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Apostasy/The "gates of hell"
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Contents
- 1 Criticism
- 2 Response
- 3 Conclusion
- 4 Endnotes
- 5 Further reading
- 6 The early Christian Church and the Great Apostasy
- 7 Evidence of a total apostasy
- 8 Extent of the apostasy
- 9 Reasons why the apostasy occurred
- 10 Mormonism and priesthood
- 11 Restoration of the priesthood
- 12 Administration of priesthood authority
- 13 Criticisms of the Mormon priesthood
Criticism
Critics argue that a universal apostasy is impossible, because Jesus told Peter, "upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16꞉18) Critics claim that this means the Church organized by Jesus would never suffer apostasy and loss.
Source(s) of the Criticism
Response
It is not surprising that this issue revolves around how one interprets Jesus' remark. There are several options. Key to understanding the passage, however, is figuring out what the final "it" refers to. Does it refer to "the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church," or does it refer to "the gates of hell shall not prevail against this rock?" If it refers to the "rock," then one must describe what "the rock" refers to.
Catholic perspective
The Catholic church, of course, thinks that "this rock" is literally Peter, and have based their claims to apostolic succession on the unbroken succession of bishops of Rome back to Peter. Other churches must necessarily define a different meaning, because they cannot claim apostolic succession in this way.
Churches (such as the Protestants) who believe that the Church of Rome is somehow flawed or in apostasy from the pure truth must adopt a different reading.
Protestant perspective
Protestant readers have generally interpreted "the rock" to refer to the Christian Church. Under this reading, Jesus is promising that the church will never be entirely overcome by death and/or the forces of Satan.
Latter-day Saint perspective
Latter-day Saints have generally read this verse as referring to the only true, unmovable rock that exists--revelation from God. That is the rock upon which any Church must be built, and it is evidenced by the verses just before this one. In Matthew 16꞉13-17, the subject is literally revelation given to Peter as to who Jesus Christ really is. This knowledge came by revelation from God (Matthew 16꞉17), and Christ taught Peter that this revelation is the rock upon which He would build His Church.
Both the Protestant and Catholic versions must contend with the fact that other Biblical authors taught an inevitable apostasy. It would seem strange for such Biblical authors, including Peter, to teach something which Jesus here denies.
One must also notice that gates only prevail against something that is already inside of them; they cannot prevail against something that is external to those gates. Was Christ saying that His Church was already inside the gates of hell, and needed to come out? Or was He saying, in His normal "hidden teaching" manner, that His Church would one day be dead (i.e., in apostasy), held back by the gates of hell, and that it was revelation—the rock—that would free it from those gates?
This reading has great currency in LDS thought, since it reconciles all the Biblical data, and agrees with the interpretation given by Joseph Smith
- Jesus in His teaching says, “upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” What rock? Revelation.[1]
Jesus as the Rock
It is not just revelation, however, that is key, but the revelation of Christ by God the Father.
Conclusion
A summary of the argument against the criticism.
Endnotes
- [note] Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of Joseph Smith, 2nd Edition, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 156–158.; Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 5:258. Volume 5 link; Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected by Joseph Fielding Smith, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976), 274. off-site
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
The early Christian Church and the Great Apostasy
Jump to Subtopic:
- Evidence of a total apostasy
- Extent of the apostasy
- Reasons why the apostasy occurred
- The office of Apostle within the ancient Church of Jesus Christ
Evidence of a total apostasy
Jump to Subtopic:
- Biblical evidence of an apostasy after Christ
- Evidence of an apostasy after Christ from early Christian history other than the Bible
- Visible evidence of the apostasy
Biblical evidence of an apostasy after Christ
Jump to details:
- Question: Is there any Biblical evidence that the apostasy began?
- Question: Was the apostasy predicted by the Bible not complete?
Evidence of an apostasy after Christ from early Christian history other than the Bible
Summary: Do the Early Church Fathers and other post-Biblical documents shed any light on the apostasy?
Jump to details:
- Question: Is there any evidence of the apostasy from materials from early Christian history besides the Bible?
- Clement of Rome: "For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you"
- Hegesippus: "These also, as there were none of the apostles left, henceforth attempted, without shame to preach their false doctrine against the gospel of truth"
- Ignatius: "the false prophets and the false apostles"
- Irenaeus: "evil is spread abroad among men"
- Tertullian: "Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition!"
- Cyprian: Cyprian argued that since the Saints had sunk to such low levels of depravity they rightly deserved the harsh judgments of God
- Cyril of Jerusalem: "For men have fallen from the right faith; and some preach the identity of the Son with the Father...This, therefore, is the falling away"
Visible evidence of the apostasy
Jump to details:
Extent of the apostasy
Jump to Subtopic:
- Complete apostasy after Christ
- Apostasy and the "gates of hell"
- Priesthood on the earth during the apostasy
Complete apostasy after Christ
Summary: Do other Christian denominations believe that no other church on earth is complete, or is this an arrogant belief assumed only by the "Mormons"?
Jump to details:
- Question: Did Christ establish a Church while on the earth?
- Question: Was the apostasy after Christ complete?
- Question: What is the Catholic view of the apostasy?
- Question: What is the reformation view of the apostasy?
- Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe that no genuine Christians exist outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
- Scholarly quotes on the historical evidence for apostasy
Apostasy and the "gates of hell"
Summary: Is Jesus' teaching about "the gates of hell" prevailing against "the rock" inconsistent with a belief in a universal apostasy?
Jump to details:
- Question: Does the fact that Jesus said, "upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" mean that universal apostasy was impossible?
- Question: What are the "gates of hell" or "gates of Hades?"
Priesthood on the earth during the apostasy
Jump to details:
- Question: Was the priesthood on earth during the apostasy?
- Question: Since John the Apostle and the three Nephites did not die, then how could there have been a "complete apostasy" on the earth?
Reasons why the apostasy occurred
Jump to Subtopic:
God permitted the apostasy to occur
Summary: If there were some people who would have accepted the Gospel as taught in Mormonism, why did God allow the earthly Church to pass from the earth?
Jump to details:
Relationship of Mormonism to other branches of Christianity
Summary: What does the apostasy doctrine mean with respect to the relationship of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to other branches of Christianity?
Jump to details:
- Question: How does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints relate to other branches of Christianity?
- Non-LDS Christian Stephen H. Webb: Creedal Christians can learn from LDS views about Jesus Christ and creation
The office of Apostle within the ancient Church of Jesus Christ
Jump to details:
- Question: Was Paul a "real" apostle, with authority over the Church like the original Twelve?
- Question: Were the early apostles married?
- Question: Was the Apostle Paul Married?
- Question: Does the Biblical reference by Paul to "apostles and prophets" refer to Church offices?
- Question: Why did Jesus call Twelve Apostles?
Mormonism and priesthood
Jump to Subtopic:
- Restoration of the priesthood
- Administration of priesthood authority
- Criticisms of the Mormon priesthood
Restoration of the priesthood
Jump to Subtopic:
- The manner in which the priesthood was restored
- Date of the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood
Administration of priesthood authority
Jump to Subtopic:
- Exercising priesthood authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Granting of priesthood authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Criticisms of the Mormon priesthood
Jump to Subtopic:
- Criticisms by traditional Christians of the Mormon concept of priesthood
- Claims by ex-Mormons that Church leaders have lost priesthood authority
- Evidence that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Possesses Priesthood Authority
FAIR web site
| Apostasy FairMormon articles on-line |
- Roger Keller, "The Apostasy," FAIR 2004 conference. FAIR link
Dr. Keller is a former Presbyterian minister.
External links
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Printed material
| Apostasy printed materials |
- Matthew B. Brown, "Evidences of Apostasy," in All Things Restored, 2d ed. (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 2006),1–32. AISN B000R4LXSM. ISBN 1577347129.
- Noel B. Reynolds (editor), Early Christians in Disarray: Contemporary LDS Perspectives on the Christian Apostasy (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2005), 1. ISBN 0934893020. off-site (Key source)