Bible study question: who or what is the Whore of Babylon?

Question

I am an Evangelical Christian who studies the Bible. One of the interesting prophetic characters in the Bible is the Whore of Babylon. Who do you think she is? What do you think she is?
I know what I think the answer is, but I would like to see what others think.

Answer 1

That would be ALL false religion.

Answer 2

The Whore of Babylon is first seen in Zechariah 5. She was not to be let loose just yet, but was being prepared. We see her in full maturity in Revelation, drunk on the blood of the saints with, of all things, a chalice!

This is the world ecumenical religion that will arise out of Europe and will be part and parcel of the new world economy. One economy, one religion. If you do not accept both together, you will be beheaded.

I see this as a religion that will combine all major religions into one politically correct version. Much of the description points to the Roman Catholic church as being part of this coalition of religions. I believe Islam will be a major portion as well.

If you read the seven letters to the churches, you will see the Roman Catholic church warned that if she did not repent, God would throw her into the Great Tribulation. I see no repentance today. So it looks like she is going to compromise on that day.
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/seven_letters.pdf

Answer 3

The Seventh Day Adventist Church calls the Catholic Church the "Whore of Babylon." Christ was falsely accused. Just as He was accused of doing the work of the Devil, He predicted that His Church would also be accused in the same way. Mat. 10: 25 "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household !" We know that Christ’s prophecy is true, so our search for His Church that He established can be safely restricted to considering only those Churches that are accused of doing the Devil’s work.
Mark 14:55-59 "Many gave false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree…"
John 15:18-20 "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
… If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."
Matthew 12:24-26 "But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.’ But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand?’

Lets look first at literal interpretation.

"The seven heads represent seven hills on which the woman sits." First of all, no Pope has ever lived or had his "seat" (cathedra or cathedral) on any of the seven hills of Rome. These hills are small hillocks (Capitoline, Palatine, Esquiline, Aventine and three lesser "bumps" in central Rome) where the religion and government of pagan Rome was situated. The Catholic Church's headquarters at the Lateran (the cathedral) and at the Vatican (where the Pope lives) does not coincide with them. At the time that John wrote Revelation the Christians of Rome lived mostly in Trastevere (trans Tiber), a district "across the Tiber" from the City and adjacent to the Vatican hill where St. Peter was crucified and buried. The Vatican is on top of that burial site and is today its own city-state distinct from Rome and Italy.

So, of what was St. John speaking when he wrote Revelation on the island of Patmos around 96 AD? Obviously of the pagan imperial system situated on the Seven Hills, especially the Capitoline (the religious and political center) and the Palatine (the imperial palace). This pagan power persecuted the Church of Rome in Nero's day (64-67 AD), and in the mid-90s under Domitian was persecuting Christians throughout the Roman world. Domitian was considered by the people a re-incarnation of the evil, but well-liked, Nero (the head that lives again). While the antichrist Nero persecuted only the Christians of Rome, Domitian extended that persecution throughout the empire. Both are thus types of the final persecutor, the Antichrist.

Why the cryptic name Babylon? First, the historical Babylon was the pagan power which persecuted the People of God, the Jews, between 610 and 538 BC, destroying the Temple and dispersing the people. The Romans inherited that mantle of infamy when they destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, and, more importantly, persecuted the new People of God, the Church. Thus, St. Peter, writing from Rome refers to as "Babylon" (1 Pt. 5:13) - a name any Jew or Christian familiar with the Old Testament would know.

How does this relate to the Antichrist? The future Antichrist will be a world-wide power, essentially pagan, which will persecute the Catholic Church (and orthodox Christians in general) everywhere, as the Babylonians persecuted the Jews and 1st century Rome the Church. These are biblical types! The Babylon of John's day, Rome, stands for the kingdom of the future Antichrist and is no more likely to be situated in Italy than Rome needed to be situated in Babylonia (modern Iraq). John was informing his readers of these prophetic types by drawing their attention to the contemporary fulfillment they found in pagan Rome. The Antichrist will come out of the Christian world (Greco-Roman civilization) to be sure (1 John 2:19), but America is as much an inheritor of that civilization as Europe and just as likely to be the source of the Antichrist.

Finally, after distorting the text and history to read what they want into the Bible, and thereby obtaining God's "blessing" on their hatred of the Catholic Church, some "Christians" ignore the only texts of Scripture which tells us about the religious leanings of the Antichrist. The Catholic faith being a religion you would think they would see what it teaches on the only criteria the Bible actually gives about the Antichrist. In St. John's letters (1 John 4, 2 John 1), he tells us that the spirit of the Antichrist denies the Incarnation (the Son of God becoming man) and thereby also the Trinity (the Father and the Spirit, too). This is the spirit of the Antichrist. There is not a single text in 2000 years, including the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, where the Catholic Church, her popes, her bishops, her official teachings, her saints, or her acknowledged ecclesiastical authors, deny the Word-made-flesh or the Blessed Trinity. Instead, all of Christianity owes the preservation of these Truths to the Catholic Church, whose great Councils formulated them and whose saints and popes have defended them to this day, often at the cost of martyrdom. The present pope, John Paul II, has written three great encyclical (circular) letters on the Trinity, one for each Divine Person, and he has without a doubt preached Jesus Christ to more people than any other person in human history. The Catholic Church does not have the spirit of the Antichrist but of God, since no one without the Spirit can say "Jesus is Lord" (1 Cor. 12:3), something the Church and Catholics always have done and continue to do!

Answer 4

The harlot in Revelation symbolizes the world empire of false religion, those who profess to serve God, but, prove false to these claims by their works. Revelation also speaks about her committing fornication with the kings of the nations, this depicts her close relationships with the governments of the world, who will eventually destroy her.

Answer 5

You MUST study the symbolism in that statement. This is a very lengthy topic to talk about in a few sentences. However, there is a website that has the answer, that I believe, answers your question thoroughly and thoughtfully.

http://www.amazingfacts.org/items/storacle_lessons.asp

I recommend going through all the lessons in order to gain much of the background that will be mentioned in the study.

The study that you seek is called "The Daughter's Dance"

GOD bless

Answer 6

Very simply put - it's the world empire of false religion, all of them. The beast that kills the woman is the political system.

Answer 7

The Harlot is the false religion that will be in power in the end times with the antchrist. And many will be deceived and follow her.


I, too, believe it is the Roman Catholic Church. And the Pope is the false prophet.
You asked.

Answer 8

It is Rome. When John wrote Rev. he used the term Babylon to represent the Roman Empire.

Answer 9

Some xxxxx church who will get payback soon. Oh Lord Come.

Answer 10

The roman catholic cult. Catholics are not saved Christians. Catholicism is used to unite the world under false "unity and peace", a one-world religion that Jesus comes back and judges and destroys.