David A. Bednar: As I travel around the Church, I find the word "doctrine" is not very well understood. Sometimes we think doctrine refers to weird, abstract, mysterious subjects in the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I refer to doctrine, I am not talking about how many light-years it is to Kolob and who lives there. Rather, doctrine refers to the eternal, unchanging, and simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are several key words in that definition: eternal, unchanging, simple, and truth. Doctrines are never altered. They never vary. They will always be the same. You can always count on them. There is, for example, the doctrine of the Atonement. There is doctrine related to priesthood and priesthood keys. There is doctrine related to continuing revelation and the pattern whereby our Heavenly Father communicates with us and we communicate with Him. These are eternal, unchanging truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are also principles. Principles are doctrinally based guidelines for what we ought to do. Therefore, if there is a doctrine of the Atonement, then the first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is the second principle or doctrinally based guideline for how we should live. Both of these principles are linked to the doctrine of the Atonement. Brothers and sisters, doctrine answers the why questions of our lives. Principles provide us with direction about the what and the how. May I suggest that in the times in which we live, only the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to the why questions that matter the most.
(BYU-I [Ricks College] Education Week, June 4, 1998)
