Articles of Faith: What Does It Mean to Believe?

Twelve of the thirteen Articles of Faith begin with the words “We believe.” What does it mean to believe? Elder Bruce R. McConkie defined belief this way.

Belief, humble belief, is the foundation of all righteousness and the beginning of spiritual progression….

Belief is the brilliant beacon that marks the course through the waves and woes of the world to that celestial harbor where rest and safety are found….

Belief in its full glory and beauty comes from God and is a divine gift bestowed upon all mankind. It is a heaven-sent boon of infinite worth that, in the full and true sense, is nothing more nor less than faith itself….

Belief, in the sense of intellectual assent to the existence of various truths, is the common inheritance of all mankind. Every normal and accountable person believes something. Such is a part of the natural heritage that goes with existence itself. Each human being has a mind, given of God, that believes and knows certain things without reference to revelation. The thought process is inherent in life itself, and we cannot exist without believing something. Belief in this sense has no relationship to gaining salvation.

Belief, in the sense of accepting or adhering to certain standards or principles of goodness, is also the common inheritance of all mankind. All are in a position to know the difference between good and evil. This knowledge comes to each person from his conscience. It is a divine endowment. It is the light of Christ, the light that enlightens every soul born into mortality….

Belief, in the true gospel sense and as commonly used in the scriptures, means faith. And faith is a gift of God reserved for those who abide the law entitling them to receive a boon so beneficent and a gift so great. Thus, to gain salvation, mankind must believe in Christ, or in other words, have faith in him….

Belief brings salvation and belief brings damnation. Men [and women] are saved or damned, depending upon what they believe. If they believe in Christ and his saving truths, they are heirs of salvation…

Salvation comes to those who believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rejection of his gospel closes the door to salvation….

All persons will be judged according to the deeds done in the flesh; as their works have been here in mortality, so shall their rewards be in immortality. This means they will be judged for their beliefs, or in other words for their thoughts, their words, and their acts. Beliefs are born of thoughts; they are then expressed in words; and, finally, they are manifest before mankind in works….

We conclude, therefore, that salvation depends upon belief. If we believe in God and feel in our hearts that he is a Holy Man; if we believe we are his children, endowed with power to become like him; if we believe that by godly conduct we can so obtain – then we will do the things whereby salvation comes…. (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 21-23, 250).