Mosiah 26:15

[pam]

Mosiah 26:15*

15 Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi.

Quote for Discussion

Hugh Nibley

“’Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi.’ Now what about childish faith? What about being gullible, etc.? He believed in the ‘words alone.’ He saw no evidence, no proof, or anything like that. And it wasn't the words of God; it was the words of Abinadi alone that he believed in. What's going on here? Why is there merit in this?

“The great Krister Stendahl is now bishop of Lund and chief of the Swedish church. He was here at a luncheon and someone (namely me) quoted Joseph Smith as saying, ‘Nobody was ever damned for believing too much.’ Well, he found that extremely offensive. But when it comes to it, everybody believes too much. There's not a person here who believes a single thing that has been absolutely and completely proved-gravitation or anything else. You have to believe all sorts of things that you can't possibly prove, and everybody believes them. Well, what's the point here then? Because Alma believed in his words alone. I would emphasize his. You are blessed because of the things you chose to believe-not by the act of believing, not by just faith. You weren't blessed because you believed, but because you chose what to believe.” (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Lecture 40, p. 177, italics added)

[Vort]

Good luck getting any self-proclaimed "rationalist" even to understand this, much less admit it.