Every person is born into this world with a charge to find the truth and to return himself to God.  On the surface that seems a daunting task given the huge number of religions and philosophies that one must sort through.  By human nature most people are lazy, and pick the easiest way through their challenges and through life.  Therefore, almost all men choose to either ignore the quest for truth and salvation, or to simply go with the flow and follow what their parents and their societies believe and do.

The adversary has made the task of finding truth very difficult by providing a plethora of philosophies to pick through, but the quest is actually much simpler than one would expect.

The true religion will be one that makes me a happier and a better person.  It will teach me who God is, who I am, and how I can live peacefully and serviceably with my fellow man.  It will be the same religion, with the same doctrines, that was taught to the first man.

I’d begin my search with the major religions.  The two most numerous are the Roman Catholic Church and Islam.  I would quickly reject both of these religions given their histories of violence, conquest, and forced conversions.  God is a god of love, and could never approve brutality, cruelty, enslavement, and the subjugation of choice and free will.

I’d next look at Hinduism and Buddhism, as the next largest religions.  Buddhism grew out of Hinduism.  That makes it suspect if the parent religion proves to be untrue.  Truth can’t come from falsehood.

Both Hinduism and Buddhism emphasize the quest for peace, happiness, and release from suffering; but neither can tell you who God is, and both are based upon the writings and philosophies of men.

Confucianism doesn’t teach a belief in a deity or in a life after death.  Taoism practices magic, astrology, fortune telling, witchcraft, and worships many gods.  It borrows from Buddhism.  So does Shintoism which is devoted chiefly to nature worship.

Not one of these religions believes in a personal, loving God who wants to be intimately involved in my life.  Some of the denominations of Protestantism might look promising because they believe in such a God, but Protestantism as a whole must be rejected because it originated from a system of falsehood.

Elder Orson F. Whitney quoted a Catholic scholar who stated this principle very succinctly:

You Mormons are all ignoramuses.  You don’t even know the strength of your own position.  It is so strong that there is only one other tenable in the whole Christian world, and that is the position of the Catholic Church.  The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism.  If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that’s all there is to it.  The Protestants haven’t a leg to stand on.  For, if we are wrong, they are wrong with us, since they were a part of us and went out from us; while if we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago.  If we have the apostolic succession from St. Peter, as we claim, there is no need of Joseph Smith and Mormonism; but if we have not that succession, then such a man as Joseph Smith was necessary, and Mormonism’s attitude is the only consistent one.  It is either the perpetuation of the gospel from ancient times, or the restoration of the gospel in latter days.  (As quoted in A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, LeGrand Richards, pg. 3).

Finding the true religion is like trying to find the true kernel in a bag of popcorn.  The task looks impossible, but knowing a few basic principles simplifies the process.

The first principle we need to know is that true religion is not man-made.  It must have been given by God Himself to the first man.  In our search we can thus skip over the writings of Mohammed, Catholic saints, and Hindu Vedas; and examine the earliest writings we can find.  Those would be the writings of Moses.  He describes the creation of the first man, the principles given to Adam, and points his readers to the coming advent of a redeemer.  The Bible thus becomes the basis for our search, and narrows it to Christianity.

The second principle we need to know is the one taught by the Catholic scholar.  Either the truth has been here all along, or else it needs to be restored.  Since we’ve already rejected the Catholic Church because of its history and inconsistencies, we can also reject its hundreds or thousands of offshoots.  In doing so we find ourselves on firm ground as we study the Bible.  It speaks over and over again about a falling away, an apostasy from the truth, and about a restoration.  (Acts 3:19-21; 20:28-30; Gal. 1:6-9;  Eph. 1:10; 2 Thess. 2:1-3, 11; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 2: 1-2; Amos 8: 11-12).

The true kernel in our bag of popcorn was the first one in.  The rest were put in to mask, hide, and obscure it.

If we examine the bag we’re going to find a hole where the true kernel was removed.  For a period of time the true kernel wasn’t in the bag at all.  We’ve got to look for a restoration.  The true kernel will be the one that’s added back at the end.  Only one church in the world claims to be a restoration, and its claims can be checked.

Now that we’ve identified our candidate kernel, we need to test it.  Is Jesus Christ its chief corner stone?  Is its doctrine the same as was given anciently?

The answer to both of those questions is yes.  Indeed we find in the restored Church that there are additional scriptures of which we were previously unaware that confirm the truth of the Bible.  One of those additional scriptures (the writings of Abraham) is even older than the writings of Moses, is in harmony with his five books, and clarifies and amplifies his writings.

The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, becomes a second witness and establishes the position of the Bible as the word of God and the doctrine of Christ.

And what is the doctrine of Christ?  That, too, is plainly and simply laid out in the Book of Mormon in Jesus’ own words:

And this is my doctrine…that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine…  (3 Ne. 11:32-39).

The third principle we need to satisfy in our search for the true religion is that we must look for a god who can and does speak for himself.  We have it in the words just quoted from The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  He says further:

I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  (John 14:6).

…He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost…wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.  (2 Ne. 31:12).

Jesus’ prophet says, “…There is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ…whereby man can be saved.”  (2 Ne. 25:20 and Acts 4:12).

Jesus is the way.  Jesus is the means.  The doctrine of Jesus Christ is the true religion as embodied in His Restored Church.  His doctrine is simple.  He says, “…repent and believe in me,” (3 Ne. 11:32), “…be baptized in my name” (3 Ne. 11:37), “receive the Holy Ghost,” and “follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.”  (2 Ne. 31:12).

There it is:  the doctrine of Christ, and the only way whereby we can be saved.  We can ignore it, we can fight against it, or we can continue looking through the bag for another way; but until we believe, repent, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and follow Jesus the way to truth and our return to God is closed.