Doubt in the word of God has no place in the righteous life. It is the antithesis of faith. Spirituality and doubt cannot rest comfortably in the same heart, for spirituality—which reaches its highest degree in the gift of charity—“believeth all things” (Moroni 7:45). Doubt, on the other hand, denies things and challenges them to be proven. Doubt withholds belief until adequate proof is presented. Faith extends belief until it is superseded by knowledge.
That is, by the way, why genuine faith can only be placed in something that is true. As the ancient American prophet, Alma, taught, “if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” (Alma 32:21) Faith is a bridge of belief that carries the believer from one level of knowledge to an increased level of knowledge, therefore it has to reach something that is true.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is never on trial. Its very true nature places the individual on trial when he is exposed to truth. The individual is left to accept or reject the truth—to gain a knowledge of it through faith and then live it, or to doubt it or avoid it—but he cannot alter it, and the individual is blessed or condemned by what he does with regard to the truth.
The word of the Lord revealed through His messengers is true. Faith assumes the truth and leads the believer to act upon it, whether or not that truth is comprehended. Doubt takes the side of the devil and denies the truth until compelled to surrender pretense when recognition of truth is inescapable—and that recognition can be dexterously delayed for a long time.
The Lord continually urges us to gain knowledge, to search diligently, to prove all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You do not have to doubt something in order to prove it. Exercising faith in an unconfirmed truth converts faith into the vehicle for gaining knowledge, for verification, since by acting in accordance with a truth is a sure way by which the reality of a truth is revealed. It is belief in the accuracy of a map that allows one to probe the charted course, at the end of which lies confirmation and assurance. Doubt discourages one from ever setting out on the road, and until some faith is exercised to overcome the doubt the journey is never begun.
Indeed, doubt always leads away from knowledge. The doubting mind is only ever brought to knowledge when somewhere along the road doubt in some degree is overcome by faith that is exercised in some truth. Faith is the connecting link that leads us from knowledge to knowledge. Thus, part of the gospel plan includes inquiry, questioning, but it is a questioning illumined by faith, not shaded by doubt.
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