I believe a foundational error of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is found in its alteration of the account of the Fall of Man.

According to Gilbert Scharffs, an instructor at the LDS Institute for religion, in his article, Unique Insights on Christ from the Book of Mormon, published on the official LDS website, the Book of Mormon expounds on the account of the Fall and clarifies its purpose.

“Many Christians think of the Fall as a great tragedy and believe that Adam and Eve were wicked sinners and that the Atonement was necessary only to compensate for their mistake. This interpretation is understandable because of the incomplete biblical account.  Fortunately, the Book of Mormon clarifies the relationship between the Fall and the Atonement. Lehi explained, “If Adam had not transgressed … he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things … must have remained in the same state” forever. Consequently, Adam and Eve “would have had no children.” (2 Ne. 2:22–23.) He also explained that there would be no joy because there would be no sorrow, no righteousness because there would be no evil. Ultimately, there would be no chance for eternal life. (2 Ne. 2:11–27.)”

In 2 Nephi 2:15 it says that in order for God’s purposes for man to be brought about, there needed to be opposition.  While 2 Nephi does say that the serpent was the father of lies and aimed to deceive Adam and Eve in order to bring man into misery with himself (2 Nephi 2:18) and that Adam transgressed in taking the fruit (2 Nephi 2:22), the conclusion of the matter is that the Fall was still ultimately a good thing.  And this is because the fall resulted in humans having the knowledge of good and evil.  2 Nephi says there would be no righteousness without evil and no good without sin.

Three reasons why this teaching is foundationally anti-God and heretical:

1. Genesis 1 makes it clear that there was goodness before the fall. God repeatedly states that His creation, including His creation of mankind was good. (Gen 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:21, 1:25, 1:31). Sin was not needed for this goodness to exist (As 2 Nephi claims).  Saying that sin or evil was needed would be to deny God’s creation as good before the fall.
2. Satan, not God, was the one promoting the idea that having knowledge of good and evil was a beneficial thing for humans (Genesis 3:5). Satan told Eve that this knowledge would result in the progression of the human race: they would become wiser and more like God. To say that the knowledge of good and evil was needed and essential for humans to experience goodness and happiness (as 2 Nephi does) is to agree with Satan and to disregard God’s commandment to not eat from the tree.  It would be to say that God’s commandments are not always good and not where the fullness of life is found.
3. To say that sin is needed for good, and evil needed for righteousness is to deny God’s eternal goodness.

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 

If evil was needed for righteousness to exist, we either have to deny scripture and say that Satan was there in the beginning with God and not created by Him OR we have to deny God’s Righteousness and eternal goodness by saying that God was not righteous or good until Satan opposed Him.   This idea makes God dependent on Satan.

This subtle alternation on the account of the Fall of Man in 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon elevates Satan and evil.  It affirms Satan and essentially says his lie was truth, and implicates that God is not eternally good and righteous.  Satan’s goal is to elevate himself, become God and convince humans that they can as well.  This message in 2 Nephi is clearly aligned with this pursuit.  I believe that the progression of theology seen in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Commandments stem from this foundational lie and will demonstrate that in future posts.  Mormon’s do not claim to elevate Satan or His lie, and may not desire to personally, but the theology clearly does.