The Berean Codex™Scripture Research Project
Research library · Reception history · Dependency analysis

Matthew 16:18 — “gates of Hades” promises that death/Hades will not prevail, but the mechanism is not fully specified

A reusable research record with provenance and relationships kept separate from the presentation layer.

INTERPRETIVE_CLAIMINT_MAT_16_GATES_HADES

Evidence state: reasonable interpretation

Statement layerBerean synthesis
ConfidenceModerate
Curation stateCurated Human Reviewed
Claim

The phrase πύλαι ᾅδου invokes Hades/death imagery and the saying promises that the gates will not prevail against the church. The verse does not itself define the promise as institutional indefectibility of one later see, nor does it require the popular picture of the church attacking literal gates.

Interpretive Evidence Audit

Reasonable Interpretation · Curated Pass With Limits

Inference depth: Moderate · Original-meaning weight: Reasonable Interpretation

Publish with the stated classification and boundaries. Reception records remain separate from original-meaning evidence, and later doctrinal arrows remain visible rather than being folded into Matthew 16.

Open complete evidence audit

Quality-gate boundary: This audit measures evidentiary support and inferential distance. It does not make the Codex infallible or convert scholar/tradition authority into evidence.
Interpretation Dependency Profile

Text Rooted Minimal Inference

Premises mapped: 2 · Development threads: 2

Curated chronology: v57 curated corpus · Historical Origin Unknown

This profile distinguishes the current Archive evidence chain from historical origin. The earliest loaded witness is not a claim that the idea originated there.

Open complete dependency profile

Chronology boundary: “Earliest in the curated Codex corpus” is not a claim of historical origin. Missing earlier records cannot be treated as evidence that a premise did not exist.

Supporting evidence

Id: PASSAGE_MAT_16_13_20

Role: direct wording

Counterevidence / challenges

Note: The exact force of the metaphor and its intertextual background require separate study.

What this does not establish

A guarantee that every church leader or institution will avoid error.
A complete doctrine of ecclesial indefectibility without added premises.
Release Introduced
v57
Passage Id
PASSAGE_MAT_16_13_20
Evidence Classification
reasonable interpretation
Status
CURATED_PUBLIC