A very interesting propaganda letter on the Catholic church ?

Question

I want to get back to the user but I don't know what to say

this is the email:

Roman-Catholicism is the w***e of Babylon! Roman-Catholicism is the w***e of Babylon!

the w***e OF BABYLON is the Roman-Catholic Church. Why? The Bible says in Revelation 17:

1) this harlot sits upon many waters; God says that waters = nations. Well, roman-catholicism is the world's largest Christian church (sorry... so called "Christian") and represents over half of all Christians (so called "Christians") and one-sixth of the world's population;

2) the woman is dressed in purple and scarlet (like the roman-catholic priests, bishops, archbishops etc.); also, Catholicism raised kings during the "Holy" Roman Empire and their clothes had these colours.

3) she is drunken with the blood of the Saints and the martyrs of Christ (the papal inquisition, which killed many true Christians, and lasted for 605 years);

Why? Heresy: reading the Bible, yet not becoming a Catholic

4) sits upon a beast which has 7 heads, but the Bible also tells us that those 7 heads = 7 hills (Rome is built upon 7 hills and it is well known for that);

5) the woman has committed spiritual fornications (pope John Paul 2nd called many religious leaders - muslims, buddhists, hindus, taoists, Jews and others to pray together - the pope said that those religions were all inspired by the same God and led to the same God; he also let buddhists (for example) put their statues in Roman-Catholic churches and to pray there;

6) the woman wears jewels (like the Roman-Catholic priests).

7) This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Catholicism has many Babylonian rituals. Babylonians used to pray to their Heavenly Mother --- Catholic have replaced that pagan goddess with Saint Mary.

The mitre used by Catholic priests looks like the Babylonian ones.

Catholic priests are not allowed to marry; this is again a Babylonian and Egyptian rule.

8) "The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king" Rev. 17:11

King represent a kingdom. The greatest kingdoms were:

1) Egypt

2) Assyria

3) Babylon

4) Persia

5) Greece

6) pagan Rome

7) papal Rome

In the past, (papal) Rome was also associated with Catholicism because Rome is the center of Catholicism.

9)"The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire." Rev. 17:16 ---> I think you have heard of the French Revolution. They attacked Rome, killed the priests, took the pope as a prisoner and burnt the city.

All in all, the w***e OF BABYLON is the Roman-Catholic Church.

Also, the Bible speaks of a false prophet who will make the world worship the beast (Antichrist) and receive his mark --- 666.

The Bible says that false prophet has 2 horns as a lamb, but speaks as a dragon.

Well, Jesus Christ is identified as "the Holy Lamb of God", so this false prophet will likely try to take the place of Christ. The pope calls himself: holy father, his holiness, Vicarius Filii Dei (the Vicar of Christ).

So, this prophet will be "a wolf clothed as a sheep", so he will make people believe he is good.

"Speaks like a dragon" --- satan is identified as a DRAGON, and he is called the "father of all lies", so this false prophet will lie, but will make many go to him, rather than to Christ. The pope wants to take the place of God, calling himself "VICAR OF CHRIST". However, the Bible says that the Vicar of Christ is the Holy Spirit (only God can replace Himself). Many worship the pope and pray to his statues and think he is really a good person and is chosen by God, but as we both know, the word "pope" isn't mentioned in the Bible not even ONCE, but it is a tradition of man, which God condemns. The pope is not the Vicar of Christ.

Returning to the '2 horns', we will notice that the mitre which the pope uses, has 2 equal parts (it is divided into 2 parts).

The Bible says that this FALSE PROPHET will make the whole world worship Antichrist, so this "vicar of Christ" will have great influence in the world. As we can see, the pope is the best known religious leader and the most loved and appreciated.

Look at John Paul 2nd - many people loved him and were extremely sad when he died (in 2005).

I conclusion, I think that the FALSE PROPHET will be (maybe the next) a pope.

It seems like only the pope can be the false prophet.

Answer 1

Don't bother replying. This kind of people have already made up their mind that something is bad and no matter what you say...they ain't gonna change it.

They live in hatred and darkness... it is hate that they see..speak...

Answer 2

Interestingly, I've read this drivel somewhere, long time ago, in anti-Catholic tracts distributed by fundamentalist sects, it even had a horrible drawing depicting the claim. Haven't they realized that hatred is the devil's?  By propagating hatred, these people are truly doing the work of Satan.

Answer 3

There are so many things wrong with that interpretation and scenario. I have read that stuff, and they take a lot of liberties with biblical interpretation, numerology, etc. Their beliefs take great many things for granted and do not consider any other conclusion. In other words if your intent is to prove the Catholic Church is the w***e of Babylon and you begin reading through the Bible with that as your goal, you can knit together unrelated passages and prophecies and appear to make a case. Yet if you were trying to prove that America was the w***e of Babylon or that Sadaam was the anti-Christ, you could do equally as well.

But just for starters: <<The Bible says that this FALSE PROPHET will make the whole world worship Antichrist, so this "vicar of Christ" will have great influence in the world.>>

The Pope hardly has influence on the "whole world" in fact many people disregard him altogether, even many Catholics don't listen to him. You mention Pope John Paul II, but he has already died. So obviously he isn't the anti-Christ. There are some who believe the anti-Christ will not be a person but an ideaology.  

Answer 4

w***e of Babylon

Judging by the criteria of biblical fundamentalism (literal words literally understood) it is certain that there is no mention of the Catholic Church in the book of Revelation as the w***e of Babylon. By contortions of interpretation (not biblical literalism) some groups and individuals equate the w***e in Revelation 17:9 with the Catholic Church since Rome is the famous city of seven hills and the Church's principal See is Rome. This position is untenable, both factually and  from the only words of Scripture which tell us of the actual doctrine of the Antichrist, those of the apostle John in his letters.

There would seem to be two choices, either interpret Rev 17:9 absolutely literally or according to some interpretive key that is metaphorical, allegorical or otherwise non-literal. 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 5

Take note, tuberoot!

If this atheist ever again believes, you can bet your *** I'll return to the Catholic church. I'd rather be beheaded than be a Protestant.

Answer 6

dqnwa

Answer 7

Not very interesting propaganda. This letter isn't new and has been in circulation for about 400 years with name changes to make it current for the present. It is obvious the person that sent this to you has an agenda and no response is going to change his thinking.

Answer 8

Don't bother with that paranoid drivel.  It doesn't deserve a response.

Answer 9

- The abolition of the Eucharist will be the first act of the Antichrist

- The Eucharist is the "restrainer" which withholds the coming of the Antichrist

"The Abomination of Desolation" in Matthew 24:15-20:

This is the time of the Coming of the Antichrist... and his very first work will be the abolition of the Eucharist!

"When you see the Abomination of Desolation, of which Daniel spoke, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)..." (Matt.24:15).

When you go to "Daniel", he describes the horrors of this "Abomination" in 4 places: Daniel 8:11-17, 9:26-27, 11:31-32, 12:11.

This Abomination refers to the abolition of the Eternal Sacrifice and the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem... but Daniel states that "the vision refers to the time of the End" (8:17), and Jesus himself refers us to it in Matt.24:15, and it will be the very first thing the Antichrist will do, the abolition of the Eucharist!, as reported here by Jesus.

This "Abomination" in Daniel consists of 5 facts:

1- "Abolished the perpetual sacrifice" (Dan.8:11): And as a logical consequence, if there is no "sacrifice", there will be no "altar", and no "priests" to offer it... this is the main and most important feature, described by Daniel in his four descriptions of the Abomination in the Holy Place.

2- "Threw down his sanctuary" (Dan.8:11).

3- "Shall destroy the city" (Dan.9:26).

4- "He magnified himself even to the prince of the host" (Dan.8:11).

5- By his deceit he shall make some who were disloyal to the covenant apostatize (an.11:26).

The reign of the Antichrist will last for 7 years, as described in Daniel 8:14 and Revelation 13:5: The "Abomination" will last for 3½ years, and the "Great Tribulation" for another 3½ years, or 42 months, or 1,260 days (Rev.13:5, 11:2-3, 12:5, Dan.12:11-12).

John tells us that the Antichrist is already with us (1Jn.4:3), and Paul says that the Antichrist is already at work (1Thes.2:6-8).

The Jews already have this Abomination: They have no sacrifice, no altar, no priests, no temple... as it was prophesied it will happen after the coming of the Messiah! (Daniel 8:11-17, 9:26-27, 11:31-32, 12:11).

For many Protestants this "Abomination" means very little, because they already do not have the "perpetual sacrifice", nor "sanctuary", nor "altar", nor "priests"...

The Orthodox already do not have the "prince of hosts", nor "the city".

Many Catholics may wonder how come the Holy Mass and priests could be abolished... but this already happened partially at the coming of Muhammad when there were 800 Christian bishops in Africa, among them St. Augustine, and in a few years there were reduced to just 5!... the "remnant" always mentions by Isaiah. And when Martin Luther came, in a few years millions of Christians were left without sacrifice, altar, and priests... So, this is what it will happened at the coming of the Antichrist during the Abomination of Desolation, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be abolished, and consequently there will be no need for altars nor priests to celebrate it... and, of course, a "remnant" will be left!.

The "restrainer": "the one who holds back the Antichrist":

St. Paul tells us twice what withholds the Antichrist to appear, in 2Thess.2:6,7... and that "restrainer", "the one who holds back the Antichrist", is Jesus in the Eucharist!... when the Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist is abolished, the Antichrist will appear with full force!... right now, says Paul, the Antichrist, the mystery of iniquity is already at work, but restrained by the Eucharist, and his work will start in full when the Abomination of Desolation comes, when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Altar and Priests will be taken away.

This is how Paul say it in 2Thes.2:6-8:

6: And now you know what is holding him back (the man of lowslessness), so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

7: For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back, the restrainer,

will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed...

The Antichrist and the Eucharist:

The Immense Value of the Eucharist:

- Only one Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is worth more "adoration" to God than all human beings prostrated for one year!, because it is Christ, God offered, with an infinite value!... I adore you my God.

- Only one Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has more "thanksgiving" value than all the angels praising God for all eternity!... it is an infinity value of thanksgiving!... thank you, my sweet prisoner of Love.

- Only one Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has more penitential value than all the monks of all times making penance at the same time!... praise be my Lord and my God, Jesus Christ... it is the main source to bring souls out of Purgatory

- Only one Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has more value of "petition" to God than all humans and Angels and Saints praying together for a sick person!... it is God!... glory to  

Answer 10

You're dealing with someone who is regurgitating Dave Hunt's and Alexander Hislop's standard anti-Catholic garbage.  In both cases they took their hatred of the Catholic Church, opened the book of Revelation, and set out to "prove" that the Church is the pagan w***e o' babylon by making certain bits of its symbolic language "fit" certain things about the Church.  It's called eisegesis, or reading into Scripture what one has already decided one wants to find there.

The phrase "mystery babylon" in the screed you received completely gives it away as coming from someone who has willingly and eagerly swallowed the stuff Hunt in particular dishes out.

I don't find it very useful to engage these folks in dialogue, but if you wish to, then you should first visit catholic.com (the Catholic Answers apologetics site).  Here are a few relevant articles:

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1994/94...

http://www.catholic.com/library/hunting_...

http://www.catholic.com/library/whore_of...

It's usually the sects that are overly preoccupied with "end times" prophecy, almost to the exclusion of everything else in Scripture, that get into this sort of thing.  I haven't figured out yet whether they're living in abject fear (rather contradictory to the Gospel) or just looking forward to watching Catholics get tossed into the lake o' fire from what they imagine will be their front-row seats.

Answer 11

Please read the following article:

Hunting the w***e of Babylon

Some anti-Catholics claim the Catholic Church is the w***e of Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18. Dave Hunt, in his 1994 book, A Woman Rides the Beast, presents nine arguments to try to prove this. His claims are a useful summary of those commonly used by Fundamentalists, and an examination of them shows why they don’t work.

You can find the rest here:

http://www.catholic.com/library/Hunting_...