Is The Church the Woman of Revelation 18?

One of the favorite hobbies of non-Catholic Christians, especially in the last 75 years, is trying to interpret Bible prophesies about the End Times to come up with a “times and season” if not an exact date for the Second Coming of Christ. This fixation is product of the last 200 years and has not been an interest of the churches down through the ages…although certain writers in the 15^th and 16^th Century did write opinions on certain aspects of Revelation. We’ll look at that more in depth momentarily.

The diversity of opinion and dogma among Evangelical Christians and denominations is a direct result of the rejection of the authority of the Pope and the Magisterium with the unbiblical error of Sola Scriptura. Part of that diverse opinion directly concerns Catholics, for in it the Catholic Church is defined as “The Great Whore of Babylon”…at the very least the head of the “One World Religion” that gives power to the Anti-Christ and in the worst case the very religion itself. Where did this notion come from?

It dates back as far as Martin Luther, who wrote “The Babylonian Captivity of The Church” in 1520 and comes on through time to the majority of non-Catholic and even cultic (Jehovah’s Witness, Latter Day Saints, Worldwide Church of God and its successor The Worldwide Church of God International upon the former’s embrace of mainline Christianity) writers of the last century. But it reached its zenith in a book called “The Two Babylons” written published in 1853.

The book was written by a Presbyterian Free minister named Alexander Hislop. In it he compares the ancient mystery religion of Babylon with the teaching of the Catholic Church. The work is replete with misinterpretations of ancient Babylon language and culture, as well as twisting of the meaning of Catholic practices (he says that the HIS on the communion host stands for “Isis, Horus and Semiramis”…the latter with which he identifies Mama Mary) It has been refuted by most reputable archaeologists and responsible theologians and apologists in Evangelical Christianity, but even so its points show up in various writings of the “Pin The Tail On The Anti-Christ” crowd.

The chief champion of Hislop’s teachings with Evangelical Christian circles if a man named Jack Chick. If the name sounds familiar to you that’s because he is the writer and publisher of those little tracts you find in the men’s room (I don’t know about the lady’s room for obvious reasons LOL) and in phone booths all over the place. He also has produced a series of full-sized comic books under the title “The Crusaders” about two guys who run around foiling the evil plots of the Vatican (usually through those wicked Jesuits) to bring about the one world church. His company sells Hislop’s book on their website and also has done a series of those comics featuring an ex-Jesuit priest named “Alberto Rivera”.

Rivera is supposedly a real person and he, of course, confirms everything that Hislop says in his book…adding a few damning allegations of his own to the mix. His alleged Roman Catholic credentials were proven to have been fraudulently obtained and he passed away in 1997. But truth doesn’t matter to men like Chick and he still promotes Rivera’s and Hislop’s allegations against the Church.

The fact is Revelation 17 and 18 speaks about two Babylons. One appears to be an economic power and the other a religious power. But trying to identify those two with any existing city or religion is as perilous as trying to identify current individuals as “The Anti-Christ” …what I refer to as “Pin-The-Tail- On-The-Anti-Christ”. More than that it is an unbiblical occupation of the time of the believers and every time they are wrong it damages the cause of Christ in the eyes of the world. The Lord Jesus and all the writers of the New Testament never commanded us to sit around doing such things. The command is “Go into all the world and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of The Son and of the Holy Spirit” May the Church never be distracted from that mission.