Babylon code word for Rome

[dnar]

In Karl Keating’s book Catholicism and Fundamentalism on page 200, I read this

“Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is used that way six times in the last book of the Bible and in extra biblical books…”

In the readings of the book of Revelation, some view this to be end times happenings.

How are we as Catholics to view this when Babylon is a code word for Rome. Will Rome fall in the last days…or are Catholics supposed to view this as a totally different happening?

Thanks

 

[Mattapoisett64]

I had always understood this to refer to the “Rome” of the Caesars, not to use it in the millenialist sense that the evangelicals use it today to bash the Church.

 

[dnar]

I had always understood this to refer to the “Rome” of the Caesars, not to use it in the millenialist sense that the evangelicals use it today to bash the Church.

And that is probably the way it is supposed to be understood. I am in the process of converting right now and I just have some of the old theology in my head, I was just needing someone to clarify it.

 

[CB_Catholic]

In Karl Keating’s book Catholicism and Fundamentalism on page 200, I read this

“Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is used that way six times in the last book of the Bible and in extra biblical books…”

In the readings of the book of Revelation, some view this to be end times happenings.

How are we as Catholics to view this when Babylon is a code word for Rome. Will Rome fall in the last days…or are Catholics supposed to view this as a totally different happening?

Thanks

Well, I am taking a short course on the Book of Revelation currently, and the priest told us that it is a code word for the corrupt Roman Empire, and the Church at that time was under severe persecution from the Emperor Domitian. These Christians would have understood that Babylon referred to Rome, whereas the persecutors would not have understood the reference. I have also been reading a book on my own titled The Apocylypse: Biblical Revelation Explained by Rev. Patrick J. Sena, CPPS in addition to the course, in which the historical background and the symbolism is explained. I would recommend this book, as it makes things quite clear and is easy for the layperson to understand. And it’s not a long read.

Of course, this is pretty basic information as the book is designed for laypeople like me, not scholars, but once one understands the historical context and the symbolism used, and the symbolism of the numbers, and the literary form called Apocylyptic Literature and how and why it was written, it is much easier to “get a grip” on the Book and things become much clearer. The Book was written for a certain group of people at a certain period of time and they understood what the author was trying to say. However, it has meaning for all Christians of every age, as does all Scripture. I am fairly certain that the currently popular Protestant Dispensationalist viewpoint is not the view held by most Catholic scholars.

 

[Ignatius]

How are we as Catholics to view this when Babylon is a code word for Rome. Will Rome fall in the last days…

That part of the prophesy has already come to pass. Check any history book, The Roman Empire fell in the 4th century.

 

[crazzeto]

In Karl Keating’s book Catholicism and Fundamentalism on page 200, I read this

“Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is used that way six times in the last book of the Bible and in extra biblical books…”

In the readings of the book of Revelation, some view this to be end times happenings.

How are we as Catholics to view this when Babylon is a code word for Rome. Will Rome fall in the last days…or are Catholics supposed to view this as a totally different happening?

Thanks

It could be applied to Rome (the city it’s self, not the Church), but particularly in Revelation, the Whore of…fits better with Jerusalem. That city is constantly described as being a whore, an unfaithful bride by the OT prophits, the imagery used in Rev fits perfectly.

Also note, the whore teams up with a beast, a “marriage” of convinence to persecute the faithful. Literally this starts with the persecution of Christ, and the ECFs, it culminates in 70AD, when the Temple in Jerusalem is finally definitivly destroyed, and the Jews are dispersed. Much like, at the end of that book in Revelation, the whore is devoured by the beast.

 

[kepha1]

*"…At the time when St John wrote the Book of Revelation, this dragon represented for him the power of the anti-Christian Roman Emperors, from Nero to Domitian. This power seemed boundless; the military, political and propagandist power of the Roman Empire was such that before it, faith, the Church, appeared as a defenseless woman with no chance of survival and even less of victory.

Who could stand up to this omnipresent force that seemed capable of achieving everything? Yet, we know that in the end it was the defenceless woman who won and not egoism or hatred; the love of God triumphed and the Roman Empire was opened to the Christian faith.

The words of Sacred Scripture always transcend the period in history. Thus, not only does this dragon suggest the anti-Christian power of the persecutors of the Church of that time, but also anti-Christian dictatorships of all periods…*

Benedict XVI’s Homily on the Assumption

 

[dnar]

I appreciate all the replies, you have been most helpful. The book of Revelation is a hard one to understand for me. I think I will check that book out that was recommended.

 

[NotWorthy]

If you’re going to get a book, check out Michael Barber’s “Coming Soon! Revelation Unlocked”. Very good and easy to read.

 

[brb3]

fits better with Jerusalem. That city is constantly described as being a whore, an unfaithful bride by the OT prophits, the imagery used in Rev fits perfectly.

Also note, the whore teams up with a beast, a “marriage” of convinence to persecute the faithful. Literally this starts with the persecution of Christ, and the ECFs, it culminates in 70AD, when the Temple in Jerusalem is finally definitivly destroyed, and the Jews are dispersed. Much like, at the end of that book in Revelation, the whore is devoured by the beast.

Yes, Jerusalem proved the unfaithful one, rejected Christ and Jewish Temple destroyed within that same generation, not to be rebuilt for animal sacrifices … a “desolate abomination” ever since the Day of the Cross.