Before Copernicus people believed the earth was the center of the universe. Their belief did not make it so. 

Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? (Ecclesiastes 3:18-21)

Before Johann Galle people understood the solar system consisted of seven planets. Their understanding did not make it so.

Belief can conceal reality. This tendency is not restricted to religious belief.

The greater part of the gospels consists of Jesus encouraging the most religious of his time and place to put aside various beliefs and look with fresh eyes and open ears for the reality of God.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Whenever religion or any human belief serves to exalt our (my) centrality, our (my) righteousness, our (my) wisdom, we should be skeptical.

The fundamental impulse of both faith and religion is to acknowledge the paucity of our understanding, capability, and power.

Faith is not certainty. Faith abides with doubt, especially self-doubt. Uncertainty is the fuel of faith.

 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (I Corinthians 13:2)