Why It Can't be
The Catholic Church
or any other Church
By R.A. Coombes
One of the most popular theories regarding the identity of "Mystery Babylon" in Biblical Prophecy is the one which concludes that the Roman Catholic Church is the Harlot-Woman of Revelation 17. Some theorists claim that the Roman Catholic Church is the "Mystery Babylon of both Revelation 17 and 18. Now that latter view is full of obvious and blatant flaws. Revelation 18 makes it quite clear that it is a city. This city then is an economic engine that powers the worlds economy. These character traits in chapter 18 are so obvious that very few conservative scholarly prophecy researchers take such a theory seriously. Revelation 18 makes it obvious that the entity called "Mysery Babylon" is indeed a city. The chapter 18 character traits of the city (called a "mega-city" in the Greek) reveal a city that can not be matched to the traits of Vatican city nor to Rome itself. For more information on the issue of Rome as Babylon see the article entitled: Why Rome Can't Be Mystery Babylon found elsewhere in this issue of the Alpha-Omega Report.In order to fully understand the entire issue of identifying "Mystery Babylon" one should understand some of the basic background regarding ancient Babylon. Some of this information will be found in the accompanying article on Mystery Babylon: Who is this woman of Revelation 17? That article provides background depth concerning the ancient mystical religion of the Babylonian goddess ISHTAR. When we understand the proven and documented facts provided by archaeological discoveries of the Royal Records found in the cities of Babylonia/Chaldea, we find that our prior understanding of the myths and legends of Babylonian religions (like that of Ishtar) are very inaccurate. Our prior misunderstanding of what Ishtar worship was all about has prevented us from correctly understanding what Revelation 17 is trying to tell us.
Revelation 17 has been thought to be referring to the Church gone astray. This is an assumption that has prevailed historically in the church for many centuries. Even at the time of the Messiah, the "mystery religions" of Rome, Greece and Egypt were thought to be nationalized versions of Ishtar worship. We now have many documents from Babylon that date well back past the 2nd Millennium BC and may extend well back into the 3rd Millennium BC. These writings tell a different story regarding the original doctrines of Ishtar. These much older writings portray a goddess who is virtually identical to the woman of Revelation 17.
Ishtar, goddess of Babylon had many names and titles associated with her, even at the very beginning. She was referred to as the "Mother of Temple Prostitutes" because it was her religion that introduced the whole concept of religious prostitution. She introduced the idea of "holy sex". It was a religious rite in which a person engaged in sexual relations for the purpose of purification, or the removal of sin! This is what Revelation 17: 5 is referring to when it says:
"And upon her forehead was a name written: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
This verse repeats the title assigned to Ishtar nearly 3,000 years earlier. It is not saying that she was the literal mother of prostitutes. This title implies a role more like that of an overseer of an operation as in a house of ill repute. Now, Chapter 17 and verse 2 describes her relationship with the kings of the earth. It describes it in a manner of a sexual relationship. This occurred with the kings (or leaders) of the earth.
Now, the actual ancient writings of Babylon speak of a special ritual that Ishtar engaged in once a year with the King. Zechariah Sitchin is a researcher of the ancient Babylonian writings and one of only a handful of people who can read and translate these cuneiform tablets. Sitchin has written several books presenting his decades of research into the translations. He describes in his book Divine Encounters (published by Avon Books, 1995) this ritual in which once a year the king was required to meet with Ishtar. She would come down from outer space in a crescent-shaped object. She was thought to come (like all the other Anunnaki 'gods') from the Pleiades star system, more specifically Sirius. She was also associated with the planet Venus. She would take refuge in a special honeymoon-like "chamber" called the "gigunu" (or chamber of night-time pleasures).
It was the duty of the king to engage in sexual relations with her. Failure to perform would result in dire consequences. This activity occurred only at the New Year Festival. This "sacred" ceremony was called "The Sacred Marriage". It lasted all night. If the King emerged alive to the people he was allowed to remain in power for one more year. Sitchin documents this material in Divine Encounters on pages 161 through 182, but especially on this particular rite on pages 174-176.
Sitchin's research casts special insight into these very ancient doctrines. As one reads this recently published material from the archaeological finds one realizes that this material parallels precisely with what is described in the 17th chapter of Revelation. If one reads verse 4, and then reads the descriptions in the Royal records concerning what Ishtar looked like and how she dressed, one realizes that we see this description matches that description found in verse 4. Ishtar would appear with either a golden cup in her outstretched hand or with a 'torch'. She would also be decked-out in jewels and gold along with royal robes of purple and scarlet. Many times she would wear a crown befitting her title as "Queen of Heaven."
We also know that Ishtar was called the goddess of personal freedom and liberty. She was also referred to as a warrior goddess as she would fight for freedom. She was also, of course, called the goddess of love. She was also called the "mother of immigrants" because she was thought to answer even the personal appeals of immigrants seeking freedom in Babylon. One of the traits that endeared her to the common peoples was that she was thought to be a personal goddess who heard and answered prayers of the average person. This trait also endeared her to the massive population of Babylon that consisted of immigrants to the nation. (This was a unique trait among the gods of Babylon). She was also a goddess who engaged in occult practices and promoted occult activities among the human population.
We also know from the recently found writings from ancient Babylon that Ishtar never actually "married". She also never actually gave physical birth to a child. So she was not a "mother" goddess to an infant son. Instead, she was a wanton woman who promoted not only heterosexual promiscuity, but also homosexuality, as well as other perversions like incest and even bestiality and many other "sick" sexual perversions. She is credited for actually introducing the concept of homosexuality to the human race. Her motto was similar to the "If it feels good, do it" slogan of our 1960s baby boom generation. But that was nothing new, Ishtar introduced it to humanity perhaps as much as 4,000 to 5,000 years earlier.
Perhaps now you can recognize that all of these traits more closely match the description of Revelation 17. Those who felt that the Roman Catholic Church was the focus of this chapter, based this view upon unbiblical and false doctrines. This being especially true regarding the doctrines and practices related to the Virgin Mary. These proponents felt that the Virgin Mary concept originated from Ishtar worship. They point to the research of Alexander Hislop and his book "The Two Babylons".
Hislop lived and wrote during the 1800s. His work predated the archaeological discoveries of ancient Babylon. He was unaware of the Royal Records of Babylon that have been discovered by modern archaeologists and translated by a handful of linguists. This new data proves that Hislop substantially erred in making certain assumptions. His oldest data sources were at least 1500 years after the facts recorded in those Royal Records of the libraries in ancient Babylonian cities. Therefore, Hislop's conclusions that the Roman Catholic Church was the "Mystery Babylon" of Revelation are erroneous.
The proponents of the theory that Mystery Babylon is the Roman Catholic Church will also claim that Revelation 17 is references not only the Virgin Mary as the Harlot, but also they point to Revelation 17:9. This verse, or so these theorists would claim, proves that the city of Rome is being referred to. They then of course remind us that Rome is the location of the Vatican. In an associated article in this issue of the Alpha-Omega Report, we show that this verse 9 does not refer to Rome. See the article: "Why Rome Can't Be Mystery Babylon."
Revelation 17: 9 says: "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth."
Now, as we stated in the previous article, that word "mountain" which we see in the King James Version and the New American Standard Version refers to the original Greek word "hora". The most scholarly of Greek lexicons tell us that the word, in its most basic form, refers to a large land mass. It usually was used for mountains. But it could also refer to a desert. Now, remember deserts are flat. So you might ask what does this have to do with the idea that Rome is being referred to? The answer is that most other newer English translations use the word "hill". Why these new versions choose to use the word "hill" is something of a mystery to me. Strong's Concordance dictionary does mention it in passing, because elsewhere the KJV sometimes uses "hill" in reference to that Greek word "hora".
What we do know is that there was a different word in the Greek language that was generally used for "hill". It was the word "bounos". This word was actually a word of Roman origination. The Romans used this word exclusively for the 7 hills of Rome. The Greeks simply had borrowed this word from the Romans. Thus, in the first century AD, anyone who was writing in the Greek and referred to Rome's 7 hills, would use the word "bounos". To use any other word, like "hora", would be inaccurate. The Greeks and Romans both used the word "bounos" exclusively in referring to the 7 hills of Rome. Therefore, the question arises "why would the Holy Spirit choose the word 'hora' instead of bounos, if He were referring to Rome?" The obvious answer was that the Holy Spirit was NOT referring to Rome. He was referring to something completely different than the city of Rome. Thus, we find a major flaw exposed in the theory of not only Rome as Mystery Babylon, but also it is a flaw for those proponents contending that Mystery Babylon (whether of just chapter 17 or of 17/18) is the Roman Catholic Church.
Now the real problem with the theory that Revelation 17 is the Roman Catholic Church or any other church or organization is the word structure of Revelation 17:18. Here we find that the grammatical structure does not allow the woman to be separated from the city. How do we know this? Look at the verse structure.
"And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."
Note the word "IS". That word is connotes an "=" sign. Therefore we could diagram the verse this way.
"the woman… = … the great city…" or the woman IS the great city. It doesn't say she is 'like' the great city. It simply says she IS the great city. This means that the woman is the outward "symbol" of the city.
Now verse 18 then becomes the verse that links chapter 17 and 18 together. Why? Because up til now the woman is not linked to anything. Verse 18 does make the first link between her and the city. Chapter 18 then goes on to describe her as a city/state/nation. Repeatedly we see character traits that describe more than just a city. Rather, we see it described as a nation. It is a nation that has a woman as its national symbol. The woman is actually Ishtar, goddess of Babylon, known as the goddess of personal freedom. The goddess of immigrants. This is what Revelation 17: 1 and 15, where we see the woman connected the many ethnic groups immigrating. Note that this symbolism of water also links to the concept of immigrants. Can you think of anything in the world today which has the symbol of a woman connected to immigrants and immigration and is also closely connected to water? I can. Did the Statue of Liberty come to your mind?
In a future article we hope to present much more evidence showing the background and heritage of the Statue of Liberty. We hope to present the ironclad proof that the sculptor of this statue designed her to be his rendering of the goddess Ishtar, known as the goddess of freedom and liberty. We will assert that Revelation 17: 9 is speaking specifically of the Statue and her crown of 7 spikes. Those 7 spikes flash the occult enlightenment of the sun god Utu upon each of the 7 "hora"… or large land masses… which is what the root word of "hora" actually means and not mountains. You will want to read that article because the behind the scenes facts of the Statue of Liberty will just amaze you and leave you shaking your head. After all, the sculptor was a Freemason and was very much caught up in the masonic world of doctrines that were incorporated from the "mystery" religious doctrines of Ishtar.