God
Is there a God who is our Father? Consider what scripture, experience, creation, prayer, and revelation contribute to this question.
Study foundational questions, honest inquiry, and revelation through Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge’s January 22, 2019 BYU devotional. Read the complete source beside this focusChrist study guide.
Watch and study · Scripture Central
Stand Forever video series
▶ Watch the trailerWith Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge
Explore Scripture Central’s series on enduring discipleship in Jesus Christ. The series expands on the message of Elder Corbridge’s 2019 BYU devotional, which you can study below.
Begin with episode 1, “Will You Stand, or Will You Go Away?” Or open the publisher’s full playlist to choose from its available videos.
Published by Scripture Central. The playlist on YouTube contains the publisher’s current selection. About the series and speaker.
Questions, knowledge, and revelation
Stand Forever
In his January 22, 2019 BYU devotional, Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge asks how disciples can remain grounded when they encounter difficult claims, uncertainty, or an overwhelming number of questions. His answer is not to stop asking. It is to understand which questions are foundational, use every honest way of learning available, and seek a confirming witness through the Holy Ghost.
Keep the Savior in the center of the inquiry. A secondary question deserves careful study, but it should not be asked to carry the entire weight of faith in God, Jesus Christ, the Restoration, or the Church.
The four primary questions
The address identifies four foundational questions. These are presented as the questions that give spiritual orientation to the many historical, doctrinal, cultural, and personal questions a disciple may continue to examine.
Jesus Christ
Is Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior of the world? Let His identity, teachings, Atonement, and Resurrection remain central.
Joseph Smith
Was Joseph Smith a prophet? Study the historical record, revealed scripture, prophetic claims, fruits, and your own spiritual inquiry.
The restored Church
Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints God’s kingdom on the earth? Examine its authority claims, covenants, doctrine, mission, and fruits.
Primary does not mean “only.” Elder Corbridge explicitly teaches that questions are important. The distinction invites proportion and order, not avoidance. Difficult secondary questions can still be researched honestly, patiently, and from reliable sources.
Four ways of learning
The talk describes four methods that begin with a question. Together they invite action, careful reasoning, disciplined study, and revelation rather than dependence on a single kind of evidence.
Scientific
Form a question, act or experiment where appropriate, observe the result, and revise what you think. Gospel truth can be tested through faithful practice and its fruits.
Analytical
Gather relevant evidence, organize it, weigh it fairly, notice assumptions, and draw conclusions that remain proportionate to what the evidence supports.
Academic
Read deeply and in context. Compare scripture, original records, responsible scholarship, and authoritative teaching rather than relying on isolated summaries.
Divine
Seek knowledge through the Holy Ghost. Prayer and revelation do not remove the need to act, reason, or study; they address spiritual truth through the Spirit of God.
A faithful inquiry practice
Use this sequence with a question you genuinely carry. It creates room for evidence and uncertainty while keeping your relationship with Jesus Christ visible.
- Name the question precisely. Replace a broad fear with the specific claim, event, passage, or doctrine you need to understand.
- Classify without dismissing. Is it one of the four primary questions, or a secondary question connected to one of them?
- Gather the strongest sources. Read the primary record and its context. Distinguish the source itself from another person’s interpretation.
- Use all four methods. Note experience, evidence, written study, and spiritual impressions without pretending they are identical kinds of knowledge.
- Record what is known and unknown. Write what the evidence supports, what remains uncertain, and what additional source would help.
- Return to Christ. Ask what the inquiry teaches about the Savior and what faithful action is appropriate while study continues.
Read the talk beside Doctrine and Covenants 6
Elder Corbridge closes with Doctrine and Covenants 6:36. The surrounding revelation to Oliver Cowdery adds a compassionate pattern for seeking and standing.
Remember peace received
Verses 22–23 invite Oliver to remember the peace that came when he sought a witness. Spiritual memory can be evidence without ending every later question.
Do good without fear
Verses 33–34 join faithful action with reassurance. A seeker can continue doing good while understanding develops.
Look unto Christ
Verses 36–37 direct every thought toward Christ and answer fear with His presence, sacrifice, and promise of a place with Him.
Scriptures for deeper study
These passages are used in the address or closely support its pattern of asking, studying, receiving light, and standing on revelation. Open one passage at a time and record what it contributes to the question you are studying.
D&C 9:7–9Study it out, ask, and recognize spiritual confirmation.D&C 50:23–24Distinguish what edifies and continue receiving light.D&C 93:24Consider truth as knowledge of things as they are, were, and will be.Alma 32:27–28Experiment upon the word and observe what begins to grow.Moroni 10:4–5Study, remember, ponder, and ask God with sincere intent.Matthew 16:15–18Peter’s witness of Christ illustrates the rock of revelation.
Companion messages
Continue the study with three apostolic messages that make room for honest questions while inviting deliberate faith and forward movement in Jesus Christ.
General conference
“Lord, I Believe”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland invites disciples to acknowledge questions honestly while beginning with the faith they already have.
General conference
Faith Is Not by Chance, but by Choice
Elder Neil L. Andersen teaches that honest questions matter and that faith grows through deliberate choices, sincere study, and seeking answers from God.
General conference
The Power of Spiritual Momentum
President Russell M. Nelson offers five actions for building spiritual momentum and moving forward through uncertainty and opposition.
Seven-day “Stand Forever” study
- Read the full address once without stopping to resolve every reference.
- Write the four primary questions in your own words.
- Choose one secondary question and define it precisely.
- Identify one source or action for each method of learning.
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 6:22–23 and record a remembered experience of peace.
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 6:32–37 and mark every invitation or promise from Christ.
- Write what you know, what you are still studying, and one faithful next step.
Reflection and journal prompts
Which primary question most shapes the way I understand the others? Am I asking a secondary question to decide more than its evidence can establish? Which method of learning have I used well, and which have I neglected? What do I know from experience, evidence, study, or the Holy Ghost? What can remain honestly unresolved while I continue looking to Christ?
Carry a question with care
Optional focusChrist reflection
Which question needs clearer wording? What do I know from a source, what am I inferring, and what still needs patient study?
Official sources and original address
This guide draws from the BYU address and the scripture passages linked above. The inquiry practice is a focusChrist study aid.