03 — The Primary Questions
Four questions to begin with.
Now that we’ve looked at the difference between a question and a doubt, this is the place to put the distinction to work. The four below are the ones to ask first — honestly, as questions, leaning forward toward an answer rather than back into a verdict.
Not every question carries the same weight. Some are load-bearing — entire lives are built on them. Others are real and worth honest attention, but they don’t determine whether God is real or whether the Restoration happened.
Elder Corbridge calls the load-bearing ones primary. When they find their footing, the secondary ones become survivable rather than overwhelming.
Take your time. There’s no test at the end.
Is there a God who is our Father?
Why this one matters first. If God is real and is your Father, then you are known, you are loved, and your life means something specific to Him. Almost everything else in the gospel rests on this.
How people seek the answer. Pray honestly, in your own words. Out loud, if that helps. Read the words of Christ in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, and notice when something settles in your chest. The Spirit tends to speak through peace, light, and a sense of being known — not through anything dramatic.
To sit with:Have you ever felt a spiritual witness about this — even a small one? When? What did it feel like? If something comes to mind, write it down.
Scriptures: Moroni 10:4–5 · James 1:5–6
Is Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior of the world?
Why this one matters first. If Christ is who He said He was, then His Atonement is real, His resurrection is real, and the weight of your salvation rests on something that can hold you. Much of what follows leans on this answer.
How people seek the answer. Spend time in His own words — the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of John, 3 Nephi 11–17. Then ask the Father, in His Son’s name, whether Jesus is the Christ. The witness comes through the Holy Ghost, in His own time and way.
To sit with:Have you ever felt a spiritual witness about this — even a small one? When? What did it feel like? If something comes to mind, write it down.
Scriptures: John 7:17 · 3 Nephi 11
Was Joseph Smith a prophet?
Why this one matters first. If Joseph was called of God, then a real First Vision happened, real angels visited, and the priesthood was actually restored. The Restoration is the question on which the rest of the unique Latter-day Saint story turns. It’s a heavy question, and it deserves a careful answer.
How people seek the answer. Read the Book of Mormon — that’s the test Joseph himself proposed. Read it with real intent and ask God whether it’s true. Many people find that the witness, when it comes, settles the question of Joseph alongside it.
To sit with:Have you ever felt a spiritual witness about this — even a small one? When? What did it feel like? If something comes to mind, write it down.
Scriptures: Moroni 10:3–5 · D&C 135:3
Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on the earth?
Why this one matters first. If the Church is the Lord’s, then its keys, ordinances, and covenants carry real weight. This question often comes last because it tends to settle as the others do. You don’t need to force a conclusion.
How people seek the answer. Stay close, if you can. Attend, partake of the sacrament, serve where there’s a need. This witness usually comes through doing, and it deepens over months and years rather than minutes.
To sit with:Have you ever felt a spiritual witness about this — even a small one? When? What did it feel like? If something comes to mind, write it down.
Scriptures: D&C 1:30 · Matthew 7:16–20
The divine method of learning
Corbridge identifies four ways we come to know things: the scientific, the analytical, the academic, and the divine. The first three are valuable, and we use them every day. For these four questions, only the divine method actually settles them.
“The divine method of learning incorporates elements from the other methods... but it requires something more, namely the ratification of the Holy Ghost. Knowledge of the things of God comes by the Spirit of God.”Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge, “Stand Forever”
This is why arguments about Church history, however carefully made, can feel hollow when faced alone — and why a confirmed witness from the Holy Ghost tends to hold even when the harder questions are still open.
A foundation, not a fortress
When the primary questions find their footing — when, over time, you sense that God is real, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph was His prophet, and that the Church is the Lord’s — you have a foundation that the secondary questions don’t need to topple. You don’t have to ignore the harder topics. You don’t have to let them outweigh what you’ve already been shown.
A self-assessment
For you. No accounts, no tracking, saved only on this device. There is no “right” number on any line. Noticing where you are today is its own kind of progress.