Song - The Fall of the Gates of Hell
- Bible Brian
- Feb 23
- 7 min read
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
They told us Peter held the keys,
built a throne out of stone and gold.
Said their walls would never crumble,
and the truth was theirs to hold.
But Jesus spoke of narrow roads,
and a gate that few pass through1.
While they brag about their numbers,
the few cling to the truth.
[Pre-Chorus]
You don’t march into the fire
with a gate upon your hip.
It's a defensive structure,
and we're marching straight through it.
[Chorus]
The gates of Hell can’t hold their ground2.
They weren’t built to stand the sound
of God's army marching on,
we're gonna knock 'em down.
We don’t bow before a man-made throne,
or fall before an earthly boss.
We are the living Church3
of the one who bore our cross4.
[Verse 2]
There was a goose the liars cooked,
but he spoke the truth aloud.
He spoke of a swan who would rise up,
and knock their nonsense down.
A century passed, just like he said,
then to the door was nailed,
that famous piece of paper,
sparking the movement that prevailed.
[Chorus]
The gates of Hell can’t hold their ground.
They weren’t built to stand the sound
of God's army marching on,
we're gonna knock 'em down.
We don’t bow before a man-made throne,
or fall before an earthly boss.
We are the living Church
of the one who bore our cross.
[Verse 3]
There was a man who loved the Word
More than favor, more than breath.
Said, “I’d rather see a ploughboy
know God's word than papal threats.”
He stood against the crown and creed,
wrote the Scriptures in England's tongue!
Now the Bible is available
to me, you, and everyone!
[Chorus]
The gates of Hell can’t hold their ground.
They weren’t built to stand the sound
of God's army marching on,
we're gonna knock 'em down.
We don’t bow before a man-made throne,
or fall before an earthly boss.
We are the living Church
of the one who bore our cross.
[Verse 4]
They had the numbers, crowns, and swords,
We had a Bible and a prayer.
They had the prisons, threats, and flames,
we had the truth they couldn’t bear.
They said their Church would never fall,
and on the Earth, that might be true.
But the word of God outlives them all,5
because He lives in me and you!
[Chorus]
The gates of Hell couldn't hold their ground.
They weren’t built to stand the sound.
God's army marched right on,
we knocked those gates right down.
We didn’t bow before a man-made throne,
we didn't fall for an earthly boss.
We are the one true Church
of Jesus Christ who bore our cross.
Background
This song began as a meme, which itself is designed as a direct response to a common Catholic misrepresentation of Matthew 16:18. The full verse reads "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Ever since First Vatican Council (1869-70 A.D.), this verse has been officially interpreted to be the moment Jesus bestowed the Papacy upon Peter, as the rock upon which His one true Church is built. Because of this anachronistic interpretation, when Jesus adds that "the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it", Catholics also believe the gates of Hell shall not prevail against their Church. From here, they regularly argue that the Reformation failed, as it was destined to do, because the Catholic Church still exists, and Catholics vastly outnumber Protestants.
The song begins by briefly alluding to the bluff. It is claimed that Peter was also handed the key of David in verse 19, and that Peter's successors, who "sit in his chair", receive those same keys. Without going to deep into the response, this is actually blasphemous: The keys to the Kingdom of Heaven are not uniquely Peter's (Matthew 18:18), and they are distinct from the key of David, which is uniquely Christ's (Revelation 3:7). This means the claim is idolatrous, hence the line about the throne of stone and gold. This is not a literal throne, but is a reference to idolatry.
The verse continues to say the "walls would never crumble" (i.e. we're not getting rid of the Catholic Church), and "the truth was theirs to hold". This is a direct reference to the Council of Trent's declaration that "no one, relying on his own skill, shall,--in matters of faith, and of morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine,--wresting the sacred Scripture to his own senses, presume to interpret the said sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which holy mother Church,--whose it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy Scriptures,--hath held and doth hold,". In other words, in Roman Catholicism, the Church is not subject to the authority of the God-breathed Scripture, but Scripture is subject to the authority of the Church.
The verse contrasts this with one of the most painful truths in the Bible. In Matthew 7:13-14, we read from Christ's own mouth "“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." This renders silly numbers games utterly irrelevant. Catholics may be the majority, but this is not the flex they tend to think it is. They may be following a large crowd on the road to destruction.
The pre-chorus highlights the absurdity of the Catholic interpretation. Gates are not offensive weapons with which one might attempt to destroy an enemy. Rather, they are defensive structures, designed to allow friendly passage, but prevent hostile incursion. If Hell has gates that shall not overcome the Church, that means Hell is the defender, not the attacker. Thus, if these gates shall not overcome the Church, this means the defence will fail when we attack.
The chorus fleshes this out, showing that the Church is actually an army. The Bible is filled with military imagery, describing life as a battlefield in which we endure constant warfare. Most notably, the Bible is our sword (Ephesians 6:17), which is an actual offensive weapon. The chorus subtly alludes to the Pope's status as a usurper, calling his throne (which, again, is not literal) "man-made", and the Pope himself an earthly boss to whom we do not bow.
Verse 2 poetically describes the martyrdom of Jan Hus, and the fact that he may actually have prophesied Martin Luther. Prior to the success of the Reformation, "heresy" (i.e. disagreeing with the Catholic Church) was punishable by death, and Jan Hus was one of many to suffer that fate. Interestingly, Hus means "goose", which makes his final words absolutely legendary. The exact wording varies by account, and historians debate whether he even said it for real, but the gist of it is "You are now going to cook a goose, but 100 years from now, you will have a swan which you can neither catch nor boil." 102 years later, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, which is traditionally noted as the beginning of the Reformation. Interestingly, Luther himself, upon reading about Hus, declared "I have hitherto taught and held all the opinions of Jan Hus without knowing it. So did John Staupitz. In short, we are all Hussites without knowing it. Paul and Augustine are Hussites to a word." He came to believe the words attributed to Hus were prophetic of him, and it's not easy to dispute this in retrospect.
Verse 3 is my favorite, because it refers to William Tyndale. Tyndale lived in a dark time in which access to Scripture was aggressively restricted, which obviously did not sit right with him. Tyndale regularly argued that the Scriptures should be available to the laity in their own language, a position for which he was mocked and considered a trouble maker. He nevertheless continued to advocate this, resulting in one famous debate with a clergyman. This is presumed to be Bishop John Bell, though historians dispute this. The clergyman in question, opposed to Tyndale's position, suggested "it would be better to be without God's laws than the Pope's." To this, Tyndale replied with the legendary words "I defy the Pope and all his laws! If God will spare my life many years, I shall cause the boy that drives the plough to know more of the Scriptures than you!"
Tyndale's mission, sadly, cost him his life, but not before he did manage to translate a huge portion of Scripture. His work even became foundational to the translation of the KJV, which closely mirrors Tyndale's translation. And of course, though he never finished his own translation, his vision was finally realised. If you can read the Bible in your own language, you have William Tyndale to thank.
The final verse pays veiled tribute to the Reformation as a whole, pitting the pen against the sword in as literal a sense as can be. While the Reformers were peaceful, every single one of them risked their lives - some of them even actually losing them - entirely for the "crime" of opposing the Catholic Church. Yet, their efforts ultimately succeeded, as the Gospel was freed, and the defeated Catholic Church is limited to psychological warfare. Circling back to the original argument, this verse acknowledges that the Catholic Church might be here to stay. While this would be quite unfortunate, we know for a fact that the war between God and man would continue either way. If Catholicism fell, some other religion would take its place. Their continued existence means nothing in the long run. It is temporary, and it will not exist in Heaven.
The final chorus is slightly tweaked, being more explicit. The wide-ranging application of Matthew 16:18 is continual. The devil is alive and well, and as a result, there are many places in the world where the Gospel is still heavily suppressed by various enemy forces. Thus, the main chorus is stated in the present tense. The final chorus, however, switches to past tense, once again alluding to the victories of the Reformation. The Gospel was suppressed for a time, but in the end, we won. The Roman Catholic gates of Hell were utterly bulldozed by some of the bravest men in history. As a final blow, the song ends with the words "We are the one true Church of Jesus Christ who bore our cross." This not only identifies the true head of the Church, but usurps Rome's favorite claim, putting it back in its Biblical context. The Catholic Church is not the Church Jesus founded, as it claims. We who believe, we who believed, and we who will believe, are.
Scripture references
Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 16:18
1 Corinthians 12:27
1 Peter 2:24
Matthew 24:35
AI usage
This song was produced using Mozart AI.
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