I have recently received information regarding the Whore of Babylon and how I have it wrong (always a distinct possibility that one should never discount out of hand), because the Whore of Babylon is not the revived Roman Empire, but the apostate church. The idea that the whore was the Roman Catholic Church and the pope was the antichrist is one that was popular during the Reformation and for a time thereafter. Luminaries like Martin Luther and John Calvin held this idea or ones close to it. I am no apologist for the Roman Catholic Church, but such a notion does not fit history and therefore, prophecy, because prophecy and history are one.

Here is one big problem with this idea. Daniel's fourth kingdom was to follow the third kingdom, Greece, which was toppled by Rome in 146 BC. This fourth kingdom was symbolized as a beast with ten heads and ten crowns. We later see the Great Beast with ten heads and ten crowns in the Revelation of John. They are the same beast, and they have the same mission: to make war with the saints, or followers of Jesus. Now here is where history helps us to interpret scripture. Did the apostate church conquer Greece? Was it around to assume the role of the fourth kingdom when Greece fell from power in 146 BC? No, it was not even born yet.

How well does the apostate church fit the following description of the Whore of Babylon: "the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth" (Rev 17:18). This may be a news flash to some, but the marginalized Roman Catholic Church is not now ruling, and has not ever ruled, over the fourth kingdom, Rome. Does anyone think that the nations of Europe, united under the banner of the European Union, will ever submit to the Pope in Rome? Why do we need to adopt such an outlandish interpretation that is at odds with history, common sense and prophecy? Has the Roman Catholic Church ever been Daniel's fourth kingdom of iron that crushed all in its path? Has it ever been a confederacy of nations symbolized by the ten crowns united in the one beast?

The Whore of Babylon is described as being a mercantile superpower "where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth" (Rev 18:19). Does the Roman Catholic Church remotely fit this prophetic description? No. But does the largest market in the world, the EU, possibly fit this description? More closely than any other pretender to this position.

History and prophecy are one and when we attempt to separate them we remove the objective foundation that history affords us and open the doors to endless, fruitless speculation.

"So what," might be the response of most of you and I can understand that reaction. It does not seem to be that important of a point. But so many important misunderstandings flow downstream from notions such as these. Hatred of Catholics would be one of them. How is that an expression of Christian love?

Another would be misreading what is now occurring in the world in ways that are injurious to the faith. For example, if the Great Beast is assumed to be the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church is assumed to be the Whore of Babylon, then Christians should applaud when and if a militaristic leader gains control of the EU and begins to slaughter Catholic Christians wholesale. Is not the destruction of the Whore of Babylon and the Great Beast a good thing according to the Bible? Yet what if this militaristic leader of a revived and transformed Roman Empire is actually the Great Beast who is feasting on the blood of Christians. Then the misled, misinformed Christian will be cheering the satanic actions of an incarnation of evil.

History and prophecy are one. I invite you to study The Template of Time: Our Destiny Decoded to see how this view is confirmed by the last 2,000 years of history and how it suggests where this world is headed.

Grace and peace,

Tom