rds of Christ, "On this rock I will build My
Church," [Matt. 16:18] understanding the rock to mean St. Peter
and his authority, I have refuted many times,[67] and now I will
say only this: First, they must prove that the rock means
authority. They will not do this, nor can they do it, so they
just have voice to their own inventions, and all their drivel
must be divine command. Secondly, the rock can mean neither St.
Peter nor his authority, on account of the words of Christ which
follow, "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Now
it is clear as day that no one is edified in the Church, nor
withstands the gates of hell by the mere fact that he is under
the external authority of the pope. For the majority of those who
hold so strongly to the authority of the pope, and lean upon it,
are themselves possessed by the powers of hell and are full of
sins and rascality. Then, too, some of the popes were heretics
themselves, and gave heretical laws; yet they remained in
authority. Therefore, the rock does not signify authority, which
can never withstand the gates of hell; but it signifies only
Christ and the faith in Him, against which no power can ever
prevail.

[Sidenote: Prevailing Against the Gates of Hell]

That this authority continues to exist despite those who battle
against it, does not mean that it has withstood the gates of
hell. For so the Greek Church has continued, and all the other
Christians in the world; the Moscovites[68] and Bohemians
continue, yea, the kingdom of Persia has continued for more than
two thousand years, and the Turk for well nigh a thousand years,
in spite of various and repeated attacks against them. And to
tell you some more things that really should bring astonishment
to such an illustrious Romanist: The world in its wickedness has
stood from the beginning, and shall stand until the Last Day, and
forever, even if God Himself with all holy men and angels never
cease to preach, write and work against it. If you think good of
it, my dear Romanist, defy God and all the angels, because the
world has stood even against all their words and work. Why did
you not ascertain, you poor, blind Romanist, before rushing into
print, what it means "to prevail against the gates of hell"? If
every prevailing means just as much as prevailing against the
gates of hell, then the devil's kingdom prevails with a larger
following than God's kingdom. This is what it means to prevail
against the gate