In the Bible, in the Gospel according to St Matthew (16:18), Jesus says: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
This verse is used frequently for a variety of reasons. One of the most common uses of the verse is as a prooftext for claiming that no matter what happens against the Church, ranging from external attacks to internal scandals, the Church will prevail and weather the storm.
Is that a legitimate use of the passage?
To begin, what is the basic definition of a gate?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a gate as “a hinged barrier used to close an opening in a wall, fence, or hedge.”[i]
The Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary indicates that a gate is “the frame or door that closes a gate” and is therefore “a movable barrier” and is associated with “an opening in a wall or fence.”[ii]
By definition, gates and doors and fences are built and bolted shut to provide defense against attack. Gates and doors and fences are what are referred to as static defenses – they remain in one place and prevent theft, attack, and other harm from occurring. Gates and doors and fences do not go on the offense – such an idea is fundamentally false from the basic and inherent design of what gates and doors and fences are.
What if, however, there is a different meaning understood by the people in the place and time of the writing of the Gospels?
When we consult the Greek-English Lexicon to see if there is a contextual understanding within the time and place of the writing we learn that “πύλαι ᾅδου: (an idiom, literally ‘gates of Hades’) death as an impersonal supernatural power—‘death.’ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς ‘the gates of Hades will not prevail against it’ or ‘death will never be able to overcome it’ Mt 16:18.”[iii]
In other words, Death is not stronger than the Church, or the Church can overcome the bondage of death.
Idioms are forms of expression that are natural to those speaking but not necessarily understood by those not within the context in which the idiom is spoken.
In that case, what is the meaning of the idiom “the gates of hell”?
The scholar Joachim Jeremias explains that “the gates of hell” was an idiom that expressed a common understanding of the underworld.
Many peoples in antiquity viewed the underworld as a land, city, fortress, or prison with strong gates which prevented escape and barred access to invaders. Thus there is ref. in Babylon to the gate of the land of no return into which Ishtar forces entry. The Egyptian underworld is also guarded by a gate. … These gates are made of the strongest steel and only by force or in return for gifts do they open to gods and heroes seeking entry into the underworld.[iv]
To know that the “gates of hell” are understood to be the strongest gates and only open by force to gods and heroes is the key to understanding the passage.
“The ‘gates of Hades,’ … refer literally to the gates which open into the realm of the dead in the underworld (Sheol in the HB; Hades in Greek literature).”[v]
With the above information, we can see clearly that the “gates of hell” the strongest gates of the eternal prison of death cannot withstand the force of God and will be opened to the heroes – Christians – who are seeking, striving, working, attacking the gates to save the lost – those dead in sin – from the torments of hell.
The “gates of hell” are “a defensive posture: death will strive to hold in its prison house all who have entered its gates, but the Messiah’s congregation will triumphantly storm the gates and rescue those destined for the life of the age to come.”[vi]
As Christians, it is time to stop passively answering every external attack and internal scandal (especially the internal scandals) with “But the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.”
It is time to free people from sin and death by attacking the gates of hell that keep people in the bondage of sin-caused spiritual death by doing the work of Christ, spreading the Gospel, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, giving aid to the impoverished, and otherwise helping alleviate suffering.
Be a Hero – Be the Church – Attack the Gates of Hell; they cannot prevail against you.
Buen Camino,
Fr Steve
Steven G Rindahl, DMin STM
[i] Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004), under “Gate.”
[ii] Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., ed. Frederick C. Mish (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003), under “Gate.”
[iii] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, “12.50 πύλαι ᾅδου,” in Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1989), 1:148.
[iv] Joachim Jeremias, “πύλη, πυλῶν,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), 6:924.
[v] Anthony J. Saldarini, “Matthew,” in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, ed. James D.G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), 1037.
[vi] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1993), 191.