From Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (deceased). . . .
In so many ways we come back to the fundamental question, do we believe in God, and, if so, what kind of God? In the New Testament, the operative inquiry was, “What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42). In the Book of Mormon, it is whether or not there really is a rescuing Christ. This constitutes the “great question” (Alma 34:5).
In responding to that great question, some stumble needlessly over the divine attributes of foreknowledge and omniscience. Finite man can scarcely understand the infinite capacity of God, yet we can be nurtured by the array of reassuring scriptures which so attest and tell us—in micro and macro ways—more than we can fully absorb:
“My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning” (Abraham 2:8).
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
“Nevertheless God knoweth all things” (Mormon 8:17).
“But there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all” (Moses 1:6).
“I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God (Doctrine and covenants 138:55).
“The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes” (Doctrine and covenants 38:2).
“In the presence of God, . . . all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord” (Doctrine and covenants 130:7).
Revelation thus dramatically compensates for our lack otherwise of full understanding about God’s character!
Some believe in these and other relevant revelations; many do not. We are all left free to choose. Nevertheless the “great question” remains; ignored or unanswered, it still refuses to go away, even if we turn away from it and from Him (Mosiah 3:5). ~Neal A. Maxwell, Whom the Lord Loveth, The Journey of Discipleship (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003). 81-83
