Catholic view . In the most common
medieval and Catholic view, deriving from
Augustine of Hippo's
The City of God (early 5th century), Babylon and Jerusalem referred to two spiritual cities which were spiritually at war with one another, throughout all of history: They also represented two principles at war with one another, inside each individual person, even inside seemingly worldly Christian monarchs; thus Augustine could boast approvingly, "believing [Christian] monarchs of this world came to the city of Rome, as to the head of Babylon: they went not to the temple of the Emperor, but to the
tomb of the Fisherman." Some
sedevacantists believe that the
post-concilliar church is the Whore of Babylon.
Reformation view from a woodcut in
Luther Bible cartoon depicting the Whore of Babylon wearing the papal tiara, 1925
Historicist interpreters commonly used the phrase "Whore of Babylon" to refer to the
Catholic Church.
Reformation writers
Martin Luther (1483–1546, author of
On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church),
John Calvin (1509–1564), and
John Knox (1510–1572, author of
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women) taught this association. Most early Protestant Reformers believed, and the modern
Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches, that in Bible prophecy a woman represents a church. The connection noted on the seven hills of Rome is argued to locate the church. Identification of the Pope as the Antichrist was written into Protestant creeds such as the
Westminster Confession of 1646. The identification of the Roman Catholic Church with the Whore of Babylon is kept in the
Scofield Reference Bible (whose 1917 edition identified "ecclesiastical Babylon" with "apostate
Christendom headed by the
Papacy"). An image from the 1545 edition of Luther's Bible depicts the Whore as wearing the
papal tiara.
Latter-day Saint view The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) views the Whore of Babylon and its
Book of Mormon equivalent, the "
great and abominable church", as having dominion over the entire earth and representing a powerful collection of groups and carnal individuals seeking wealth, sexual immorality, dominion, and the persecution or death of saints.
Seventh-day Adventist view Seventh-day Adventists believe that the whore of Babylon represents the fallen state of traditional Christianity, especially the fallen state of Christianity in the
Catholic Church. Other churches (predominantly
Protestant) are generally considered either part of the harlot or her daughters. Adventists further hold the view that the persecution of the "saints" in Revelation 17:6 represents the persecution of believers who rejected the doctrines which were introduced by the Roman Catholic Church because they were based on
pagan Roman beliefs. The persecution of anyone who opposed the Catholic Church during the
Middle Ages, especially by the
Inquisition, and the persecution of the
Waldensians and the
Huguenots are cited as examples of this persecution. Seventh-day Adventists interpret Revelation 17:18 as a prophecy about the false church, which has power over the kings of the earth. They consider the
pope to be in apostasy for allowing pagan rituals, beliefs and ceremonies to come into the church. They consider the
Papacy, as a continuation of the Roman Empire, to be a fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2:7: "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way."
Ellen G. White's
The Great Controversy (1858) states that "Spiritual Babylon" would have worldwide influence, affecting "all nations", that the Imperial Roman Empire could not meet the criteria, because she wrote that it only had influence in the
Old World. Like many reformation-era Protestant leaders, her writings also describe the
Catholic Church as a fallen church, and it plays a nefarious eschatological role as the antagonist against God's true church and that the pope is the Antichrist.
Jehovah's Witnesses view Jehovah's Witnesses, whose early teachings were strongly influenced by Adventism but have since diverged, believe that the Whore of Babylon represents "the world empire of false religion", referring to all other religious groups including, but not limited to,
Christendom. Jehovah's Witnesses literature frequently refers to the "Great Harlot" of Babylon and the subsequent attack on her by the political powers, signaling the beginning of the "great tribulation". They believe that the empire of false religion has persecuted God's people, and that "false religion" has committed "fornication" with the world's political and commercial elements, based on their interpretation of Revelation 17:1–2.
View in Thelema Babalon (also known as the "Scarlet Woman" or "Mother of Abominations") is a goddess found in
Thelema, a religious system which was established in 1904 with the writing of
The Book of the Law by English writer
Aleister Crowley. The spelling of the name as "Babalon" was revealed by Crowley in his
The Vision and the Voice. Her name and imagery are featured in Crowley's . In her most abstract form, Babalon represents the female sexual impulse and the liberated woman. In the
creed of the
Gnostic Mass she is also identified with
Mother Earth, in her most fertile sense. Along with her status as an archetype or goddess, Crowley believed that Babalon had an earthly aspect or avatar; a living woman who occupied the spiritual office of the 'Scarlet Woman'. This office, first identified in
The Book of the Law is usually described as a counterpart to his own identification as "
To Mega Therion" (The Great Beast). The role of the Scarlet Woman was to help manifest the energies of the
Aeon of Horus. Crowley believed that several women in his life occupied the office of Scarlet Woman, for which see the list below. Babalon's consort is
Chaos, called the "Father of Life" in the
Gnostic Mass, being the male form of the creative principle. Chaos appears in
The Vision and the Voice and later in . Separate from her relationship with her consort, Babalon is usually depicted as riding the
Beast. She is often referred to as a
sacred whore, and her primary symbol is the
chalice or
graal. As Crowley wrote in his
The Book of Thoth, "she rides astride the Beast; in her left hand she holds the reins, representing the passion which unites them. In her right she holds aloft the cup, the
Holy Grail aflame with love and death. In this cup are mingled the elements of the sacrament of the
Aeon." ==See also==