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Someone may remind me that we are saved by grace through faith. True enough. But who could argue convincingly that mentally disabled people do not have faith? Anyone who has lived with them will tell you that they often exhibit great faith. They can be totally trusting. They can love unconditionally. They rarely allow doubt to overtake their faith the way we rational believers sometimes do. They have the kind of faith that moved Jesus to say, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Lewis B. Smedes is professor emeritus of theology and ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

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March 5 2001, Vol. 45, No. 4