The term "credulous" refers to a tendency to be too ready to believe things, often without sufficient evidence or discernment. In a biblical context, credulity can be seen as both a potential virtue and a vice, depending on the object and context of belief. The Bible encourages faith and trust in God, yet it also warns against gullibility and the dangers of being easily deceived.

Biblical Encouragement of Faith

The Bible frequently commends faith, which involves trust and belief in God and His promises. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as "the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see." This kind of faith is not credulous in the sense of being undiscerning; rather, it is based on the character and promises of God, who is faithful and true.

Jesus commended those who believed in Him without seeing. In John 20:29 , Jesus said to Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." This highlights the virtue of believing in the truth of Christ and His resurrection, even without physical evidence.

Warnings Against Gullibility

While faith is encouraged, the Bible also warns against being easily deceived. Proverbs 14:15 states, "The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps." This verse highlights the importance of discernment and wisdom in evaluating what to believe.

The New Testament contains numerous warnings about false teachers and prophets. In Matthew 7:15 , Jesus warns, "Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." Believers are encouraged to test the spirits and teachings they encounter, as seen in 1 John 4:1 : "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

The Role of Discernment

Discernment is a key biblical principle that helps believers avoid credulity. The Apostle Paul, in his letters, often emphasizes the need for discernment. In Philippians 1:9-10 , he writes, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

The Bereans are commended in Acts 17:11 for their discernment: "Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true." Their example demonstrates the importance of verifying teachings against the truth of Scripture.

Conclusion

In summary, while the Bible encourages a strong and trusting faith in God, it also warns against being credulous in a way that leads to deception. Believers are called to exercise discernment, testing all things against the truth of God's Word, and to be wary of false teachings that may lead them astray.1. (a.) Easily deceived; unsuspecting; apt to believe on slight evidence.

2. (a.) Believed too readily.

This, You Will Say, is Ridiculous, Whereas all Profess to Hold and ...
... Because,you say, credulity, from which men are called credulous, in itself, seems
to me to be a certain fault: otherwise we should not use to cast this as a ...
/.../augustine/on the profit of believing /section 21 this you will.htm

Manasseh
... Now, does it not strike you at the outset, that while Manasseh was an unbeliever
in the truth, he must have been a very credulous person to believe in the all ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 2 1856/manasseh.htm

Authority and the Adventurer
... The sceptic is too credulous; he believes in newspapers or even in encyclopedias.
Again the three questions left me with three very antagonistic questions. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/chesterton/orthodoxy/ix authority and the adventurer.htm

[Harvard Classics Introduction]
... The matter of the book also reveals a personality of great charm and humor, a mind
at once surprisingly acute and surprisingly credulous, and a character of an ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/browne/religio medici/harvard classics introduction.htm

Brother Hugh
... of wise and merry talk, wherein he excelled, solitary confinement in a wooden cell
(the brethren now foist off a stone one upon credulous tourists) with ...
/.../marson/hugh bishop of lincoln/chapter ii brother hugh.htm

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
... The credulous Matthew Paris, who supplies these particulars, asserts roundly that
the document formed part of the sacred canon, but had been suppressed by the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/deane/pseudepigrapha/the testaments of the twelve.htm

Felicitous Phrases
... courteous, patient, and indefatigable. covetousness, selfishness, and ignorance.
credulous, weak, and superstitious. crimes, follies, and misfortunes. ...
/.../kleiser/fifteen thousand useful phrases/section iii felicitous phrases.htm

The Miracles
... miracles. 816. Unbelievers the most credulous. They believe the miracles
of Vespasian, in order not to believe those of Moses. 817. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pascal/pensees/section xiii the miracles.htm

General Division of the Following Discourse, with Regard to Pagan ...
... branded not only for superstitions different from all the religions of the Pagan
world, but in a particular manner ridiculed for being a credulous people: so ...
/.../sect i general division of.htm

Argument: the Impious Temerity of Theodorus, Diagoras, and ...
... who, having gathered together from the lowest dregs the more unskilled, and women,
credulous and, by the facility of their sex, yielding, establish a herd of a ...
/.../the octavius of minucius felix/chapter viii argument the impious temerity.htm

Credulous (1 Occurrence)
... Multi-Version Concordance Credulous (1 Occurrence). 1 Timothy 4:7 But worldly stories,
fit only for credulous old women, have nothing to do with. (WEY). ...
/c/credulous.htm - 6k

Gullible (1 Occurrence)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (a.) Easily deceived or duped; credulous.
Multi-Version Concordance Gullible (1 Occurrence). 2 Timothy ...
/g/gullible.htm - 6k

Trust (201 Occurrences)
... goods. 16. (n.) To risk; to venture confidently. 17. (vi) To have trust; to
be credulous; to be won to confidence; to confide. 18. (vi ...
/t/trust.htm - 38k

Worldly (25 Occurrences)
... also boast. (See RSV). 1 Timothy 4:7 But worldly stories, fit only for
credulous old women, have nothing to do with. (WEY NAS). 1 ...
/w/worldly.htm - 13k

Chicken
... Yet so credulous was he and so saturated with superstition, that, mixed with his
instructions for preserving eggs, brooding and raising chickens, is the ...
/c/chicken.htm - 10k

Credits (1 Occurrence)

/c/credits.htm - 6k

Stories (30 Occurrences)
... in faith; (BBE). 1 Timothy 4:7 But worldly stories, fit only for credulous
old women, have nothing to do with. (WEY BBE). 2 Timothy ...
/s/stories.htm - 16k

Fit (47 Occurrences)
... (Root in WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV). 1 Timothy 4:7 But worldly stories,
fit only for credulous old women, have nothing to do with. (WEY NAS). ...
/f/fit.htm - 23k

Virgin (62 Occurrences)
... Rumors always grow in the absence of known facts, especially where curiosity
is keen. Absurd rumors multiply among the credulous. ...
/v/virgin.htm - 64k

Birth (357 Occurrences)
... Rumors always grow in the absence of known facts, especially where curiosity
is keen. Absurd rumors multiply among the credulous. ...
/b/birth.htm - 71k

What does it mean that love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7)? | GotQuestions.org

Credulous: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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