Replies to post #8343 on ETERNITY

[*~1Best~*]

~~~ Almighty God, deliver US from the greed evil ~~~

Babylon as the symbol of corruption, greed, deception, corrupted power and immoral choices.

* A modern interpretation is that the Whore of Babylon refers to the institution of multinational corporations. (whore - one whose loyalty can be bought; rules over the kings of the earth - is more powerful than any individual secular government.) While this might be acceptable as an oratorical figure of speech, serious Biblical scholars would regard it as an abuse of an ancient text to suppose that this was the intended meaning of the phrase.


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Whom or what Babylon refers to in the Book of Revelation has been the subject of much speculation over the centuries:

* As noted above, the standard scholarly interpretation is that Babylon symbolises Rome and the "Whore of Babylon" therefore either refers to the Roman emperor, or personified the power of the Roman Empire under whom many early Christians and Jews were persecuted, tortured, and marytred for their beliefs because they would not submit to the Roman Emperor as a god. Many scholars believe that the early Christians used "Babylon" as a euphemism for pagan Rome, so that their small community wouldn't be found out and persecuted even more.
* Some Fundamentalist Protestant commentaries on the Book of Revelation treat the references to the city Babylon in Revelation as both the City of Rome and the Roman Catholic Church personified in the institution of the papacy. Some Protestant denominations today do not give credence to such arguments however.
* Some groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses and some Mormons, believe as a variation of the above, that Babylon represents all false religion (ie: that thought to be disapproved of or condemned by God).
* San Francisco is sometimes called (in varying degrees of seriousness) as "Babylon by the Bay". Others have referred to the United States as Babylon, and New York as its Whore.
* A modern interpretation is that the Whore of Babylon refers to the institution of multinational corporations. (whore - one whose loyalty can be bought; rules over the kings of the earth - is more powerful than any individual secular government.) While this might be acceptable as an oratorical figure of speech, serious Biblical scholars would regard it as an abuse of an ancient text to suppose that this was the intended meaning of the phrase.
* Fritz Lang's film Metropolis interpreted Revelation's "Whore of Babylon" as the android Maria.
* In William Shakespeare's play Henry V, Falstaff's dying words refer to the Whore of Babylon. This is probably a final touch of comic relief in Falstaff's career, since he intends a spiritual or Biblical meaning, while Mistress Quickly takes it to mean a literal prostitute, one he knew and she had not.

* In the Rastafari movement, Babylon is a key theological concept referring to any oppressive power structure that adherents believe has been responsible for keeping their people poor and oppressed for generations. However it also refers to the literal Tower of Babel, which Haile Selassie sometimes referred to in his speeches, seen as an act of human rebellion against JAH.