Unwilling to accept the possibility that a total
apostasy occurred, some mainline Christians often counter that Christ old Peter
“upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.” (Matthew 16:18) To interpret this passage we must first define
terms.
What is “the Church” (Greek ekklesia =
“assembly”) that Jesus spoke of? The mainline interpretation suggests that it
was “the Church” in its manifestation as an earthly organization. However, in a
broader sense, “the Church” is much more inclusive. Two of the earliest
post-New Testament Christian writings, The Pastor of Hermas and 2
Clement (both early second century) claimed that God created the Church
even before he created the world. “She was created first of all . . . and for
her sake was the world made” (The Pastor of Hermas, Vis. 2:4, in ANF 10:305).
“Moreover, the books of the Apostles declare that the Church belongs not to the
present, but existed from the beginning” (2 Clement 14:2, in Robert M.
Grant, ed., The Apostolic Fathers, 6 vols. [New York: Thomas Nelson
& Sons, 1964-1968], 2:126). Paul wrote, “He hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:3) The author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews went on: “But we are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and in an innumerable company of angels. To
the general assembly and assembly and church of the firstborn, which are
written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect.” (Hebrews 12:22-23). The message here is clear. “The Church” is
not just an earthly organization—it existed before the foundation of the world,
and it exists with the saints of all ages, both those who are on the earth and
those who have passed on. Therefore, even if the Church as an earthly
organization disappears and reappears periodically, the Church will always
survive!
But is there any reason to believe Jesus was peaking
primarily of the earthly Church? On the contrary, the text says that “the gates
of hell [Greek hades = “the world of the dead”]) shall not prevail
against it.” What are “the gates of αδης”? Hades it not
hell—it is the underworld, and in early Christian and Jewish thought it was
believed to be a place of waiting where the spirits of the dead, both the just
and unjust, remained until the resurrection. (If Jesus had been speaking in
Roman Catholic terms he might have said “the gates of Purgatory shall not
prevail against it.”) Thus Tertullian (ca. 200 A.D.): “All souls, therefore;
are shut up within Hades; do you admit this? (It is true, whether) you say yes
or no . . .” (Tertullian, On the Soul 58, in ANF 3:234-235). The “gates
of hades” then, represent the “powers of death” (The verse is actually rendered
thus in some modern translations, notably the Revised Standard Version
and the NEB), and “the sting of death is sin.” (1 Corinthians 15:56) Thus the
text seems to be a promise of protection from the powers of death and sin for
Christ’s assembly (ekklesia) of believers. For this reason Michael W.
Winter, former lecturer in Fundamental Theology at St. John’s Seminary (Roman
Catholic), in his excellent scholarly defense of the papacy, admits that
“although some writers have applied the idea of immortality to the survival of
the church, it seems preferable to see it as a promise of triumph of evil” (Winter,
Saint Peter and the Popes, 17).
Furthermore, there are numerous allusions in the early
Christian literature to Christ, when he died and went to hades, breaking down
the gates of Hades and leading out the faithful to glorious resurrection/ For
instance, Athanasius related the following tradition: “He burst open the gates
of brass, He broke through the bolts of iron, and He took the souls which were
in Amente [the Coptic equivalent of Hades] and carried them to His Father . . .
Now the souls He brought out of Amente, but the bodies He raised upon on the
earth . . .” (Discourse of Apa Athanasius Concerning the Soul and the Body,
in E.A.W. Budge, Coptic Homilies [London, Longmans and Co., 1910] 271-272)
Therefore it is clear what Jesus was talking about when he said “the gates of
hades” would not prevail against the Church, and to apply this statement to the
perpetuation of the early Church would make no sense (An alternate opinion was
expressed to me by one of the reviewers of this book. In his view, this passage
refers symbolically to the early Church, but the phrase, “the gates of hades
shall not prevail against it” suggests that the Church would at some future
time be located behind the gates of hades, but would not remain there.
Thus the passage is actually a prediction of the future apostasy and
Restoration). (Barry Robert Bickmore, Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph
Smith and Early Christianity [2d ed.; Redding, Calif.: Foundation for
Apologetic Information and Research, 2013], 48-49)