Faith Halls of Fame

The book of Hebrews contains a lengthy list of people who can serve as examples to us of faith. (See Hebrews 11.) This list has been called “the Faith Hall of Fame.” (See “Heroes of Faith in the Book of Hebrews,” learnreligions.com, 25 June 2019.)

In the Book of Mormon, Moroni provides a shorter but similar list. (See Ether 12.) Today, I took a closer look at both lists, asking what we can learn from all of these individuals about exercising faith in our own lives. Here’s a table listing the individuals from both “halls of fame” with a brief description of how they demonstrated faith:

Faith Hall of Fame #1 (Hebrews 11)

Name	Description	References
Abel	Offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain Spoke from the dust	Hebrews 11:4, Genesis 4:4, 10
Enoch	Was translated Obtained a confirmation that he pleased God	Hebrews 11:5, Moses 7:69
Noah	Prepared an ark to save his family	Hebrews 11:7, Genesis 6:9-22,
Abraham	Moved from his home to a promised land Offered his only begotten son, believing that God could raise him from the dead	Hebrews 11:8-10, 17-19, Genesis 12:1, Genesis 17:8, Genesis 22
Sara	Bore a child when she was “past age”	Hebrews 11:11, Genesis 21:1-2
Isaac	Blessed his sons, Jacob and Esau	Hebrews 11:20, Genesis 27:27-29, 39-40
Jacob	Blessed his grandsons	Hebrews 11:21, Genesis 48
Joseph	Prophesied about the future departure of Israelites from Egypt	Hebrews 11:22, Genesis 50:24-26
Moses	Forsook Egypt, aligning himself with his people Led his people out of Egypt, passing through the Red Sea on dry ground	Hebrews 11:23-29, Exodus 2:1-2, 11-15, Exodus 14:21-22
Rahab	“Perished not with them that believed not”	Hebrews 11:31, Joshua 2, Joshua 6:22-25

Faith Hall of Fame #2 (Ether 12:13-21)

Name	Description	References
Alma and Amulek	Caused a prison to tumble to the earth	Ether 12:13, Alma 14:26-29
Nephi and Lehi	Converted a large group of Lamanites	Ether 12:14, Helaman 5:50-52, 3 Nephi 9:20
Ammon and his brothers	Converted many Lamanites	Ether 12:15, Alma 26:3-7
The three disciples	Received a promise that they would not die	Ether 12:17, 3 Nephi 28:4-10
The brother of Jared	Saw God Saw all things	Ether 12:20-21, Ether 3

A few observations about these lists:

• I’m struck by the variety of blessings these people received by faith. From physical safety and preservation of life to childbearing and childrearing to the acquisition of spiritual knowledge, the blessings are varied. This tells me that I can receive many different blessings by exercising faith in God.
• The Hebrews list contains named individuals, but the list in Ether consists mostly of pairs or groups of people who exercised faith together. Since Moroni compiled this list after his people were gone, he may have gravitated to stories of people working together since he no longer had that privilege. I can receive blessings by exercising faith in collaboration with other people.
• The most significant blessing on each list involves our relationship with God. Enoch received a witness that his life was pleasing to God, and he was translated. The brother of Jared saw the premortal Jesus Christ, who then showed him “all things” about this earth and its inhabitants (Ether 3:25-26). Through faith, I can enter God’s presence and learn from Him.

Today, I will strive to follow these examples of faith. I will seek with faith for a variety of blessings, I will exercise faith with other people, and I will strive through faith to grow closer to God.