When Alma began discussing the continuum of faith, he began at the very beginning of the line, which was to show where it begins, where the things that are not faith and faith may be separated. That ultimate beginning point was defined when he noted that faith did not equal knowledge. What Alma does now is describe the lowest form for faith. This is the smallest amount of faith that one might have, it is the very first thing on the continuum of faith once it begins after its separation from concepts of knowledge.
What Alma suggests is that the lowest form of faith has nothing to do with believing, but rather with the simple desire to believe. Faith does not begin with faith, it begins with a desire to have faith. This is why he calls it a “particle of faith.” It is just the smallest bit of faith. What is essential, however, is that this desire, this “particle of faith,” is attached to the requirement to do something. Alma tells these people that they must exercise that particle of faith, “even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”
The desire is the beginning, but even desire is not quite on the faith continuum. We don’t actually become something about faith until action occurs, even if it is a small action. The smallest action is to give place, or to accept the possibility of accepting some of what is said. If the word is preached, and the hearer listens, but immediately dismisses everything that they hear, faith cannot begin. Faith can begin only when the possibility is open that there might be truth in what is heard.
The best example of this particle of belief is found in a text we have already examined, Alma 22:18:
Alma 22:18
O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou are God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and saved at the last day.”
How little faith did the king have? Look at the string of qualifiers used to open his prayer. He does not know of the existence of God, but says this man Aaron has said there is a God. Then, on the basis of what Aaron says, he addresses this God Aaron talked about. He says if there is a God, and if thou are God. He not only doesn’t know whether there is a God, but he doesn’t even know if the one he is praying to really is that God!
The result of this sincere prayer is that the king is overcome with the spirit, and is awash in the glory of God. I must be pointed out, however, that the real crux of the prayer was not the equivocation, which simply pointed out that he was on a low level of faith. What made the prayer effective was his firm commitment to give away all his sins to know God. It was that part of his prayer, that part which actually gave place to a portion of Aaron’s words (to use Alma’s phrase) which allowed the transformation from the lowest form of faith to a miraculous outpouring of the spirit.
Cross-reference: It might be suggested that not all people must progress through Alma’s stages of faith. Surely such a man as Joseph Smith might have avoided some of these steps? If Joseph Smith’s own story is read in conjunction with Alma’s discourse, we may find all of the essential steps of faith within that story of Joseph’s own faith.
Here at the beginning we have the lowest form of faith, which begins with a desire put into action. We find this echoed in Joseph Smith – History:
Joseph Smith-History:13-14
13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
Joseph’s desire leads him to the scriptures, and that desire leads him to act on the information he finds. He attempts a vocal prayer, a form of prayer he had not previously attempted.