How could there have been an apostasy in the Christian church if according to the Book of Mormon there were three immortals and John the beloved that could never die. If this is true all of them would always have had the priesthood and therefore there would be no apostasy.

Lowell, 12/20/2009

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Webmaster from La Jolla, California:




Hi Lowell. For those who don't know, the "Three Nephites" were three inhabitants of the ancient Americas who, according to the Book of Mormon, Christ permitted to tarry on the earth until His Second Coming. The promise made to them is similar to the promise made to the apostle John in the New Testament (John 21:22-23). Certainly Mormon, one of the prophets who wrote the Book of Mormon, believed that the Three Nephites had not died (3 Nephi 28:29). Mormon folklore is also full of many stories, often told as jokes, that involve the Three Nephites. God is certainly capable of granting human beings immortality; that's the whole idea behind resurrection, after all. However, some might argue that the immortal Three Nephites, even as described in the Book of Mormon, are  folkloric rather than historic figures. Certainly they do not play an important role in Mormon theology; a Mormon need not believe in the existence of the Three Nephites to be a faithful member of the church, for example. Let's assume for the purpose of this question, though, that the Three Nephites never did die and that they still roam the earth today.

In this case, it is not strictly true that the priesthood was entirely taken from the earth with the death of the apostles, as the Three Nephites (as well as the apostle John, allegedly) continued to hold and exercise the priesthood. The priesthood authority was not generally available to humanity, however, and so the label “Great Apostasy” is still apt. Hope this answer helps.

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Nils from Frankfurt, Germany:


Hi there. Actually we don´t really knwo what happened to the three immortal Nephites. We know that the Lord led them out of the land of Zarahemla because of the wickedness of the Nephites (compare Mormon 1: 13). If they continued to tarry until the second coming of Jesus Christ is uncertain. We read in Mormon 8: 10: "And there are none that do know the true God save it be the disciples of Jesus, who did tarry in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great that the Lord would not suffer them to remain with the people; and whether they be upon the face of the land no man knoweth." Even if we understand the story of the three immortals to be a historic record, this record is not conflicting with the apostasy. Hope this helps.
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