The whore of Babylon...?

Question

Many people think that everything in the bible is literally true, but most of the Christians I have asked say that the whore of Babylon is a metaphor for false religion. This shows that some things in the Bible are to be taken figuratively, so wouldn't the bible be completely open to interpretation?

Thank you for your thoughts...

- Atmadeepo Bhava -

Answer 1

No the Bible cannot be open to just any interpretation- 2 Peter 1:20, 21 says that interpretation belongs to God. And if all scripture is inspired of God (2 Tim 3:16) then the Bible should be able to back itself up. That there ids only one true interpretation is evident from Revelation 22:18, 19 as well as Deuteronomy 12: 32. The Bible also says that certain understandings of meaning will be "sealed up" until the times of the end.-- Daniel 12:4, 8-10; 1Peter 1:10-12. When Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dreams he attributed this to God, the "revealer of secrets." (Daniel 2:27-30)

It is possible to believe in the entire bible without being a fundamentalist and taking everything literally. There can be a common-sense view of the Bible.

Symbolism is a device used throughout the Bible- like when Jesus used illustrations to make his point. And at the beginning of Revelation it is made clear that the book is largely symbolic: read Revelation 1:1. It is a revelation to Jesus presented through an angel in signs to John. So by direct statements like in Revelation and by examining the context one can discern what is literal and what is not. In Genesis the 'days' of Creation couldn't be literal 24-hour days. 'Day' also means a period of time (in my day...).

That the whore of Babylon is a symbol is evident by looking at its context in Revelation 17. At verses 1,5, and 15 we learn that she is sitting on "crowds and nations." This cannot be literal. At 17:18 she is described as "the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth." As a city it must be an organized group of people. Since it has control over "the kings of the earth" the woman named Babylon the Great must be an influential and international organization, a "world empire," if you will.

Follow so far? The book of Revelation is explaining itself. Now, an empire can be political, commercial, or religious, correct?

She cannot symbolize a political empire because the "kings of the earth" or political elements, have "commited fornication" with her. (Rev. 17:1,2; James 4:4) This refers to alliances made with rulers of this earth, and is why she's called "the great harlot" or "whore."

Babylon the Great can't be commercial because the "merchants of the earth" look at her "from a distance" and will mourn her destruction. (see Revelation 18:3,9,10,15-17)

So it's reasonable to conclude that she is a religious empire. This is confirmed even further becasue she misleads the nations by means of "spiritistic practice." (Rev 18:23) Since spiritism is demon-inspired, 18:2 and Deuteronomy 18:10-12 call her a "dwelling place of demons," and she is said to persecute "holy ones" and "prophets." (Rev 18:24) She hates true worshippers so much that she even murders "the witnesses of Jesus." (Rev 17:6)

Answer 2

The Whore of Babylon was a metaphor for the Roman Empire,

"This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated,; also they are seven kings, of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come." (Revelation 17:9-10, NRSV).

Note the seven mountains, the seven hills of Rome. Earlier it talks about all the kings that had fornicated with her, that is, Rome had all but conquered the world, and all other nations had to deal with Rome. It also talks about the blasphemous names, the "divine titles" of the Roman emperors (viewed as gods by the Roman people). The number of the beast, 666, is the numerological number of Nero Caesar in Hebrew numerology. Nero began the greatest persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire when he blamed them for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD.

Answer 3

In the old scriptures, Babylon became a metaphor for any rival culture that the Hebrews (and later Christians and Rastafarians) felt threatened by or otherwise disliked and demonized.

Answer 4

I thought the whore of Babylon was either Paris Hilton or Brittney Spears. No metaphor needed for those two "ladies"

Answer 5

Every person's belief is a paradox of contradictions, not just the Christian's.

Answer 6

Your mom

JK

Umm... IDK cause im ROTFLMAO