[Iscool]

Jesus gave us a guarantee. He said: "I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." If the Protestant hypothesis is correct, the gates of hell did some serious prevailing and Jesus Christ is a liar. But of course such is not the case

I'm not aware of any Protestant hypothesis that states Hell prevailed against the church that Jesus founded...There was however, tremendous persecution thru-out the Dark Ages for Jesus' church as Foxes Book of Martyrs does attest to...

[NYer]

I'm not aware of any Protestant hypothesis that states Hell prevailed against the church that Jesus founded ...

The author is suggesting that since Christ said the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church, true believers would not have left the Church. Even its sinful leaders have never erred in doctrine.

[bornacatholic]

Columbia Encyclopedia....Foxe, John, 1516–87, English clergyman, author of the noted Book of Martyrs. He early became a Protestant and, when Mary Tudor became queen, he fled from England to Strasbourg. There was printed (1554), in Latin, the first part of his history of the persecution of Protestant reformers. Foxe moved to Basel and had published (1559) the first complete edition, in Latin, of his history. After Elizabeth's accession, an expanded English edition appeared (1563) entitled The Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perilous Dayes. The work was commonly known as the Book of Martyrs, and its chief purpose was to praise the heroism and piety of the Protestant martyrs of Mary's reign. The book was widely read, and its influence was extensive, although as history it is highly prejudiced and not altogether trustworthy.