What do the Gates of Hell shall not prevail mean?

[Michie]

*You are in the Catholic forum*

The question is inspired by another thread here but given the things we are seeing daily come out of the Church...what does this mean really? I always thought it meant the Church will emerge victorious. I found this article from 2013. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this topic.

The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

 

[Anguspure]

*You are in the Catholic forum*

The question is inspired by another thread here but given the things we are seeing daily come out of the Church...what does this mean really? I always thought it meant the Church will emerge victorious. I found this article from 2013. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this topic.

The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

I'm not RC but this is where Yeshua was when He was saying these things:

The Gates of Hell Ceasarea Phillipi
​

This was the site of a Pagan temple dedicated to Pan and was the dominant religion in the area at the time.

Could it be that it is the prevailing religion of the Evil one that will not prevail against the Church?

 

[HardHead]

I read that bible passage along these lines.

Matthew 16:18
(RSV) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.

(NRSV) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

I don't see hell as a place that has a geography/location of some kind. To me, its a state of existence relative to being a separation from God.

Given that, the article sounds correct to me:

"If this sounds confusing, it’s important to remember that “hell” is really not a physical place as much as it is a state of separation from God. "

"Instead, the gates of death could be thought of as prison doors that once barred the way to heaven."

"Put simply, the gates of hell no longer can keep the people of God—the true members of His Church—out of heaven. What a wonderful promise this truly is!"

I don't see why someone should think otherwise. This victory may not be easy to win for the church, but it will be won.