This is the third part in an undetermined amount of articles in the Preterism vs. Futurism series. The first article analyzed the “last days.” Many believe the “last days” are meant for them, and not those to whom the scriptures were written. A simple analysis of Hebrews 1:1-2 reveals that Jesus Christ had come during the last days. The outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost was fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, which Peter himself declared to be a last days prophecy (Acts 2:17). Sadly, Dispensationalists still await the fulfillment of the outpouring of the Spirit. It blows my mind that they can deny the testimony of the scriptures like that.
One of the most important prophetic characters is the harlot in the book of Revelation. In the previous article, I briefly went over the characteristics of this harlot, Mystery Babylon, and how they may or may not relate to America. Really, such an analysis is difficult, for there exists little that America and Mystery Babylon have in common. Therefore, I decided to remain vague in my approach, because too deep an analysis would have given away the answer for those who don't already know who Mystery Babylon is! This really is that simple a matter.
For the Futurists who believe the Roman Catholic Church is Mystery Babylon, there seems to be a lot more support in scripture. They're still dead wrong, of course, but this will allow me to keep from being slightly less vague and dismissive, which I am happy about. Figuring out whether America is the harlot really was quite dull...
Anyway, without further ado, I present:
Roman Catholic Church: It's Cool to be a Whore!
Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions is also the most reasonable from a Futurist perspective. Having been taught the Dispensational view my whole life, I am understanding of those who come to certain conclusions, because I do know that the arguments can be convincing to those who do not devote the necessary time to studying the matters. Identifying Mystery Babylon as the Roman Catholic Church is one of those conclusions. As we will briefly analyze, the Roman Catholic Church as the harlot of Revelation may seem to make sense for a while, but after applying consistent hermeneutics the Roman Catholic Church will not appear to be so obvious an answer.
In the first article, we identified the last days as a period of time that occurred in the first century. Separating the last days from this time frame is to be dishonest with what the inspired writers told us (again, note the Dispensational rejection of Peter's words on the day of Pentecost). Therefore, we could have simply brushed off analyzing the possibility of America as Mystery Babylon, but I believe by analyzing this interpretation we were able to see the importance of keeping everything in the proper context. After all, it takes much speculation and twisting of scripture to claim Mystery Babylon is America, simply because it has escaped this first century context. The Roman Catholic Church, however, doesn't remain inseparable from the first century.
Catholics maintain that the Catholic Church was founded in the first century through Jesus Christ, with the succession of Popes beginning with the apostle Peter. This is merely tradition. Most importantly, we can note the Catholic Church's place of origin as Rome, hence Roman Catholic Church. The Roman empire was still standing as of the fourth century when Christianity was legalized throughout the empire. And, what was the fourth empire in Daniel 2 and 7? The Roman empire! Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church is not entirely separate from the first century context of the eschaton (well...if one wants to force the context to stretch a few hundred years). Those who understand this make the effort to give the Roman Catholic Church eschatological relevance. This can be quite convincing to those who neglect some of the most important details. All we can do is put the Catholic harlot to the test:
8And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:8)
If the Roman Catholic Church is to be identified as Mystery Babylon, it must fit the spiritual identification of Sodom and Egypt. Furthermore, it must also be the place where the Lord was crucified. So, does Rome fit the bill? Not at all. Not even slightly. As we identified previously, the implication of being a spiritual Egypt was that of bondage, which is the old covenant law. Were the Romans, or Catholics, ever bound to this law? I believe the book of Romans can answer that for us:
21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:21-24)
In short, the Roman Gentiles were not bound to the old covenant law in the first century, and certainly are not now. Therefore, there are no such ties to the spiritual identification of Egypt. Moreover, I do not find any references to the Roman Catholic Church as a spiritual Sodom. I encourage another reading of Deuteronomy 32, Isaiah 1, Jeremiah 23, and Ezekiel 16. By putting the Roman Catholic Church under the very same test we put put America under, we can accurately and fairly assess any likelihood of the Roman Catholic Church as Mystery Babylon. After reading those four chapters, I believe anyone who allows scripture to interpret itself will quickly see there is no such reference to the Roman Catholic Church in any of the chapters. Also, it does one well to remember how the imagery found in Revelation is being drawn from the Old Testament. So, since the Old Testament is in no way defining the Roman Catholic Church as Sodom, we can safely assume the first century readers of John's vision wouldn't have made such a connection, either.
As with America, we must question any relationship the Roman Catholic Church may have with Egypt. Previously, we were able to use Paul's letter to the Romans to identify the spiritual characteristic of Egypt as bondage, which would mean the old law (Romans 7:7,14). If one can give proof of the Roman Catholic Church's obedience to the old law, then perhaps it isn't entirely unreasonable to suggest the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Mystery Babylon. So, has the Roman Catholic Church ever been bound to the old law, a law which had been done away with in the first century? The Roman Catholic Church has many disagreeable doctrines, but I do not believe they have ever regarded the old law as binding. They, like the other denominations in Christianity, recognize the passing of the old law and the establishment of Christ's new covenant. Therefore, it is accurate to claim there lies no such connection to Egypt and the bondage of the old law.
This rules out many of the characteristics found in Revelation 11:8. Advocates of this view tend to argue that because the Romans carried out the crucifixion sentence, they are the ones guilty of slaying Christ. However, this is a geographical identification. If Christ had been crucified in Rome, then perhaps a valid argument could be made. Unfortunately for the advocates of this view, Christ was not crucified in Rome, but instead was crucified outside of Jerusalem (Matthew 27:33-35). So, geographically speaking, Rome cannot be an accurate interpretation. I must warn of the subtlety of such an argument; those identifying Rome as the place of crucifixion simply because the Romans carried out the sentence turn this from a geographical identification into an ethnic identification. As Don Preston states, “Commentators seek to change, 'where the Lord was slain,' to, 'by whom' the Lord was crucified. Yet, the Bible settles even the 'by whom' question, and it is not Rome” (Preston, Don K., Who Is This Babylon?, page 55).
Returning to Revelation 17, we must yet again test the Roman Catholic Church in the same way we tested America so that we may maintain a fair assessment. Again, here are the characteristics we picked out from Revelation 17. However, to spice things up a bit, I'd like to add one more characteristic that I purposefully left out of our America analysis given its lack of relevance at the time: 1) She sits upon a scarlet beast (17:3); 2) She wears purple and scarlet, and gold, and precious stones (17:4); 3) Holds a golden cup of her sins (17:4); 4) On her forehead is a title (17:5); 5) The beast has seven heads, which represent seven kings and seven mountains (17:9).
Our first characteristic is that the harlot sits upon the scarlet beast. Does the Roman Catholic Church sit upon the Roman empire? Yes, actually. If a Futurist view is accurate, then the Vatican, located in Rome, can be made to fit this characteristic. This is very important to the Futurists who advocate this view. I would like to point out something the Futurists either miss or neglect, though. Revelation 17:16 tells us that the ten horns on the seven heads of the beast will hate the whore and leave her desolate. For your consideration, I'd like to ask if it makes much sense for Rome to hate itself. Allow me to clarify. Vatican City is a city-state ruled by the Pope, who leads the Catholic Church. Vatican City can be found in Rome. If Futurist eschatology is correct, the beast, which we know to be the Roman empire, would wage war against itself and leave itself desolate. Does this sound accurate? I wouldn't say so. And considering Vatican City had not been founded in the first century, there would have been no Vatican City for the Roman empire to destroy.
Details, details...
Nevertheless, keeping in mind the possibility of such a thing, we come to our next characteristic: purple, scarlet, gold, and precious stones. Without a doubt, we can find the Roman Catholic liturgy wearing a number of colors, ranging from white and red, to purple and gold. This is a major means of support for the Roman Catholic Church-Mystery Babylon connection. I do not find it without merit when looking through the Futurist lens. Furthermore, the Pope is often ridiculed for wearing many rings, and precious stones. On top of that, the Catholic Church is always known for its elegance (and pedophilia, but hey, that's another story). However, this must have first century relevance. We cannot forget this! The last days are confined to the Bible's chronology, which places the last days during the lifetimes of the apostles (Acts 2:16-21; Hebrews 1:2). If Roman Catholic liturgy had not been established then no such connection can be made. Therefore, while the Roman Catholic Church can be found sitting atop the old Roman empire (Rome, itself, to be exact) via Vatican City, the Roman Catholic Church had not been established until much later, ruling out both the relevance of their wardrobe and the geographical placement of Vatican City.
It should be obvious that I clearly understand the relevance that Futurists give the Roman Catholic Church. Like I said, it makes sense if the last days are still in our future. I hope you can see why the first article in this series identified the proper timing of those days. It makes the rest of our analysis a breeze!
Our third characteristic is that the harlot holds a golden cup of her sins. Remember, the harlot was guilty of slaying righteous blood, the blood of the saints. During the Crusades, which lasted for a couple hundred years, the Roman Catholic Church persecuted pagans, Christians, and Muslims alike. For roughly two centuries, righteous and unrighteous blood had been shed. Using the Crusades as evidence, Futurists apply this to Revelation 11:7-8 and 17:1,4, the very sins by which the whore is to be judged. Reasonable? If you ignore the points made thus far, sure. However, the whore was ready to be judged in the first century for sins already committed, not sins to be committed over a thousand years later. If we observe the parables found in Matthew 21:33-43 and 22:1-10, and try to apply them to the Roman Catholic Church, we should be able to see rather quickly that the blood of the righteous does not fill the cup of the Roman Catholic Church.
The fourth characteristic is the title on the forehead of Mystery Babylon, labeling her a whore. Again, read Ezekiel 16. John is drawing his imagery from the Old Testament. First century Jews would have been familiar with the scriptures from which John is giving us these details, and in no place do we find Rome, the Roman Empire, nor the Roman Catholic Church labeled a whore. As Ezekiel 16:15 informs us, this whore had fornicated with every passerby. This whore was present in the first century, and already guilty of such fornication. Therefore, John is not referring to a yet future guilt, but instead a guilt already attained. Mystery Babylon is a harlot due to her unfaithfulness. The harlot had a covenant with God. She was to be wed to the Son, the Lamb, but instead murdered him (Revelation 11:8). Instead of staying faithful to him throughout her covenant, she went a-whoring. Ezekiel 16 establishes this fact very clearly.
Lastly, we come to a characteristic not included in our analysis of America as Mystery Babylon. In Revelation 17:9, we read that the seven heads of the scarlet beast are seven kings and seven mountains, thus, having two identifications. When arguing either Rome or the Roman Catholic Church as Mystery Babylon, it is often noted that Rome has been known since antiquity as the city on seven hills. Duly noted. The Futurists miss the fact that the seven mountains, or hills, depending on the translation, are in relation to the whore, not the beast. Therefore, if one is to argue that the Roman Catholic Church is the whore, then they must argue the distinction between the seven mountains surrounding the whore, and the beast! And, if the beast is the Roman empire, then no such argument can be made, for the Roman Catholic Church and its seat upon the Roman empire are inseparable. This means it is most likely that the whore has its relation to the beast in some way, yet remains separate.
Considering the evidence so far, it should be rather obvious that America is far too unlikely a candidate. And because the Roman Catholic Church was centuries from establishment in the first century, any correlations made between Mystery Babylon and the Roman Catholic Church are annulled. The identification of the harlot must fall within the “last days,” which we know to have occurred in the first century. If this identification of the last days can be refuted and shown to be a time much later, perhaps a reasonable argument can be made to support the Roman Catholic Church as the candidate. However, please bear in mind that the Roman Catholic Church would have to fit all of the characteristics we observed. The Roman Catholic Church failed to meet the spiritual identification of Sodom and Egypt, and even failed proper chronological relevance. So, while there are enough correlations to cause suspicion, I feel that we are not remaining honest, nor consistent, by maintaining the identity of Mystery Babylon as the Roman Catholic Church.
In the next article, I will conclude this brief analysis of Mystery Babylon, and finally we will be able to exegetically give the proper interpretation. Writing these last two articles has been hard, for there is no exegesis involved in such interpretations. There are coincidences, sure, but no exegetical support. As always, disagreements are always welcome! If you have an objection to my position, feel free to share! I will always discuss the topics in greater detail.
Thanks for reading,
Jason Watt
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