what is the Whore of Babylon?

Answer 1

The whore of Babylon is an evil world system, controlled by the antichrist, during the last days before Jesus’ return. It is somehow connected with Rome, perhaps either centered in Rome – or being a form of revived Roman Empire. The whore of Babylon also has religious connotations – spiritual adultery with the beast being the focus of an ungodly end times religious system, also centered in Rome. Again, the whore of Babylon is a mystery…but we can be fairly certain about the nature and identity of the great and terrible whore of Babylon.

http://www.gotquestions.org/whore-Babylon-mystery.html

Answer 2

Some people have taken that text to mean Rome, and have extrapolated its meaning through the centuries to mean the Roman Catholic church. A very small segment of the Protestant tradition would hold that view (you can guess which ones). I'm not an apologist for the Catholics by any means but I think that's a tad unfair and a rather ropey interpretation of what the writer actually meant (especially as he'd never considered that such a thing as the RC church would ever exist).

In fact I think the writer was thinking backwards rather than forwards here; the relationship between Judaism and "Babylon" is well covered in other bits of the Bible. Christianity was a Jewish sect at the time of writing of course. The Jews were deprived of their homeland by the Babylonians for some time, and got quite sore about it. So the "whore of Babylon" sort of means "some really bad dude that we're much better than but we can't do much about".

Answer 3

Anyone with a modicum of historical awareness and scriptural knowledge knows that the biblical Whore of Babylon was the pagan Roman Empire. The name "Babylon" refers to Rome every time it appears in Scripture.

Answer 4

The Whore of Babylon or Babylon the Great is one of several Christian and Rastafarian figures of supreme evil who is mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. She is associated with the figures of the Antichrist and the Beast of Revelation.

She makes her appearance in Revelation chapter 17, in which she is described as:

"the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

Answer 5

The harlot or Babylon the Great is the world empire of false religion.
It sits on many waters & has immoral relations with the kings of the earth. Many religions have had this "immoral" relationship with political affairs. Jesus said his followers would be no part of this world so it is easy to see who his true followers are.

Please read the latest tract/leaflet of Jehovah's Witnesses entitled: "The End of False Religion is Near!"
It is being distributed worldwide & has an important message for every one us today.

"Get out of her my people...." - REVELATION 18:4



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Answer 6

in ancient times, babylon was the centre of all false worship. from it flowed many traditions and practises, and thousands of gods were born and worshipped by those who were influenced by it.
babylon the great is the centre of all false worship in modern times. it encompasses the whole world not just the small area of the old empire. all false religions who practise false doctrines and traditions are part of the whore. she is drunk with the blood of the holy ones, those who serve the true God fully by the commands and principles of God's word the bible.
the wild beast she rides represents all the human governmental powers on the earth. as it says, God will put it into their hearts to destroy the woman. the world governments will destroy false religion because Jehovah will put it into their hearts (rev 17:16,17)

Answer 7

The Whore of Babylon is a character who appears in Chapter 17 of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible and easily the trippiest - check it out, who needs drugs when the Gideons are handing out this for free?

In the text, the Whore of Babylon is described as seducing world leaders (verse 2), having seven heads and ten horns (v.3) and being drunk on the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (v.6). The text explains that the seven heads are seven hills, upon which the woman sits (v.9) and the ten horns are kings who are still to receive kingdoms (v.12). These kings will turn against the Whore, to her destruction (v.16), before the final triumph of the Lamb of God (Jesus) over His enemies. The overall message to God's people is that they should remain faithful in face of persecution as the time is short and those who put their faith in Christ and see it through will be eternally rewarded.

The Whore of Babylon is unmistakably a representation of Rome, for she is identified as the great city which reigns over the earth (v.18). This was at a time when the Roman Empire held sway and of course the seven hills and the name "Babylon", a nickname for Rome among the early Christians, are obvious clues.

While the association with Rome is obvious, theologians have argued down the centuries over the precise identification of another character in Revelation, the Antichrist. The text had of course an immediate relevance to its readers in Caesar Worship, which was utter blasphemy to monotheists like the Christians and also the Jews (Islam came later). During the Reformation, the Whore and the Antichrist were associated with Roman ecclesiastical supremacy. Essentially, the Church argued that, while Jesus was the only way to God, the Church was the only way to Jesus. The Reformers then compared what the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) said to what the Bible said and decided which one they believed. Some who believe Roman Catholic pretensions to spiritual supremacy are intended to be taken seriously still make this association.

Napoleon and Mussollini have also been candidates for the Antichrist, heralding the arrival of the end-times, but of course have proved to be nothing of the sort. More recently, the European Economic Community has been mooted as a likely candidate, having been started under the Treaty of Rome. However, as the number of member states of the now European Union has long surpassed ten, this theory is now argued less vociferously, although it still has its supporters.

It has also been argued that the Antichrist should not be identified with any one individual or institution, but should be taken as a type of any who seeks to set itself up against God. Before Revelation was written, the apostle John, arguably the writer of Revelation, warned in a circular letter to the churches that "many antichrists" were to come (1 John, 2:18).

The Book of Relevation was possibly the last book of the Bible to be written, around 90-100AD (although the books of the Bible are not all arranged in strict chronological order). It is the only book of prophecy in the New Testament, although the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament, contains many. It did not meet with universal acceptance: apparently, it had a hard struggle to get accepted as Scripture (writing of divine origin) and later commentators have not always known what to make of it, especially as the early Christians expected an early fulfillment of the prophecy. As regards the nature of Jesus, however, it contains vital teaching, for by placing the Lamb of God on God's throne (Chapter 5, v.6), it unmistakably identifies the Lamb, Jesus, with God, confirming earlier teaching that, in Jesus, God had revealed Himself to Mankind by expressing His divine nature in human form (see especially Ephesians 1 and Philippians 2, and also throughout John's Gospel). Sceptics at the time believed that a divine being could not have a human nature as matter was evil and in our times, with less sense of the divine, not just athiests say Jesus was no more than a man but the essential teaching of the Book of Revelation is that the human and divine natures meet in Jesus Christ and that, by Christ's paying the price of sin by dying on the cross, God and Mankind can be reconciled in Him, despite the arguably continuing machinations of the Whore of Babylon.

Answer 8

Described in Revelation chapter 17, the great prostitute sits on many waters and also sits on seven hills.

The symbolism is explained within that chapter. The many waters symbolizes peoples, multitudes, nations and languages (see 17:15). Rome was/is situated on seven hills, and the prostitute is called the great city, that rules over the kings of the earth (see 17:18). In John's day that great city was Rome itself, and the Romans persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ.

In our day, the great city would symbolize "the city of man" or secular humanity that is in tension with "the City of God" or the Church, which includes all true Christians throughout all of time.

In the last rebellion that tension will intensify and the Church will be greatly persecuted. God will bring judgment upon "the city of man" for persecuting His Church.

Answer 9

Babylon was the center of false worship. Babylon the Great would be false religon that is in bed with politicians.
The wild beast is the governments. They turn on her and eat her up. It is about to happen. To stop war they are going to have to stop religion.

Answer 10

Ancient Rome.