understanding the meaning of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament.
It’s not surprising that early Christian theologians were confused by the mention of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Many of them were converted pagans, or came from pagan backgrounds and cultures. For these former polytheists, who were still surrounded by people who believed in many gods, the idea that there were three distinct “persons” of God probably seemed fairly ordinary.
In short, the idea that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit form a “Trinity of Persons” in God is a human interpretation; it is not taught in the Bible.
For more, see:
What is the Biblical basis for disbelief in the doctrine of the Trinity?
Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What about that Holy Spirit?
Salvation by faith alone is the idea that the one and only thing that saves us is believing in Jesus Christ. Nothing we do, good or bad, has any effect on our salvation. Only believing that Jesus Christ died for us matters. Once we believe this, we are automatically saved. This idea is common among Protestant Christians—especially fundamentalist and evangelical ones.
However, “faith alone” appears only once in the Bible, and in that one passage, it is specifically denied: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). Please read the whole passage, in which the apostle James teaches that faith without works is dead: James 2:14–26.
The apostle Paul does not teach faith alone, either. When Paul said, “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the Law” (Romans 3:28), he did not mean we do not have to do good works in order to be saved. He meant that those who believe in Jesus do not have to follow the laws of animal sacrifice, circumcision, and the other ancient Jewish ritual and behavioral codes found in the Hebrew Torah, or Law (the first five books of the Bible).
In fact, Paul made it very clear that we must do good in order to be saved. See Romans 2:5–16.
For Jesus’ own teaching about who will be saved and who will not, read Matthew 25:31–46.
The doctrine of salvation by faith alone did not become a widespread “Christian belief” until after Martin Luther promulgated it as part of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.
After the Trinity of Persons, salvation by faith alone is one of the most common “Christian beliefs” that the Bible doesn’t teach.
For more, see:
Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
What is the biblical basis against Sola Fide (salvation by faith alone, apart from works)?
Sorry, the Bible just doesn’t say this.
The closest it comes is 1 Corinthians 15:3: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.” But dying for our sins is not the same thing as dying to pay the penaltyfor our sins. If an innocent person dies because of another person’s wrongdoing, the person who did wrong is still guilty. Whenever the Bible talks about penalties, it always attaches them to the one who committed the offense.
No matter how hard you search, you will not find a single passage in the entire Bible that says anything about Jesus paying the penalty for our sins. That’s because this is a “Christian belief” that the Bible doesn’t teach.
The technical, theological name for this belief is “Penal Substitution,” which is a variation of the “Satisfaction Theory of Atonement.” It is also sometimes called “The Vicarious Atonement.” These ideas are not taught anywhere in the Bible. In fact, they were not part of Christian doctrine or belief for the first 1,000 years of the Christian Church. They were then originated and developed by human beings who were having trouble understanding what the Bible teaches about how Jesus Christ saved humanity.
For more, see:
The word “inerrant” does not appear anywhere in the Bible.
In fact, it was only in the last couple of centuries that some conservative Christians began saying that the Bible is inerrant. They came up with this idea, not because it is in the Bible, but because they believed they had to defend the Bible against modern science and history.
The passage most commonly quoted to say that the Bible claims inerrancy for itself is 2 Timothy 3:16–17. But that passage does not say that the Bible is free from error. It says, “All scripture is inspired by God.” The idea that “inspired by God” means that everything it says is historically and scientifically true exactly as written is a humaninterpretation.
In the same way, the Bible never says that everything in it is literally true. If anything, the Bible cautions us against overly literal interpretations. Jesus commonly spoke in “parables,” or figurative language. Perhaps the clearest statement in the Bible about a literal vs. a spiritual view of the Bible’s Christian message is found in 2 Corinthians 3:5–6: “Our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.”
The idea that the Bible is inerrant and literally true throughout is a fairly recent “Christian belief” that the Bible doesn’t teach. It is a human interpretation that goes back only as far as the 1800s.
For more, see:
Those who believe this may think they have an open-and-shut case because of passages such as these:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16–18)
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
First, these passages do not actually say that only Christians can be saved. And the problem with reading them that way is that the Bible also tells us how non-Christians can be saved:
God will repay everyone according to what they have done. To those who by patiently doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. (Romans 2:6–11)
And even more briefly:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)
And once again, for Jesus’ own teaching about who will be saved and who will not, read Matthew 25:31–46.
If our interpretation of passages such as John 3:16–18 and Acts 4:12 is contradicted by clear teachings elsewhere in the Bible, then we must be mistaken in our understanding of those passages. Would the Bible really contradict itself on such basic a issue as who can be saved?
This is too large a subject to deal with in such a small space.
However, here’s the key to understanding John 3:16–18, Acts 4:12, and similar passages: If Jesus Christ is God as Christians believe, then anyone who believes in God and lives according to the teachings that God gave us as the Lord Jesus Christ is, in fact, believing in Jesus Christ and in the “name,” or reputation and character, of Jesus Christ. This is true even if they don’t identify God as Jesus Christ.
For more, see:
I realize that all of this may be very upsetting to people who believe these things. Millions of people have been taught these things, and have believed in them all their lives. Millions of people have staked their eternal salvation on them.
If any of this is upsetting to you, relax! It’s not the end of the world. You are not going to hell if you believe, or don’t believe, any of these things. God is far bigger than any of these beliefs. And there are much deeper and more satisfying beliefs, which the Bible does teach.
If you are confused, or searching, or even angry that these “Christian beliefs” should be questioned, we invite you to explore the linked articles. We invite you to browse through Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life. See if you find something that gives you greater understanding and peace of mind.
Of course, we also invite you to:
Ask questions
Post Bible passages that you’d like to understand better
Bring up other “Christian beliefs” that you wonder about. (We might add them to the list!)
If you are happy with your current beliefs, we wish you Godspeed. We have no desire to debate them with you.
But if you are looking for a deeper and more soul-satisfying Christian belief, we invite you to join us on the spiritual journey.
For the companion piece, see: