Who are Babylon and Beast according to the CC?

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Ravyn_Guiliani

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I know there are atleast 2 other threads on Revelation, but rather than sorting thru hundreds of posts I have a specific Q about the identity of Babylon and the Beast she rides according to the CC? Who does the Church say they are?
 
Contrary to the expectations of some, the church is not in the business of interpreting or defining all the little details of scripture. There is no “Catholic definition” of who these images are. There are a range of interpretations possible and permissible. Most think they are pagan Rome or Jerusalem (or Israel) after the rejection of Christ.
 
quasimodo said:
Contrary to the expectations of some, the church is not in the business of interpreting or defining all the little details of scripture. There is no “Catholic definition” of who these images are. There are a range of interpretations possible and permissible. Most think they are pagan Rome or Jerusalem (or Israel) after the rejection of Christ.
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AND…please note that many, many Protestants, after carefully analyzing the Bible, have concluded it’s the Catholic Church. Yeah. There are many websites with very lively discussions on this very topic. Of course it’s not true, but only goes to show how controversial, divisive and even dangerous this question can be.
 
"…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.
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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.
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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.
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We see this power, the force of the red dragon, brought into existence once again in the great dictatorships of the last century: the Nazi dictatorship and the dictatorship of Stalin monopolized all the power, penetrated every corner, the very last corner. It seemed impossible in the long term that faith could survive in the face of this dragon that was so powerful, that could not wait to devour God become a Child, as well as the woman, the Church. But also in this case, in the end love was stronger than hate.
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Today too, the dragon exists in new and different ways. It exists in the form of materialistic ideologies that tell us it is absurd to think of God; it is absurd to observe God’s commandments: they are a leftover from a time past. Life is only worth living for its own sake. Take everything we can get in this brief moment of life. Consumerism, selfishness and entertainment alone are worthwhile. This is life. This is how we must live. And once again, it seems absurd, impossible, to oppose this dominant mindset with all its media and propagandist power. Today too, it seems impossible to imagine a God who created man and made himself a Child and who was to be the true ruler of the world.
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Even now, this dragon appears invincible, but it is still true today that God is stronger than the dragon, that it is love which conquers rather than selfishness…"
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see more at:

Pope Benedict XVI’s Homily on the Assumption
zenit.org/article-20333?l=english
 
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kepha1:
thanks but this is not about Babylon and the Beast, it is about the Dragon and the Woman—I am looking for an explanation for Babylon/Beast similar to this tho. And I am asking for the CC’s view because I know how controversial it is. Guess I will search the Cath. Enc.
 
Ravyn_Guiliani said:
thanks but this is not about Babylon and the Beast, it is about the Dragon and the Woman—I am looking for an explanation for Babylon/Beast similar to this tho. And I am asking for the CC’s view because I know how controversial it is. Guess I will search the Cath. Enc.
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search away, just keep in mind that there is no final, authoritative, definitive “Catholic view.” Only a range of opinions.
 
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