I am the Latter-day Saint apologist who has done the most work on the Christadelphians. I thought it would be worthwhile to share how Christadelphians approach the text that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matt 16:18) and how they, as (Unitarian) Restorationists, approach the text (notice how they emphasize, as do many Latter-day Saints, the concept of the dead overcoming Hades or death):
1 Cor. 15:55 gives us the word “grave” in the common version, and in
many other places where it is rendered “hell,” the meaning is self-evidently
the grave. For instance, Peter proving the divine purpose to raise Jesus from
the grave, by quoting Psalm 16:10: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell—(hades).” Jesus says, “the gates of hell (hades) shall not prevail against his church, which, considering
that his church never got inside the gates of hell, in the orthodox sense, is
conclusive against hades meaning hell
in that sense, and as conclusive of grave being the meaning; for the gates of
the grave close over his church, but shall not prevail; for he has the keys of
hell (hades) and death; and opening
the gates will release his prisoners (Zech. 9:11.) He is “the resurrection and
the life,” and says “I will raise them up at the last day.”—(John 6:39.) Again,
“death and hell are to be cast into the lake of fire.” The lake of fire is
explained (Rev. 20:14) to be symbolical of “the second death.” This second
death destroys the wicked, and, therefore, destroys death and the grave; for
when there are no wicked surviving, death and the grave disappear from earth’s
experiences. (Robert Roberts, “Future Punishments Not ‘Eternal Torments,’”
The Christadelphian 8, no. 81 [March 1871]: 81)
“The Gates of
Hell Shall Not Prevail”
“I
have a sister who I am sorry to say is a Roman Catholic; and whenever we speak
to her about the Truth, and about there having been a falling away from the
faith, she always quotes this to prove the impossibility of such a thing. What
are we to say?”—G. S.
Answer.—There is no difficulty about the answer. The difficulty would
be in the reception of it on the part of anyone in the state of mental
inebriation implied in being a Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic
interpretation cannot be the true interpretation, because it would leave no
place for those other words of Christ, that when he comes, he will find a state
of things corresponding to the days of Noah and the days of Lot (Luke 17:26–30).
It would leave no place for that other saying of Christ by the mouth of
Paul—for the words of the apostles were the words of Christ—(Luke 10:16; Matt.
10:20), that there would come a falling away preliminary to the development of
the Man of Sin (2 Thess. 2:3), a turning away from the truth to fables (2 Tim.
4:4), a departing from the faith (1 Tim. 4:1). It would also exclude the
prophecy of Christ by John in Patmos, that all the nations of the European
habitable would come under the perverting influence of a “mother” system
established at Rome (Rev. 17:1, 2, 18).
What is the true interpretation? Nothing more evident. “The gates of
Hades” are the gates of the grave. These shall not prevail against the church,
for Christ has the keys of those dismal gates, as he says: “I have the keys of
Hades and of death” (Rev. 1:18), and he will use the keys and open the gates,
and his imprisoned church (Zech. 9:11, 12) will emerge and say, “O Hades, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor.
15:53). This leaves room for every other element of truth, which is the test of
whether an interpretation is scriptural or not. But it requires the exercise of
reason to perceive the fact. If people will not exercise their reason, you can
do nothing with them; for there is no other method in this age of the world of
arriving at truth than by the exercise of reason upon existing facts, of which
the Bible is the greatest. (“’The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail,’”
The Christadelphian 28, no. 328 [October 1, 1891]: 381-82)
Binding and
Loosing
Sister J.H. Asks: Could you
please explain what is meant in Matthew 16:19 by being bound and loosed in
earth and in heaven?
THIS whole passage is used by the Roman Catholic church in support of
the view that Peter had unique authority not possessed by any other of the
apostles. this spiritual supremacy was, so it is claimed, his alone, and was
passed by him to successive Bishops of Rome. Peter is therefore seen as “the
rock” on which the Church is founded, ignoring the other-passages in scripture
where the Lord Jesus Christ is described as the Rock (Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11;
1 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 2:20). Significantly, Peter himself refers to
Jesus as the rock: “the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner” (1 Peter 2:7). But, even though “the rock” was not
Peter, did he nonetheless have unique spiritual authority? And, furthermore,
what are the keys? It is easy to overlook the other difficulties of this
passage because of an undue concentration on denying Peter’s headship of the
church.
The keys of the kingdom are the essential elements of the gospel
appeal which it was the duty of all the apostles to make available to any who
would hear. Jesus castigated the religious leaders of his day who, he said, had
“taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that
were entering in ye hindered” (Luke 11:52). The apostles were to be different.
They were to preach the word of God without fear or favour; they were to assist
people to “enter in” through faith and baptism. Peter was not alone in this
work. We find him preaching to Cornelius and on the day of Pentecost. But we
also read of the other apostles doing similar work; Philip, for example, in
speaking to the Ethiopian eunuch, assisted him by giving him the key to
understanding Isaiah 53 and the message of the suffering servant. Once this
difficulty had been unlocked, there was no hindrance to his baptism. In this
sense, the keys of the kingdom are available today for modern believers, who
are to use them, and not to hinder others from entering in.
This good work of building on the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ
started in Jerusalem and quickly spread throughout the Roman world. The
opposition to it should not be underestimated. All the forces of the great
Roman power were directed to crushing Christianity. But Jesus’ forecast was
correct, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”! Not even death
itself, which the emperors used in their attempt to stamp out the Truth, would
prevent true believers from entering into God’s kingdom. Hezekiah’s prayer in
Isaiah 38:10 is a useful indication that “the gates of hell” is an idiomatic
expression referring to the grave. (“Answers to Correspondents:
Binding and Loosing,” The Christadelphian 129, no. 1540 [October 1992]:
387)
The power of the keys given to Peter (Matt. 16:19) gave him no unique authority—no authority which the
other apostles did not possess as well—Matt. 18:18 (cf. vs. 1); John 20:22, 23.
a) “Keys”—keys to
knowledge of the Kingdom (Luke 11:52; cf. Matt. 23:13). The keys were used by
Peter in preaching to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); to the
household of Cornelius (Acts 14:27 cf. Acts 10); and to the Gentiles (Acts
11:18).
b) “binding”—e.g.,
Ananias and Sapphira—Acts 5. Here Peter’s condemnation uttered on earth was
immediately enforced in heaven.
c) “loosing”—e.g.,
palsied Aeneas loosed at Lydda. (Acts 9:32–35). Peter said, “Jesus Christ
maketh thee whole” verse 34; Jesus in heaven “loosed” the paralytic. See also
Acts 5:12–16.
d) “gates of hell”—the
grave of Isaiah 38:10, 17, 18. Christ’s Ecclesia will prevail against
“hades”—(1 Cor. 15:53–55). (Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures: A Christadelphian
Handbook of Suggested Explanations to Difficult Passages [Pasadena, Calif.:
n.d.], 5, emphasis in bold added)
