I was referring to the Church Christ established and his promise to protect it as he promised in Matt 16:18. Your rambling sounds like philosophy to me.
What, couldn't cut and paste a response to that one Peg? Try checking my words against the Bible. I'll help you. Many of you fully agreed with my statements re obedience several threads ago. Am I now wrong because it doesn't suite your purposes? God never made a blanket promise of protection absent obedience. The definition of the Church is the people who make up the body of Christ - the Sheep. The definition of a sheep is given plainly in John 10 - those who hear and obey Jesus. Obedience. One cannot be afforded a promise without it. That includes your above quotation. If one stands in obedience the gates of hell cannot prevail. That they have against Catholicism is shown blatently in the fact that forgeries entered in, the inquisitions were held, the crusades were held, and from the 9th through 16th centuries the Catholic Church was ruled by men so debouched as to make soap operas and modern R movies look like Childs play. If that's not the Gates of hell prevailing, what is? The Devil prevailing doesn't mean he wins altogether, we already know the devil loses in the end. But he sure had his way for hundreds of years in Catholicism. So your illusion of protection is laid bare in your history. There is and never was any such protection on catholicism or any other sect. The only protection is an assurance that so long as God's sheep hear, obey and follow him, he'll give us victory and not lead us astray. That is protection. Victory is victory over the devil - victory over sin. The ability to suppress and deny our carnal nature - favoring and clinging to righteousness and holiness - hating sin and rebuking it at every turn. That is victory, that is protection. Without God, no one can do those things.. no one. It's got nothing to do with carnal desire to proclaim whatever you wish, do whatever you wish and call it blessed of God and untouchable by the devil. There is no protection of your leaders or laypeople from going astray - unless they are 100% in God's will. Doing their own thing is not God's will. If you want scripture to back it up, just ask. I'll pour it on. I've said much of this before and provided verse for it, it's no trouble to do it again for this application of the same principles.