The idea that certain individuals from biblical or extra-biblical narratives, like the apostle John, the Three Nephites from the Book of Mormon, the prophet Enoch, or the inhabitants of the City of Zion,are still alive on earth today, having somehow bypassed physical death and continuing to live for centuries or millennia, is a fascinating concept found in some religious traditions, notably within Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) for figures like John and the Three Nephites. However, when we examine this idea through the lens of the biblical understanding of death, resurrection, and God's overarching plan, it runs into some significant scriptural and theological difficulties.
First and foremost, the consistent testimony of Scripture is that death is the common end for all humanity descended from Adam. "For as in Adam all die..." Paul states clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:22. Hebrews 9:27 declares, "...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." While this latter verse contextually refers more specifically to the Levitical high priests in its original argument, the general principle of mortality for mankind is a pervasive biblical theme. The very narrative of salvation through Christ is predicated on overcoming this universal reality of death (1 Corinthians 15:26, 54-57; 2 Timothy 1:10). To suggest that certain individuals, apart from the unique case of Christ's resurrection as the "firstfruits," have simply continued to live on earth without dying for hundreds or thousands of years creates an exception to this fundamental rule that requires extraordinary scriptural support, which is generally lacking.
Let's consider Enoch. Genesis 5:24 (KJV) says, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." This is often interpreted, especially by those who believe in the ongoing earthly life of certain figures, as meaning God took Enoch to heaven without him experiencing death. However, the phrasing "he was not" is a common Hebrew idiom simply meaning he died or disappeared from human sight (see Jeremiah 31:15, "Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not"). The "God took him" could mean God took his life, or perhaps removed him from a difficult situation before his natural death, as some traditions suggest. Crucially, the writer of Hebrews, when listing the heroes of faith, includes Enoch: "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5). This "translated that he should not see death" is the key phrase. However, just a few verses later, the same chapter concludes about all these figures of faith, including Enoch by explicit prior mention: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off..." (Hebrews 11:13). If Enoch "died in faith" along with all the others, then his "translation" cannot mean he bypassed death entirely to live on immortally. More likely, "translated that he should not see death" refers to the manner or timing of his removal by God, perhaps being spared a violent or premature death, or having a peaceful end, but not to an unending earthly existence. He still, according to Hebrews, "died in faith."
What about the apostle John? The basis for the idea of his continued life often comes from a misunderstanding of Jesus' words in John 21:20-23. Peter asks about John's fate, and Jesus replies, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." John then immediately clarifies, "Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" John himself corrects the rumor. Jesus' statement was hypothetical ("If I will..."), not a promise of John's undying earthly presence. Church tradition, though varied, predominantly holds that John did eventually die, albeit perhaps of old age in Ephesus. There's no solid scriptural or early historical basis for him continuing to live on earth.
There's also the concept of the Three Nephites remaining on earth which is specific to the Book of Mormon. According to that text (3 Nephi 28), these three disciples of Jesus in the Americas desired to tarry until Jesus' second coming to bring souls to Him, and this request was granted, transforming them so they would "never taste of death" and "never endure the pains of death." From a purely biblical standpoint, as understood through the texts we've analyzed, this presents several conflicts. Firstly, the promise of not tasting death until the Second Coming, while unique, still places their immortality within a specific dispensational context that will eventually conclude. More significantly, the power over death and the granting of such a transformed state is exclusively presented in the Bible as the result of Christ's resurrection and the believer's future participation in that resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). The idea of such a state being granted on request during an earthly ministry, separate from the "firstfruits" of Christ and the later general resurrection of believers, doesn't align with the New Testament's carefully laid out order of resurrection and glorification. Furthermore, Paul stresses that immortality ("this mortal must put on immortality") is something that happens at a specific future point, the "last trump" (1 Corinthians 15:52-54), for the Body of Christ, not something granted individually and indefinitely on earth centuries prior.
Let's not forget the City of Zion being taken to heaven without its inhabitants tasting death which is another concept rooted more in specific interpretations of extra-biblical texts (like sections of the Pearl of Great Price for Latter-day Saints, describing Enoch's city) than in the clear narrative of canonical Scripture. While the Bible speaks of a heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2), this is presented as the future dwelling of the redeemed and the glorified Christ, a city that comes down from God out of heaven to the new earth, not a city of mortals translated to heaven centuries ago who continue to live there without experiencing the resurrection. The destiny for believers according to Paul is to be "caught up together... to meet the Lord in the air" after the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the transformation of the living (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), at the time of Christ's coming for His Body. This is a specific eschatological event involving resurrection and glorification, not a quiet translation of an entire city full of mortals.
Beyond these specific figures, the broader theological framework developed in the provided texts presents challenges to the idea of any human achieving ongoing, undying physical existence on earth since the fall of Adam. Romans 5:12 states, "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men." This universal inheritance of mortality (leading to physical death) is a foundational aspect of Paul's theology. Exceptions to this would require extremely clear divine pronouncements.
1 Corinthians 15:20, 23 calls Christ "the firstfruits of them that slept" and states that "every man [will be made alive] in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." If others achieved a state of never-dying physicality on earth centuries before Christ's own resurrection, or continue to live without death long after, it complicates Christ's unique role as the first to conquer death definitively and bring incorruptible life. His resurrection is the pattern and guarantee for ours.
The Bible speaks of resurrection and transformation to glorified, immortal bodies as the means by which death is overcome (1 Corinthians 15:50-54; Philippians 3:21). It doesn't present a mechanism by which un-glorified, mortal (or even "semi-mortal," as discussed in 'Forbidden Bible Truth') physical bodies could be sustained indefinitely on earth without decay or death for millennia, apart from constant, direct divine intervention for which there's no explicit scriptural promise for individuals scattered across history. Access to something like the tree of life is presented as a feature of future eschatological realities (Revelation 22:2), not a current provision for specific individuals.
Therefore, while the idea of certain revered figures continuing a hidden ministry on earth has a certain romantic appeal, the overwhelming testimony of Scripture points to death as the current human norm, with the hope of overcoming it resting solely on the future resurrection and transformation promised through Jesus Christ. The biblical narrative emphasizes God's plan to defeat death universally at a future point, through the resurrection, rather than granting individual exemptions to physical mortality for extended earthly sojourns. Claims of such ongoing physical life for specific individuals would need to contend with these foundational scriptural teachings about death and resurrection.
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