BIBLE + BOOK OF MORMON
Faith: Three Witnesses Across Two Testaments
Hebrews 11:1 defines it. The mustard seed illustrates it. Alma 32 gives you the most complete framework for growing it that exists in any scripture.
This is part of the Bible and Book of Mormon: Parallel Studies series.
What faith actually means
Faith is the most misunderstood word in religious vocabulary. In popular usage, it often means either "believing things without evidence" or "having strong emotional confidence." Neither of these is what the Bible or the Book of Mormon means by faith.
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The words are epistemological — faith is a form of knowledge. Real knowledge of real things. Not certainty, not proof that eliminates doubt, but genuine conviction about things that are true even though they cannot yet be fully seen.
Alma 32:21 arrives at the same definition from a different angle: "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." The key word Alma adds is "true." You are not generating faith about anything you hope might be real — you are trusting what is actually real. Faith is not self-deception. It is acting on a reality that exists whether or not you have full knowledge of it yet.
Ether 12:6 supplies the structure that makes both definitions practical: "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." The testimony does not come before the step — it comes after. That is the consistent pattern in both testaments, across every person listed as an example of faith.
What the Bible teaches about faith
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report."
Hebrews 11:1-2
The author of Hebrews defines faith, then immediately demonstrates it by example. That choice — show, don't just tell — is itself a teaching on what faith is. Faith is not an abstract principle; it is a pattern of behavior that specific people have lived. The examples run from Abel to the prophets, each illustrating the same structure: they acted on something they could not fully see, and the action turned out to be right.
A few of Hebrews' examples deserve close attention:
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." He obeyed before he knew where he was going. The destination came after the step. When called to offer Isaac, he obeyed, "accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead" — a theological conclusion Abraham reached not from precedent (no one had been raised from the dead) but from his understanding of God's character. Faith, in Abraham's case, was reasoning about God's nature and acting on the conclusions.
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." He chose the harder thing, "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." He saw something — "the recompence of the reward" — that made Egypt's treasures look like the smaller option. Faith, in Moses' case, was seeing more clearly, not seeing with more emotion.
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them." They were persuaded — not forced, not merely emotionally moved, but intellectually convinced of things they could not yet fully see. And they died still holding what they had been persuaded of. This is faith as a lifelong posture, not a momentary experience.
"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."
Matthew 13:31-32
The mustard seed parable is primarily about the kingdom of God — how something that begins small and appears negligible can become the largest presence in the landscape. But the image of a seed planted and growing is also how Jesus talked about faith itself. Matthew 17:20 — "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Small faith, rightly placed, produces large results. The seed image carries the idea that faith is alive, that it grows, that its final form is not visible at planting. Alma 32 takes this image and extends it into the most detailed scriptural treatment of how that growth actually works.
"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."
James 2:17-18
James's argument: genuine faith always produces action. If someone claims faith but acts as though their beliefs have no implications for behavior, what they have is not faith — it is mere intellectual assent. This is not contradicting Paul's teaching on justification by faith. Paul and James are addressing different problems: Paul is arguing against people who think their moral behavior earns salvation; James is arguing against people who think an intellectual belief in correct doctrine is sufficient. Both are right. Faith that saves is not merely intellectual — it is the kind that organizes how you live. Alma 32's teaching on nourishing the seed is the extended treatment of this same principle.
What the Book of Mormon teaches about faith
Alma is teaching a group of poor Zoramites who have been expelled from their synagogues. They want to worship but have no building, no status, no access. They are asking how to pray without a rameumptom. Alma begins: "Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble." Then he teaches them how faith grows — using the seed as his primary image.
"Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves — It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me."
Alma 32:28
Alma is describing an empirical test. You do not start with certainty. You start with the word — a teaching, a doctrine, a claim. You give it space in your heart (do not cast it out). You observe what happens. If the word is true, it will begin to produce observable effects: enlarging the soul, enlightening the understanding, becoming "delicious." These effects are evidence — not proof in the scientific sense, but real evidence of a real process. That evidence is what Hebrews 11:1 calls "the evidence of things not seen."
"But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? For ye will say: I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow."
Alma 32:30
The growth of the seed produces knowledge — not certainty about everything, but genuine knowledge about the seed itself. You know it is good because you have watched it grow. This is not circular reasoning; it is empirical reasoning about a different kind of data than physical experiment produces. And then Alma raises the crucial question:
"And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand."
Alma 32:34
Faith and knowledge are not permanent opposites — faith grows toward knowledge. When you have watched the seed grow long enough, you have knowledge about the seed. Your faith in that particular thing is "dormant" because knowledge has replaced it. But there is always more to know — so faith continues to operate in the places knowledge has not yet reached. Alma 32's most important contribution to the doctrine of faith is this: faith is not the permanent state of the disciple — it is the process by which you arrive at knowledge, step by step, as you experiment on the word.
And then the condition:
"But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out. Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable. But it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree."
Alma 32:38-39
If the tree dies, the fault is not in the seed. It is in the neglect. Faith requires active nourishment — scripture, prayer, obedience, community. Remove those and the tree dies. This is James 2 from a different angle: faith without works is dead because works are how you nourish the seed. The tree does not grow passively. Neither does faith.
"And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."
Ether 12:6
Moroni is editing Ether's record and pausing to teach about faith. His definition echoes Hebrews 11:1 closely — "things hoped for and not seen." Then he adds the structural principle that Hebrews 11 illustrates but does not state explicitly: you receive no witness until after the trial. The confirmation comes after the step, not before.
Moroni then gives examples — the same genre as Hebrews 11's "Hall of Faith." The brother of Jared (Mahonri Moriancumer) saw Christ's finger touch sixteen stones to light the barges in darkness — but only after he had built the barges in obedience first. The disciples were given miraculous power — but only after they had demonstrated faith by following Jesus without guarantee of outcome. Christ showed Himself after the Resurrection to some — but the disciples who received the witness were those who had already committed. The pattern is consistent: trial first, witness second.
This is the pattern that makes Ether 12:6 the most practically useful verse on faith in either testament. If you are waiting for certainty before you step, you will not step, and you will not receive the witness. The witness is structurally located on the other side of the step. That is not arbitrary — it is the shape of how faith becomes knowledge.
What the two testaments illuminate together
- The definition: faith is substance and evidence — a form of real knowledge, not mere emotion
- The gallery of examples: Abraham, Moses, Rahab — people who acted before they saw the result
- The seed image: the mustard seed parable, the smallest beginning growing to the largest presence
- The works connection: James's insistence that genuine faith always produces action
- The mechanism: Alma 32's detailed description of how faith grows, from planting to fruit
- The empirical test: give the word space, observe what happens, the results are evidence
- The nourishment requirement: faith dies without active tending — prayer, scripture, obedience
- The timing principle: Ether 12:6 — witness comes after the trial, not before the step
The most illuminating parallel: Jesus's mustard seed (Matthew 13) and Alma's seed (Alma 32) are the same image working at different scales. Jesus describes the kingdom growing in the world from small beginnings. Alma describes faith growing in a person from small beginnings. Both say: do not despise small beginnings. Both say: the final form is not visible at planting. Reading them together, you see that the growth pattern of a kingdom and the growth pattern of a person's faith are structurally identical — which is exactly what you would expect if the same God designed both.
The student who stopped waiting to be sure
A man in his late twenties had grown up in the church, left it in college, and been thinking about returning for several years. His problem was certainty. He did not feel certain enough to commit. He had read enough theology and apologetics to know the arguments on both sides. He could not find the one piece of evidence that would settle it.
He read Ether 12:6 — "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" — and it stopped him. He had been waiting for the witness before the trial. But the text says the witness comes after. He had the structure exactly backward.
He decided to try Alma's experiment. He gave the word space — started reading scripture without demanding immediate certainty, started praying as if it were real without requiring that it feel conclusive. After three months he said something had changed. Not that his intellectual questions had disappeared — several of them remained. But something in his chest had enlarged, as Alma put it. Something felt delicious. The tree was growing.
He was baptized the following spring. He said later that the intellectual questions had mostly resolved as a side effect of something prior — the experiment had produced fruit he had not expected, and the fruit was evidence enough to move forward.
This is Alma's argument. It is also Hebrews 11's argument. The structure of faith is the same in both testaments: act on what you trust to be true, nourish the process, observe the results, let the results be evidence.
How this changes how you live
Ether 12:6: the witness comes after the trial, not before. You will not receive certainty before the step. The structure of faith means you act on what you trust to be true, and the confirmation is located on the other side. Waiting for certainty before acting is waiting for something the design of faith does not provide before you act.
Matthew 17:20: faith as a grain of mustard seed is enough. Alma 32:28: a small seed, planted and not cast out, will begin to swell. You do not need large, confident faith to start. You need the smallest faith that is willing to plant. The size of the beginning does not determine the size of the outcome — the willingness to plant and nourish does.
Alma 32:38-39: if the tree withers, it is not because the seed was bad. It is because the ground is barren — neglect. What are you doing to nourish the tree? Hebrews 11's examples all maintained their faith over long periods through active practice. Faith is not self-sustaining. It requires regular tending.
Alma 32:28 gives you the experiment: plant the word, do not cast it out, observe what happens. Ask: does it enlarge my soul? Does it enlighten my understanding? Does it become delicious? The results are evidence. This is not irrational. It is empirical reasoning about a different category of data than physical experiment produces.
Questions worth sitting with
Read Hebrews 11:1 and Alma 32:21 side by side. What do they have in common? What does each add that the other does not? What does Alma's word "true" add to the definition of faith?
Think about the mustard seed parable (Matthew 13:31-32) and Alma's seed metaphor (Alma 32). Where is the same image working at different scales? What does that parallel suggest about the relationship between the kingdom growing in the world and faith growing in a person?
Ether 12:6 — "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Is there an area of your life where you have been waiting for certainty before taking the step? What would it look like to take the step first?
Alma 32 says faith requires nourishment. What are you currently doing to nourish the tree? If the tree is withering, what are you withholding from it?