As a new Catholic (actually still in RCIA until Easter) I am curious what the Church’s stand is on the Whore of Babylon, obviously it’s not the Catholic Church. My personal opinion of the Whore of Babylon is it is the non-Christian world in general.
my understanding is that it was common among the early reformers to claim that the RCC is the WOB but it is not so widely held today at least among the protestants I know. Im neither against the RCC nor a Catholic.Plain and simple, Protestants must always be against the Catholic Church, otherwise they would be Catholics.
Its just an observation, not to mean Protestants are bad. However it is very ovious when Catholics have a literal interpretation most Protestant will spiritualize the text and when Catholics spiritualize most Protestant makes it literal. Because of this trend the term/joke ‘‘Born against’’ came out. Just sharing.
Others believed it was Jerusalem is the whore of Babylon. God called Israel his wife that became unfaithful. Many saints and prophets died in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. This was Jesus prophesy in Mat 24, the awful horror.
I don’t know. You’ll just have to ask someone that knows.
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thats funny! Ive noticed several catholics refer to someone as a “born again” like its a separate denomination. Dont Catholics consider themselves to be born again? Christ said “You must be born again…”.
Actually, many protestants [not you obviously] will refer to themselves as “Born Again” - my middle brother is one
self described! Some fundamentalists, evangelicals and bible only groups frequently refer to themselves as “Born Again” like it was a denomination - except they don’t want to be affiliated with a denomination [as if there is a problem with affliliating - my mother is like that - proudly claiming no affliation 
]. However there are so many Non-Denominational Church now - they are like a denomination … the Non-denomination Denomination 
. And many of these do not consider a Catholic to be “born again” for a variety of reasons depending on the theological perspective of the person … hence the classic Protestant questions: “Are you Born Again?” and “Is Jesus your personal Lord and Savior?”
so we may not view being “Born Again” in the same way YADA,I think it is easy to take the ‘literal’ meaning of a passage if we have no vested other stance to that literal meaning …
As for the literal 6 day creation, the era of the enlightenment - coupled with advances in science have always lead some non-belivers to challenge the idea of a Creator God … thus believers turn to the scriputres to defend God [as if we can or as if God needed our defence - though I am not saying we should not defend - just that God being omnipotent does not ‘need’ our help] … so instead of reading the scriptures [like Genesis] as a revelation of our relationship to our Creator and His relationship with us … we reduce it to a science text book on biology … do enouth experiments, gather the hard data = proof og God … which always leaves one feeling ill at ease … as others noted …
The Whore of Baylon is not the Catholic Church IMHO … that said many Protestants who identify [or might take the position that the Church is the said Whore … will take these two contrary positions;
1] The Whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelation is the Catholic Church see proof text here … see this mention of Babylon refers to Rome and the Church … Blah Blah Blah
The catholic sees that the Whore of Babylon refers to Rome - to the persecutions either under Nero [whose name equates to the Mark of the Beast Number 666] oor the next one … being referenced by John and the Book being apocolyptic [like Daniel] to stregthen and give courage to those suffering the persecutions …
2] The reference to Babylon does not mean Rome … Peter was never in Rome because unlike Paul the Scriptures never say Peter went to Rome … Paul does not mention Peter when he writes to Rome … Peter may have went into modern dy Riaq [the location of Babylon to evangelize] … Blah Blah Blah
The Catholic responds that the reference to Baylon in Peter is just like the one in Revelation - Code word for Rome - used to protect Peter from being aprehended and martyred … which he was - in Rome …
That is an illustration [a true one - as this was what I learned in Bible Studies and was preached in Church Sermons as a protestant in one church I attended - regarding these two uses of “Baylon”] of taking one passage literally and one not - for arbitary reasons that fit a pre-concieved theology …
Now many Protestants are wonderful biblical scholars - they do not play that fast and loose God’s Holy WordThe study and reflect with the Scriptures, they pray with and come to deeply love our Lord … [some of them end up Catholic
Do you believe in a literal interpretation of all Scripture? If not, how do you decide which passages are literal and which passages are allegory?
Hello Anna,
… I am not a ‘craddle catholic’ and I spent many years in various churches - though I was ‘catholic’ in my heart for years and years … [my family comes from a very anti-catholic perspective - though that was not really discussed openly - I even had attended Masses with friends - it was not until I expressed a desire to become catholic that the perverbial ."…hit the fan" so to speak] … Thus I never followed through - instead I went from this church to that one … Family - Baptist - mother remarried - Church of Christ … moved to new town different version of Church of Christ [much to step-dad’s dismay - those apostates!] … Assemblies of God, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Non-denominational, Bible Believing, Christian, Evangelical …
]. Its a fact that the scriptures were written by believers for believers - not as a conversion tool - Thus …Beautiful testament of your spiritual journey.Hello Anna,
Thanks for sharing
And I really had great experinces in all of them … nice people, even Godly people. Loves of Christ and His Word. I learned to love Scripture in those communities. But Scripture - by itself - in a vacuum - is not all that revealing at times [in spite of the Holy Spirit or perhaps because of Him
Everyone who comes to the scriptures [in reality] is lead to them by a Christian and the lens of that person’s Christian experience … what one does from that moment on is your journey of faith - your seeking … faith seeking understanding … as they say …
I am a student of history … thus my experiencing the fractured Christian community - caused me to ask “Why?” “Why are there so many Churches and why do they all teach different things?” … and then you have to wonder “Is God the Author of confusion?” “Is God the Creator of Relativism?” Like Pilot … You must ask “What is Truth?”
St Paul discusses these same topics … so on some basic level I can see that we are no different now then then… I had to know - what was the early church like? what did they believe? About God, Jesus, the Church, Communion/Eucharist? what did their worship look like? Who were they, what did they write about? … Inquiring minds want to know
And finally I was no longer content to be the “Closet Catholic” … I had to respond affirmatively to Jesus … submit myself to His Church and do my part to be “one” as He prayed in the Garden on the road to calvary …
The scriptures have meaning and purpose, Jesus is real and I have an intense love for Christ and a firm purpose to be the best Christian I can … when I fail, I pick myself up and begin again - like St Paul, I am working our my salvation in fear and trembling and I have never been more alive … and I can say this after nearly two decades as a catholic christian …
You mean as a Catholic.
ok then I fall for the most part into that first group, I do believe in the believers baptism, butActually, many protestants [not you obviously] will refer to themselves as “Born Again” - my middle brother is one
[slightly off topic but since you asked] … Yes, Catholics are “Born Again” or more correctly “Born from Above” … we are renewed [born again] through Baptism and even more fully through all of the Sacraments of Initiation [Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist] … thus in the waters of baptism we die with Christ and then rise to new life freed from our sins. In the Eucharist we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus - we eat and drink the Food that Came Down from Heaven - it nourishes the Christian Life - and after partaking we will not hunger or thrist again and in the Sacrament of Confirmation we are renewed by the Holy Spirit as the Apostles were at Penticost inflamed with the Holy Spirit …
But some protestants do not believe that a water baptism is necesssary [for some all you need to be “born again” is the “sinners prayer”] and they reject the validity of infant baptisms
I would be interested to hear more on these subjects
Are you wanting to hear more about why I do not accept Sola Scriptura, or the Baptist doctrines I found to be false?
I don’t think Bill is out of line in his statement.
The first time that the phrase “the Whore of Babylon” was ever tied to the Roman Catholic church occurred when the Geneva Bible was produced in 1560, a full 51 years prior to the King James version. It was produced in Geneva Switzerland in the English language and is actually considered the first “study Bible” as its margins contained commentary and footnotes. It was in these notes that John Calvin the Protestant Reformer had a field day with Anti-Catholic remarks. It was here that “The Whore of Babylon” was first tied to the Roman Catholic Church.
(12) As if he should have said, these till now have been bound by the power of God, that they could not freely run over all men as they lusted, but were held and restrained at that great river of Euphrates, that is, in their spiritual Babylon (or this is a paraphrase of the spiritual Babylon, by the limits of the visible Babylon long since overthrown) that they might not commit those horrible slaughters, which they long breathed after. Now go to it, let loose those four angels, that is, administers of the wrath of God, in that number that is convenient to the slaughtering of the four quarters of the world: stir them up and give them the bridle, that rushing out of that Babylon of theirs, which is the seat of the wicked ones, they may fly over all the world, therein to rage, and most licentiously to practise their tyranny, as God has ordained. This was done when Gregory the ninth by public authority established as Law, his own Decretals, by which he might freely lay traps for the life of simple men. For who is it that sees not that the laws of Decretal, most of them are snares to catch souls with? Since that time (O good God) how many great slaughters have there been? How many great massacres? All history is full of them: and this our age abounds with most horrible and monstrous examples of the these. (4) That harlot, the spiritual Babylon, which is Rome. She is described by her attire, profession, and deeds.
(5) In attire most glorious, triumphant, most rich, and most gorgeous.
(6) In profession the nourisher of all, in this verse and teaching her mysteries to all, Re 17:5 setting forth all things most magnificently: but indeed fatally besetting miserable men with her cup, and brings upon them a deadly giddiness. (7) Deceiving with the title of religion, and public inscription of mystery: which the beast in times past did not bear.
(8) An exposition: in which John declares what manner of woman this is.*I dont take all scripture literaly… Its would depend on how it compares to other scriptures.