Guterres's metaphor of the gates of hell and its meaning in ancient and Christian tradition
The UN Secretary-General's words about humanity having opened the gates of hell caught our attention: "Our focus here is on solutions to the climate crisis – and our task is urgent. Humanity has opened the gates of hell. Horrifying heat has horrifying consequences. Fires are raging. The fight against climate change pales beside the scale of the problem."
It is worth untangling António Guterres's metaphor and asking what he actually had in mind.
That the gates of hell have opened, and demons and the heat of hellfire have poured onto the earth? That would mean he takes hell to be the same thing as Tartarus or Hades, whose entrances imply traffic in both directions: recall Persephone, emerging from them in the spring, and Odysseus, leaving the kingdom of Hades.
The gates of hell in the Christian sense are first mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." John of Damascus explains that by the Cross of Christ original sin was abolished, resurrection was granted, hell was stripped of its prey and the gates of hell were thrown open.
So, in the opinion of the Secretary-General, humanity has done what lay within the power of Christ alone? Hardly.
Let us recall what these gates actually are. They are usually imagined as, quite literally, the way into hell: that very wide gate which stands opposite the narrow gate leading to the Kingdom of Heaven. Entering the gates of hell is much easier, and it is there that the greater part of mankind is drawn. Perhaps that is what is implied by their opening: that humanity has not merely opened the gates of hell, but has also walked through them?
The gates of hell cannot prevail against the church as long as there remain people who do not submit to them, but now that not only weak individuals but the rulers of the world themselves are plunging the human race into ruin and impiety, perhaps the gates of hell have already swung wide for the whole ship flying the flag of the UN?
The gates of hell can be overcome by spiritual life, and if it is only the climate that compels the head of the largest international organisation to think of the gates of hell, then it is probably high time to start worrying lest the gates of hell close, but behind humanity, which has already entered them
