Doubt Does Not Banish Faith

Behold, now it came to pass that when Nephi had spoken these words, certain men who were among them ran to the judgment-seat; yea, even there were five who went, and they said among themselves, as they went:

Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not believe that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true. (Helaman 9:1-2)

This teaches me something important about faith, and how we grow it.

The 5 men very frankly do not believe what Nephi has said. But something about his presentation touches a chord in them, enough that they want to know if what he’s saying is true. They want it so much that when Nephi offers an evidence, they RUN to the judgement seat to check.

NOT “SIGN SEEKERS”

Their response to the proffered sign is a sharp contrast to Coriantumr's. He says in Alma 30:48, "except ye show me a sign, I will not believe." And he wants to expend no personal effort to find out for himself. But these five didn't demand a sign. Rather, when the promise of a sign was offered they received it eagerly, running to the judgement seat and grateful they could "know of a surety." They were willing to expend personal effort in order to find out. And they were willing to believe should this sign be given.

EFFORT BUILDS FAITH

I think it was their personal effort that created in them, skeptical as they were, sufficient faith to gain a spiritual witness that Nephi was a prophet. Verse 39 says they were converted while in prison. That indicates that their testimony was grounded in something deeper and more secure than just the sign. Also, they would have been unable to confound the judges (vs 18) that knew the facts of the sign also but tried to implicate Nephi anyway, had they only had the sign for a witness.

This example leads me to believe that faith is not banished by the existence of doubt. In fact, perhaps dealing with doubt is part of the trial of faith.

Faith lies in the willingness to believe and to make the personal effort necessary to find out.

Therefore, the honest investigator who doubts the missionaries' testimonies but is willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon is exercising faith so that the Lord can provide him with a witness. And when doubts crowd in on me about the blessings I've been promised, I needn't worry that I've insufficient faith. I can simply move forward in the course I've been directed to take to fulfill the promises and in time the witness will come.

March 2015

It seems to me that skepticism is not a bad thing at all. Especially in this case, where Nephi was unveiling an entrenched conspiracy and hidden iniquity. I think that the Lord wouldn't want people to hurry to believe him. He would want them to think no evil, which was why the sign was necessary.

I think we should be eager to believe well of others and slow to suspect them. However, that's when we're hearing reports from just anyone. When we're listening to the prophet, we should be quick to heed both his counsel and his warnings. But first, like these men, we need our own witness that he is the prophet.

March 2020

It occurs to me that the accusation that Nephi had conspired with someone to get the chief judge murdered would resonate with many. It would make sense. And yet, there was no such suspicion in the minds of the five, nor any hint of it in the multitude. And the why, I think, was Nephi's state of mind at the time. His mourning for the wickedness of the people was clearly sincere and intended to be private. His words to the multitude who had gathered and invaded on his privacy would have felt raw. At the time, the people know he was sincere. I imagine they figured he was overwrought and possibly raving, but not acting.

Those impressions of the moment would fade over time. It would be easier to suspect deception later, when what they knew intuitively (from non-verbal cues as well as the Spirit), unsupported by identifiable, objective evidence, was challenged. But I think I would be wise to pay attention to what I feel about another's authenticity.

2 ​Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not ​​​believe​ that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/hel/9?lang=eng&id=p2#p2