What does it mean "the gates of hell will not prevail"?

[WingsOfEagles]

I should have said there could only be Roman Catholics in heaven since everyone in the state of grace is a member of the catholic church.

Not true? The Church teaches that we can’t judge the state of another person’s soul. While harder for a Protestant to get into heaven due to lack of Sacraments, the Church believes that it is possible for some as they do follow Christ. Also, why only ROMAN Catholics? What about some of the other beautiful rites that are in communion with our Latin Rite?

 

[eddie_too]

wings of eagles, you misread my posts. my second post was meant to correct the last sentence of my first post.

 

[eddie_too]

their are many valid (in communion with the pope) rites within the “Roman Catholic Church”. the Latin Rite is one of the many valid rites. a few other valid rites are the melkite and the byzantine.

everyone who affirms the authority of the pope belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. the Latin Rite is the largest (in number of members) of all of the Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. members of the melkite rite for example are Roman Catholics but not members of the latin rite.

 

[Tom_Baum]

a Gate is meant to keep one out. In other words, we are on the offensive and gates set up by satan will not stop us or keep out from moving forward for God’s kingdom.

You wrote, “a Gate is meant to keep one out”.

A gate is also used to keep one in.

“Simon, thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build MY Church and the GATES OF THE NETHERWORLD SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT”, the netherworld (hell and death [physical and spiritual]).

As I said, “A gate is also used to keep one in”, something to think about.

Just what did Jesus accomplish on the cross?

Did one of Jesus’s accomplishments have something to do with the “keys” to the “gates of the netherworld”?

 

[Tom_Baum]

With all due respect, 1newcatnolic, this promise was made to Peter and, logically, to his successors upon the founding of the Catholic Church. I realize the Catholic Church was not called Catholic at that moment, but the protestant churches were still a millennium and centuries away, so this particular promise does not extend to any other Christian denomination that is not in communion with the Pope or to any other world religion.

The protestants are members of thousands upon thousands of protestant denominations which come and go. The Catholic Church is here to stay until the end, not matter how enemies from inside and out try to bring it down. And about individual non-Catholic Christians, I’m sure they are fine if they’re true to God. However, they lack the sacraments of the Catholic Church and it makes their road to Heaven more difficult.

Not only does the CHURCH include non- Catholic Christians, it also include non-Christians.

 

[Jerurussia]

The gates of a city had fortified rooms flanking the gates manned by crack troops, the elite fighting force of that town. Reference to the “gates of Hell” means not only these fortified rooms but the crack troops within. The best of the worst will not be able to withstand the Way, Truth & Life that is the Body of Christ, the Church.

Peter is infallible, not sinless, and there’s the distinction between the corporate authority a person like Adam may wield, and the personal responsibility for sin that each individual bears. So sin and death came into the world by the corporate “Sin of Adam” and personally, Adam had to till the earth by the sweat of his brow as a result of his personal sin. The corporate power and authority vested in Peter is endowed by Christ and protected from error by the Holy Spirit. 2,000+ years later and this miraculous prophecy is proven true. Thanks, Jesus Christ.

 

[chimo]

Jesus when speaking of the Catholic church prophesied that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. What specifically does he mean? Many priests and even popes have fallen. If they are not “the church” then who is?

There will be always some way to correct the Church whenever it seems to have fallen from its journey of faith. For instance we see this in the many apparitions of our Lord and His Mother to help lead us back into faith. God can use almost anything to help His Church and surprisingly suffering is one of these tools. When Russia receive its suffering from many godless men who wanted to get rid of the Church God decided to send His mother to invoke many people to pray from her visitations at Fatima. With these millions praying and with the combined sufferings of the peoples the Lord was able to turn the tide of evil. Jesus promised to defend the Church and this might involved sufferings for if Jesus wants to bring incredible saints into the Church the value of sufferings will enable Him to grant incredible graces whenever possible. He will never disappoint us.

 

[John_Lazarus]

Er, I was referring to the Revelations of Saint Bridget. I hope you were not being sarcastic.

The Church does not teach that any particular person in in Hell. She may teach that a person is indeed in Heaven (the saints), and that there are souls in Hell, but She does NOT teach who any of those may be.

 

[Bannan]

Here’s some stuff from the catechism I found:

552 Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve;283 Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."284 Christ, the “living Stone”,285 thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it

I think in context the “gates of hell” represent death, physical or spiritual. The faculties provided to peter in the next verse appear to solidify this:

553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."287 The “power of the keys” designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep."288 The power to “bind and loose” connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles289 and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.

And so the interpretation I’m left with is one wherein the church has power over death because the church can forgive sins, and continue to do so through the keys given Peter. I say continue to do so because Peter was tasked foremost with that authority, but also clearly has authority to declare successors since his earthly stay was temporary. This way, for all time, the church will continually prevail over the gates of hell, because for all time, the church will have the authority to forgive said sins.

See also,
834 Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome "which presides in charity."315 "For with this church, by reason of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the faithful everywhere, must necessarily be in accord."316 Indeed, "from the incarnate Word’s descent to us, all Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior’s promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her."317