Church leader Lawrence E. Corbridge, an LDS Seventy, gave a BYU Devotional that addresses how to properly deal with questions. Corbridge explains that he’s read all the anti-Mormon literature out there, but was successfully able to put all his questions on the shelf because he was able to convince himself that his questions don’t matter because he had a testimony-building experience.
He classifies gospel questions into two categories: primary and secondary questions. He puts the primary questions above the secondary ones. Essentially, any question or evidence against the church, he places as secondary. While any question he can only answer with an elevated emotional response he leaves as a primary question. Thus he is “following the spirit” or as the rest of the world sees it, letting his emotions make his life choices and major decisions for him.
He doesn’t define all primary questions but does list a few:
- Is there a God who is our Father?
- Is Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior of the world?
- Was Joseph Smith a prophet?
- Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on the earth?
He details that with a spiritual experience, we can know the answer to all these questions, and thus know the answers to all our secondary questions as well—or at least feel good enough to stop thinking about them for a while. The logic is, if we know the basic truth claims of the church are true by the witness of the spirit, then the rest doesn’t matter. This perpetuates a state where our shelf issues remain unanswered indefinitely because there is no way to reconcile them with reality. We must resort to an emotional response to put our cognitive dissonance at ease.
His message employs a strategy prioritizing specific foundational beliefs, implying that once these “primary questions” are settled, other questions (labeled as “secondary”) lose their importance or relevance. This is a convenient way to deflect challenging topics—like historical inconsistencies, doctrinal contradictions, or social issues—by framing them as less significant.
By labeling such concerns as “secondary,” the message suggests that they can be overlooked if one has already affirmed belief in the core questions. However, this approach is dismissive to those who feel these “secondary” issues are crucial to understanding the truthfulness or ethics of church claims. It overlooks the fact that many people consider these “secondary” questions critical to assessing the integrity of the “primary” beliefs. This selective prioritization sidesteps difficult questions or anything that makes us feel “gloom” and defers to other beliefs instead of addressing the concerns head-on.
Corbridge’s approach effectively begins with a conclusion (that the church is true) and elevates questions supporting that conclusion while sidelining any that might challenge it. This strategy leads to selectively ignoring valid concerns about integrity, morality, or potential deception. This, likely by design, dismisses any evidence that could contradict the church’s claims, whether historical inconsistencies, issues with leaders’ conduct, or tangible instances of fraud, all in favor of a felt assurance of divine love. This compromises an honest, comprehensive search for truth.
Stand Forever
As part of an assignment I had as a General Authority a few years ago, I needed to read through a great deal of material antagonistic to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the events of the Restoration. There may not be anything out there of that nature I haven’t read. Since that assignment changed, I have not returned to wallow in that mire again.
Reading that material always left me with a feeling of gloom, and one day that sense of darkness inspired me to write a partial response to all such antagonistic claims. I would like to share with you some of the thoughts I recorded that day, and although what I wrote was for my benefit, I hope it will help you as well.
Will You Stand Forever?
The kingdom of God is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will “stand for ever.”
The question is, Will you and I stand? Will you stand forever, or will you go away? And if you go, where will you go?
Deception Is a Sign of Our Time
I am not sure of all that is implied by the qualification “if possible, they shall deceive the very elect,” but I think it means, at least, that everyone will be challenged in our day.
The Broad Spectrum of Deception
There are many who deceive, and the spectrum of deception is broad. At one end we meet those who attack the Restoration, the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. Next we see those who believe in the Restoration but claim the Church is deficient and has gone astray. There are others who also claim to believe in the Restoration but are disillusioned with doctrine that conflicts with the shifting attitudes of our day. There are some who, without authority, lay claim to visions, dreams, and visitations to right the ship, guide us to a higher path, or prepare the Church for the end of the world. Others are deceived by false spirits.
At the far end of the spectrum we come to an entire universe of distractions. Never has there been more information, misinformation, and disinformation; more goods, gadgets, and games; and more options, places to go, and things to see and do to occupy time and attention away from what is most important. And all of that and much more is disseminated instantaneously throughout the world by electronic media. This is a day of deception…. How do we avoid deception?
Primary Questions and Secondary Questions
Begin by answering the primary questions. There are primary questions and there are secondary questions. Answer the primary questions first. Not all questions are equal and not all truths are equal. The primary questions are the most important. Everything else is subordinate. There are only a few primary questions. I will mention four of them.
1. Is there a God who is our Father?
2. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior of the world?
3. Was Joseph Smith a prophet?
4. Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on the earth?
By contrast, the secondary questions are unending. They include questions about Church history, polygamy, people of African descent and the priesthood, women and the priesthood, how the Book of Mormon was translated, the Pearl of Great Price, DNA and the Book of Mormon, gay marriage, the different accounts of the First Vision, and on and on.
If you answer the primary questions, the secondary questions get answered too, or they pale in significance and you can deal with things you understand and things you don’t and things you agree with and things you don’t without jumping ship altogether.
Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Authority Seventy, BYU Devotional: Stand Forever, January 22, 2019
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
Corbridge continues and details a few different ways of learning: scientific, analytical, academic, and divine.
Different Ways of Learning
How can we know the answers? There are different methods of learning, including the scientific, analytical, academic, and divine methods.
The Scientific Method
With the scientific method, a hypothesis is framed in response to a question. Experimentation is then conducted to test the hypothesis. The results are then analyzed, and conclusions are drawn that either confirm, disprove, or modify the hypothesis—in which event the process continues.
The Analytical Method
The analytical method is also important. It involves gathering, organizing, and weighing evidence relevant to a question. Based on the weight of the evidence, conclusions are drawn as to what the truth may be.
The Academic Method
The academic method involves, of course, study of the written word. Study as well is essential.
The Divine Method
The divine method of learning incorporates the elements of the other methodologies but ultimately trumps everything else by tapping into the powers of heaven. Ultimately the things of God are made known by the Spirit of God, which is usually a still, small voice…
Of all the problems you encounter in this life, there is one that towers above them all and is the least understood. The worst of all human conditions in this life is not poverty, sickness, loneliness, abuse, or war—as awful as those conditions are. The worst of all human conditions is the most common: it is to die. It is to die spiritually. It is to be separated from the presence of God, and in this life, His presence is His Spirit or power. That is the worst.
Conversely, the best of all human conditions in this life is not wealth, fame, prestige, good health, the honors of men, security, or even—dare I say it—good grades. As wonderful as some of those things are, the best of all human conditions is to be endowed with heavenly power; it is to be born again, to have the gift and companionship of the Holy Ghost, which is the source of knowledge, revelation, strength, clarity, love, joy, peace, hope, confidence, faith, and almost every other good thing…
Pay whatever price you must pay, bear whatever burden you must bear, and make whatever sacrifice you must make to get and keep in your life the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost. Every good thing depends on getting and keeping the power of the Holy Ghost in your life. Everything depends on that.
Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Authority Seventy, BYU Devotional: Stand Forever, January 22, 2019
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
The divine method of learning incorporates elements of the other three but ultimately trumps everything else by tapping into the powers of heaven. He states that the divine method of learning “incorporates the elements of the other methodologies but ultimately trumps everything else by tapping into the powers of heaven.” It may incorporate some elements from other methodologies, but can’t technically trump all others, and incorporate them too. He admittedly wants us to follow the spirit, but would also say the only way to feel the spirit is in the church, and if you do feel the spirit it answers all your questions.
“That Which Doth Not Edify”
So what was the gloom I felt several years ago while reading antagonistic material? Some would say that gloom is the product of belief bias, which is the propensity to pick and choose only those things that accord with our assumptions and beliefs. The thought that everything one has believed and been taught may be wrong, particularly with nothing better to take its place, is a gloomy and disturbing thought indeed. But the gloom I experienced as I listened to the dark choir of voices raised against the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ—the gloom that came as I waded, chest deep, through the swamp of the secondary questions—is different. That gloom is not belief bias and it is not the fear of being in error. It is the absence of the Spirit of God. That is what it is. It is the condition of man when “left unto himself.” It is the gloom of darkness and the “stupor of thought.”
The Lord said: And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
Revelation from the Spirit of God supersedes belief bias because it is not premised only on evidence. I have spent a lifetime seeking to hear the word of the Lord and learning to recognize and follow the Spirit of God, and the spirit associated with the dark voices that assail the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration is not the spirit of light, intelligence, and truth. The Spirit of God is not in those voices. I don’t know much, but I do know the voice of the Lord, and His voice is not in that dark choir, not at all in that choir.
In stark contrast to the gloom and sickening stupor of thought that pervades the swamp of doubt is the spirit of light, intelligence, peace, and truth that attends the events and the glorious doctrine of the Restoration, especially the scriptures revealed to the world through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Just read them and ask yourself and ask God if they are the words of lies, deceit, delusion, or truth.
Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Authority Seventy, BYU Devotional: Stand Forever, January 22, 2019
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
In Corbridge’s view, he attributes the “gloom” felt when encountering challenging church criticisms not to confirmation bias, but to the absence of the Spirit of God. We can’t dismiss confirmation bias, simply by stating we are not experiencing it. He suggests this dark feeling of gloom is evidence of divine disapproval of critical examination rather than the psychological discomfort from questioning one’s beliefs. This turns personal emotional discomfort into a spiritual sign of divine disfavor and shuts down any honest engagement with difficult questions.
By interpreting critical perspectives as inherently “dark” or “evil,” Corbridge places a spiritual barrier around inquiry, making it harder for people to consider them objectively. This assumes that any distress experienced while questioning faith indicates spiritual error, rather than a natural response to the possibility of shifting deeply held beliefs.
This is emotional manipulation, a sign of a cult, he’s teaching church members the practice of self-policing their thoughts, an effort to stop their “thought crimes” before they can occur. He’s using fear of this emotional discomfort, which he falsely labels not as confirmation bias, but a “stupor of thought.” Experiencing a faith crisis is deeply disturbing because it forces us to challenge our worldview at the root, it is no doubt extremely painful, but we can’t assume the pain is evil, or even bad. What about the “no pain, no gain” mantra? Growth hurts, but Corbridge would have members run from it. He councils to stay away from these soul-shaking “secondary” questions. He says to put it all on our shelf and carry on because we can hold on to the couple non-objective questions that can only be satisfied with an answer from the “divine method” of learning, meaning no evidence, no facts, no research, just a gut feeling of elevation emotion.
Ultimately, this is a self-reinforcing loop: one experiences discomfort when facing critiques, assumes it’s a sign to avoid these topics, and thus remains shielded from exploring potentially valid questions. This prevents believers from examining and understanding their faith and relying instead on emotional responses as proof of truth rather than objectively analyzing challenging issues.
You Can’t Learn the Truth by Elimination
There are some who are afraid the Church may not be true and who spend their time and attention slogging through the swamp of the secondary questions. They mistakenly try to learn the truth by process of elimination, by attempting to eliminate every doubt. That is always a bad idea. It will never work. That approach only works in the game of Clue.
Life, however, is not nearly as simple. There are unlimited claims and opinions leveled against the truth. Each time you track down an answer to any one antagonistic claim and look up, there is another one staring you in the face. I am not saying you should put your head in the sand, but I am saying you can spend a lifetime desperately tracking down the answer to every claim leveled against the Church and never come to a knowledge of the most important truths.
Answers to the primary questions do not come by answering the secondary questions. There are answers to the secondary questions, but you cannot prove a positive by disproving every negative. You cannot prove the Church is true by disproving every claim made against it. That will never work. It is a flawed strategy. Ultimately there has to be affirmative proof, and with the things of God, affirmative proof finally and surely comes by revelation through the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost… although we may not know the answer to every question, we must know the answers to the primary questions.
Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Authority Seventy, BYU Devotional: Stand Forever, January 22, 2019
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
Corbridge’s message suggests that examining “secondary questions” is unproductive and that attempting to disprove every doubt will never lead to a conclusive understanding of truth. This implies that scrutinizing critical issues—historical or doctrinal inconsistencies, ethical questions, and controversies—is unnecessary, as faith in foundational beliefs should take precedence. Though he states the contrary above, this reasoning parallels confirmation bias: by focusing only on answers that align with established beliefs, it encourages members to disregard evidence that might be crucial for genuine understanding.
This echoes the parable from Elder and Sister Renlund when they poke fun at those who play church history whack-a-mole. They admit here that as soon as we address one thing from our shelf of questions, another pops up. They say this is an endless and fruitless pursuit. Is it not a warning though that there are endless issues we could have questions about in church history?
This assumes that truth is only found by shielding our beliefs from scrutiny. By discouraging open inquiry and dismissing hard questions as distractions, the message undermines the moral imperative to honestly assess actions and claims, especially when they involve sensitive issues like discrimination, misleading information, or financial transparency. In other words, prioritizing “primary” beliefs over a thorough examination of ethical concerns or factual inconsistencies creates a closed feedback loop where evidence contrary to one’s beliefs is ignored, even when such evidence directly relates to integrity, morality, or truth.
Suppose, hypothetically, that someone was caught up with a con artist. This is the exact script a perpetrator would use to get their victim to willingly go along with the fraud. Corbridge’s framework discourages critical thinking and makes it nearly impossible for members to reconcile their beliefs with challenging information—information that might be vital for an honest assessment of their faith.
Lawrence Corbridge hints that there are answers to the secondary questions, but he doesn’t mention them. He alludes to the peace one can only find as he mentioned earlier by first answering the primary questions and then the secondary questions get answered too “or they pale in significance. He states we can deal with the things we understand, presumably the single divine fact that “the church is true,” and then none of the other questions matter, since we don’t and presumably can’t understand anyways. Why bother; we’ll find out all the answers to our shelf items in the next life, right?
Again, just stating something doesn’t make it true. He calls spending time looking at these secondary questions “always a bad idea” and a “flawed strategy” that will “never work.” The secondary questions he offers up?
- Church history
- Polygamy
- People of African descent and the priesthood, or the priesthood ban.
- Women and the priesthood, or the lack thereof.
- How the Book of Mormon was translated, which he doesn’t mention was with Joseph Smith’s face buried in his hat looking at his favorite rock.
- The Pearl of Great Price, presumably the fraudulent Book of Abraham translation and the plagiarised Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.
- DNA and the Book of Mormon, or the complete DNA evidence that proves the story of the Book of Mormon to be false because there is no genetic influence of Hebrews on the Native Americans, thus the migration of Nephites and Mulekites and Lamanites is a myth.
- Gay marriage, and the lack of support from the church.
- The different accounts of the First Vision, meaning the first vision story as taught by the church is only one version of the story but another strange first vision account was hidden by church leaders.
- on and on, certainly!
He states, “although we may not know the answer to every question, we must know the answers to the primary questions,” but the so-called secondary questions directly affect and inform these primary questions. If Joseph Smith was a fraud, could he also be a prophet of God? If polygamy was not from God, how and why would a prophet of God establish it and practice it in secret? If Joseph didn’t translate the Book of Abraham, as he said he did, how can it be considered scripture and can we consider anything from him scripture? If science, archeology and genetics disprove the historicity of the Book of Mormon, is it still valid scripture? Does the Book latter-day prophets claim to be historical need to be historical to be true or inspired scripture? and if it is not historical doesn’t that make these prophets wrong in their preaching and thus false prophets? Corbridge is right, the questions are endless!
Any one of these things is enough to challenge the authenticity of the church’s claims of divine authority and sanction. These questions are essential to understanding the God of the Mormon church and the ethos that guides the church leadership. They question whether Joseph Smith was inspired or a fraud, and how can this be secondary, they are essential questions using any measurement other than delusion
Believe “with God All Things Are Possible”
Finally, believe. Believe “with God all things are possible.” We may all be taken back from time to time by the extraordinary—such as walking on water, multiplying bread and fish, raising the dead, translating gold plates with special lenses or a stone and hat, and the visitation of angels. Some people are hard-pressed to believe extraordinary things. While it is understandable that we may be challenged by the extraordinary, we shouldn’t be, because ordinary things are actually far more phenomenal. …
In light of what is, nothing else should surprise us. It should be easy to believe that with God all things are possible.
The healing of the withered hand is not nearly as amazing as the existence of the hand in the first place. If it exists, it follows that it can certainly be fixed when it is broken. The greater event is not in its healing but in its creation.
More phenomenal than resurrection is birth. The greater wonder is not that life, having once existed, could come again but that it ever exists at all.
More amazing than raising the dead is that we live at all. A silent heart that beats again is not nearly as amazing as the heart that beats within your breast right now.
That one could see on a stone or through a special lens the modern translation of ancient text written on plates of gold is far less amazing than the human eye. The wonder is not what the human eye may see, rather, that it sees anything at all.
How can you believe in extraordinary things such as angels and gold plates and your divine potential? Easy, just look around and believe.
Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Authority Seventy, BYU Devotional: Stand Forever, January 22, 2019
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
This is the part of his devotional where Corbridge channels Brad Wilcox’s wrong questions idea. He says we should hardly be impressed with resurrection when life itself is the true miracle, and that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through a stone in his hat shouldn’t be surprising since the real miracle is an eye that sees anything. He slips in that Joseph translated the “ancient text written on plates of gold” with “special lenses or a stone and hat,” referencing on of his many secondary questions, which shouldn’t bother anyone. He sidesteps the answer to the question and even the question with the retort that the human eye is a wonder! He offers help on how we can believe these extraordinary claims of the church: it’s simple apparently, just do it, or in other words, just choose to believe despite any evidence to the contrary. “Easy, just look around and believe.”
Doubts and Questions
I heard someone say recently, “It is okay to have doubts.”
I wonder about that. The Lord said, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” I have a lot of questions; I don’t have any doubts. …
I know everything I need to know to stand forever.
May we stand on the rock of revelation, particularly in regard to the primary questions. If we do, we will stand forever and never go away.
Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Authority Seventy, BYU Devotional: Stand Forever, January 22, 2019
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
He wraps up with the statement that even though he may still have a lot of questions, he doesn’t have any doubts… but simply by saying his questions are not doubts does not make them go away. This then becomes more a lesson of how stubborn and proud can we be rather than how open can we be in following the truth.
Corbridge contrasts doubt with unwavering faith, suggesting that while questions are permissible, doubt itself is a threat to spiritual salvation. He denies his doubts and refers to them as questions instead. He uses fear to scare members from addressing doubt, and promotes the idea that entertaining or rehearsing doubts results in a lack of the Holy Ghost or a stupor of thought.
He equates doubt with instability, urging members to “stand on the rock of revelation” and commit unconditionally to believing the church’s core doctrines or his primary questions. This is more a stance of pride in one’s certainty, valuing steadfastness over openness to new insights or adjustments in understanding. By framing doubt as undesirable, Corbridge’s message becomes an exercise in stubbornness, discouraging the humility and willingness to follow the truth to wherever it leads.
This perspective closes off the journey to the truth if it diverges from the predefined path of faith within the church. This worships certainty, not God. This equates to a prideful standoff where none would listen to each other for fear of new ideas. True humility in faith involves being open to reevaluation and embracing the unknown, trusting that God can guide you through even difficult questions and doubts. In contrast, his talk frames holding firm—regardless of new perspectives or evidence—as the ultimate virtue, perhaps prioritizing loyalty over a genuine pursuit of understanding.
He states that he knows the answers to his primary questions by the evidence, by study and by the Spirit. He has just given a lecture that we should not look for evidence or study, and that the Spirit trumps anything, so he’s only telling us that he feels the answers to his primary questions. He feels it, yearns for it, and wishes it to be true, but again, simply saying something doesn’t make it true. He is not using evidence, and he is not using study, he’s not using any scientific method, analytic method, or academic method–he only uses his divine method, which teaches that emotions transmit the truth of things. This is dangerous, emotions can be wrong and emotions can be manipulated and even engineered. The church knows how to engineer an emotional response, and even trademarked it as HeartSell for use by their advertising division. Who benefits if we throw out the scientific method, analytical reasoning and critical thinking, and academic research? The church and the church alone benefit when members buy into the idea that emotion indicates truth and to disregard any “secondary questions” that might cause “gloom.”
Does Lawrence Corbridge’s perspective match that of the church? Does he speak for the church or does he speak for the Lord? This is a masterclass in propaganda and manipulation. He teaches members to avoid critical thinking and compartmentalize their divine knowledge or testimony, shielding it from objective consideration ensuring members willfully use confirmation bias (while denying it) and only expect emotion as their only evidence. He urges members to put anything troubling on their shelves as a secondary question. Admittedly these secondary questions are endless, and eventually, the shelf will be overloaded and break, leaving the member in this state of gloom. But Corbridge sets the stage for this also, and if we witness anyone delving into these issues to reconcile and reconstruct their beliefs during a faith crisis, they can safely be dismissed as having a “stupor of thought.” After all, if Lawrence doesn’t have any doubts, I probably don’t either.
More reading:
- https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-e-corbridge/stand-for-ever/
- https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/leader/lawrence-e-corbridge?lang=eng
- https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/%C2%A0elder-lawrence-e-corbridge
- On Choosing to Believe
- I Know The Church Is True
- Why Worry about Different Versions of the First Vision
- The Scary Dangers of Mormon Doubt
- Kevin W. Pearson, Holy Ghost Not Active For Doubters or Apostates
- Brad Wilcox On Asking the Wrong Questions
- The Mormon “Shelf” and Why it’s a Problem
- Putting Questions on the Shelf is Unhealthy and Doesn’t Work
- Mormon Shelf Items – more “secondary” questions