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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
The book of Revelation	Jamie	Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Question: I was wondering if you could explain Chapter 18 from the book of Revelation. There are those out there who think they are doing the world a favor by making the Pope out to be the anti-christ and the Roman Catholic Church the "whore of Babylon". Could you lead me in the right direction? Thank you! Jamie
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Jamie: Well, the first thing to remember is that those who accuse the Pope of being the anti-Christ and the Church the whore of Babylon are hypocrites and idiots. These same people chastise the Catholic Church because they say that praying to Mary is not in the Bible, or the word "Pope" is not in the Bible. Well, if the word "Pope" is not in the Bible then how do they know the Pope is the anti-Christ. The Pope is not mentioned in Revelations. In similar manner, how can they say the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon when the words "Roman Catholic Church" is not in the bible? This is hypocrisy because they are making inferences based upon their interpretations. But when Catholic Church makes inferences based upon its interpretation we are the son of satan. A little double standard going on here. Secondly, their interpretation is seriously flawed for many, many reasons that are too extensive to go into here. Chapter 18 is about the downfall of Rome. "Rome" does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, for pete-sake. We often use the term "Rome" to mean the Catholic Church, but this is slang and is done because the Vatican is located next to the city of Rome. If the Vatican had been located in Paris instead of Rome I suppose we would be using the term "Paris" to refer to the Church, which I guess would be the Paris Catholic Church then :) and the "Roman Rite" would then be the "Parisian Rite". Vatican hill is not one of the seven hills of Rome and the Church cannot be in a downfall. Jesus said that hell will never prevail against the Church. The Scripture is referring to a CITY of Rome. This reference is most likely analogous to the corrupt secular world, but it is not a reference to the Church. To say that the reference to Rome in Chapter 18 refers to the "Roman" Catholic Church because the Church is called Roman and its headquarters are located at Rome, Italy is about as stupid as some Baptist saying that John the Baptist was their founder since he was "the Baptist". No kidding; there are some Baptists who claim that. I would refer you to Scott Hahn's book, "Lamb's Supper", for a sane interpretation of Revelations. A good article from Catholic Answers called Whore of Babylon is recommended reading. Also there are several links on this subject at the Catholic Apologetics on the Internet website. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

The book of Revelation

Jamie

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Question:

I was wondering if you could explain Chapter 18 from the book of Revelation. There are those out there who think they are doing the world a favor by making the Pope out to be the anti-christ and the Roman Catholic Church the "whore of Babylon".

Could you lead me in the right direction?

Thank you!
Jamie

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Jamie:

Well, the first thing to remember is that those who accuse the Pope of being the anti-Christ and the Church the whore of Babylon are hypocrites and idiots.

These same people chastise the Catholic Church because they say that praying to Mary is not in the Bible, or the word "Pope" is not in the Bible. Well, if the word "Pope" is not in the Bible then how do they know the Pope is the anti-Christ. The Pope is not mentioned in Revelations. In similar manner, how can they say the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon when the words "Roman Catholic Church" is not in the bible?

This is hypocrisy because they are making inferences based upon their interpretations. But when Catholic Church makes inferences based upon its interpretation we are the son of satan. A little double standard going on here.

Secondly, their interpretation is seriously flawed for many, many reasons that are too extensive to go into here.

Chapter 18 is about the downfall of Rome. "Rome" does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, for pete-sake. We often use the term "Rome" to mean the Catholic Church, but this is slang and is done because the Vatican is located next to the city of Rome. If the Vatican had been located in Paris instead of Rome I suppose we would be using the term "Paris" to refer to the Church, which I guess would be the Paris Catholic Church then :) and the "Roman Rite" would then be the "Parisian Rite".

Vatican hill is not one of the seven hills of Rome and the Church cannot be in a downfall. Jesus said that hell will never prevail against the Church.

The Scripture is referring to a CITY of Rome. This reference is most likely analogous to the corrupt secular world, but it is not a reference to the Church.

To say that the reference to Rome in Chapter 18 refers to the "Roman" Catholic Church because the Church is called Roman and its headquarters are located at Rome, Italy is about as stupid as some Baptist saying that John the Baptist was their founder since he was "the Baptist". No kidding; there are some Baptists who claim that.

I would refer you to Scott Hahn's book, "Lamb's Supper", for a sane interpretation of Revelations.

A good article from Catholic Answers called Whore of Babylon is recommended reading. Also there are several links on this subject at the Catholic Apologetics on the Internet website.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary