As Alma sought the Lord in prayer in order to know what to do in a matter of judgment, the Lord responded with a somewhat puzzling statement in Mosiah 26:15: "Thou [Alma] art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi." Hugh Nibley ponders the phrase, "in the words alone of Abinadi." He asks, Now what about childish faith? What about being gullible, etc.? Alma believed in the "words alone"? Alma 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?
There is merit because Alma believed in his words alone. I would emphasize his. You are blessed because of the things you choose to believe--not by the act of believing, not just by faith. You weren't blessed because you believed, but because you chose what to believe. Everybody chooses what to believe. The atheist is a very strong believer. He is the most passionate arguer you can possibly find, and the positivist. Where will you find greater faith and firm conviction than among economists? . . . You must believe in something and everybody does. But the Lord said, blessed are you [Alma] because of the things you chose to believe; you chose to believe in the things that Abinadi taught. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, pp. 177-178]