It looks like John MacArthur is getting desperate! He has now started attacking the Book of Mormon. In the above sermon, at around 39:30 minutes into the video, he says the following:
“The Book of Mormon, quote from 2 Nephi 2: ‘Adam fell that men might have joy.’ Really? ‘Adam fell that men might have joy’? I don’t think so. And by the way, the Book of Mormon, Alma chapter 7 verse 10 says, Jesus would be born in Jerusalem. Nice try. He was born in Bethlehem.”
(Details of the sermon as well as written transcript can be found here.) Both of those passages referenced from the Book of Mormon are misquoted and misrepresented. In the first reference, the full context of the passage is as follows:
2 Nephi 2:
22 And now behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden; and all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.
23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence; having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy.
26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall, they have become free forever, knowing good from evil, to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.
That is what the passage actually does say. Firstly, it says that “Adam fell that man might be,” which is not the same as what he is falsely misquoting it to be saying. What that means is that before the Fall, Adam and Eve could not have had children, as explained in the previous two verses. It doesn’t give a reason for it. It doesn’t explain why. But that is what it is saying. Interestingly, the Old Testament account also indirectly confirms this. Adam and Eve started having children only after the Fall. It is unlikely that the Fall took place on the first day that they were created. They must have lived together in the garden for some time, before they were tempted and fell. But we have no record of them having children until after the Fall. We don’t know why; it doesn’t explain the reasons; but that apparently was the case. In the second part, when it says that “men are that they might have joy,” it is not talking about the Fall at all. What that is saying is that the purpose of man’s creation is that they might be happy; and they will be, provided that they obey the will of God. God didn’t create mankind in order that they might be miserable (as in the heresy of Calvinism that he believes in). God wants all mankind to be happy; and they will be provided that they do what God says. But the choice is theirs to go either way. He is deliberately misquoting and misrepresenting the Book of Mormon to make it look bad. The same applies to his quote from Alma chapter 7, which is as follows:
Alma 7:
10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
That of course is a very common criticism of the Book of Mormon, which I had previously discussed here. That verse is also misquoted and given out of context. Evidently he hasn’t read the Book of Mormon properly, to understand it in its proper historical context. In the Book of Mormon, the expression “land of Jerusalem” is used repeatedly and consistently by the Nephites to refer to that region of the world where their ancestors had come from, meaning the entire Palestinian territories. The Nephites lived on an entirely different continent, and had no direct contact with, or acquaintance of the region of the world where their ancestors had come from; and the phrase, “land of Jerusalem” had become a kind of idiomatic expression among them to refer to that region of the world where their ancestors came from, meaning the whole of the Palestinian lands. It is not a reference to the “city” of Jerusalem as such. Here are some examples (punctuation revised):
1 Nephi 18:
24 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore we were blessed in abundance.
2 Nephi 1:
1 And now it came to pass, that after I Nephi had made an end of teaching my brethren, our father Lehi also spake many things unto them, and rehearsed unto them how great things the Lord had done for them, in bringing them out of the land of Jerusalem.
2 Nephi 1:
3 And he also spake unto them concerning the land of promise, which they had obtained—how merciful the Lord had been in warning us that we should flee out of the land of Jerusalem.
Jacob 2:
25 Wherefore thus saith the Lord: I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.
Mosiah 1:
11 And moreover, I shall give this people a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I do because they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord.
Mosiah 7:
20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is because of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage.
Alma 7:
10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
Alma 10:
3 And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren.
Alma 36:
29 Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time, even down to the present day. …
Helaman 16:
19 Yea, why will he [Jesus] not show himself in this land, as well as in the land of Jerusalem?
3 Nephi 16:
1 And verily, verily I say unto you, that I [Jesus] have other sheep which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about, whither I have been to minister.
Mormon 3:
18 Yea, behold, I write unto all the ends of the earth; yea unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall be judged according to your works by the twelve [Apostles] whom Jesus chose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem.
Note especially the last quote, where it says that the Twelve Apostles of Jesus were chosen in the land of Jerusalem, thus making it clear that that expression is used idiomatically to refer to the whole of that part of the world where their ancestors had come from, meaning the whole of Palestinian territories, not the actual city of Jerusalem as such. Sometimes the phrase, “land of” is omitted, and only the word “Jerusalem,” or “at Jerusalem” is used to refer to the same thing, as in these verses:
2 Nephi 9:
5 Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator, that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.
2 Nephi 10:
5 But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him [Jesus], that he be crucified.
Helaman 16:
18 That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not show himself unto us, as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem?
3 Nephi 15:
14 And not at any time hath the Father given me [Jesus] commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem.
3 Nephi 16:
4 And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, …
3 Nephi 17:
8 For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem; for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you.
4 Nephi 1:
31 Nevertheless, and notwithstanding all these miracles, the people did harden their hearts, and did seek to kill them, even as the Jews at Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus, according to his word.
3 Nephi 21:
26 And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people; yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.
The last quote in this list is particularly revealing. It depicts all of the “Lost Tribes of Israel” as having been led away out of Jerusalem, thus making it clear beyond any dispute that by that term is meant the whole of the Palestinian lands, not just the city of Jerusalem as such. Thus, far from casting doubt on the truth of the Book of Mormon, this extraordinary internal consistency is further evidence of its truth.
So the bottom line is that John MacArthur seems desperate to find fault with the Book of Mormon; and he is resorting to misquotation and misrepresentation to do it, because he has no other way. The Book of Mormon is a 500 page book, claiming to be an ancient book of scripture on a par with the Bible—and that is the best that he can do to find fault with it! That won’t work. The Book of Mormon is indeed true ancient scripture like the Bible, no difference. Anybody trying to attack the Book of Mormon, it will only backfire on them. For him to try to attack the Book of Mormon, is like a fly trying to attack an elephant. It has no effect on the Book of Mormon.
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P. S.
After posting the above, I have given more thought to the question of why Adam and Eve could not have had children until after the Fall; and it has occurred to me that prior to the Fall, there was no death (of man or beast); death came only after the Fall. If they had been able to have children before the Fall, their children would have also been immortal, and pretty soon the earth would have run out of space to contain all its inhabitants, of both men and beasts.
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