In chapter 10, Joshua Golding explores the concept of authentic belief, and more specifically, what it means to have an authentic religious belief. Golding thereby raises a number of concerns about the sort of belief-states that would come about through the Wager, whether the Wager could engender an actual belief-state, whether it promotes something more akin to a “self-brainwashing,” and whether its appeal to self-interest can be understood as consistent with the belief-states proper to religion. Golding suggests that at least some worries about the Wager can be overcome if, instead of belief, it is understood as an argument in support of a “pragmatic assumption,” wherein one does not hold to the truth of a proposition, but rather uses it more as a maxim to guide one’s actions. Golding then applies the distinction between belief and pragmatic assumption to Judaism, differentiating between aspects of Jewish religious life for which a “pragmatic assumption” is sufficient and aspects that require full-fledged and authentic belief.